I live with a family member who has a diagnosed gluten intolerance. It’s actually called non Coeliac gluten allergy. That family member happens to be the husband and for as long as we have been together, I have tried hard to help him be able to enjoy food despite his gluten allergy. He can feel pretty unwell when he eats anything containing gluten so we do our best to avoid that happening where at all possible.
Whilst he doesn’t have Coeliac disease, I have a very good friend and also a cousin who have, so I am pretty aware of the health issues they struggle with, and what can happen to them, and how ill they can become if they are exposed to or consume gluten. It’s not easy to manage your diet, when a lot of food contains gluten, but you want to be able to eat well and enjoy food just like everyone else. Finding foods that are safe but also nice can be challenging.
Tesco have a fabulous range of foods in their Free From range, that now make it SO much easier to find gluten free foods that can be enjoyed. When the husband and I first got married there was very little out there that he could enjoy, and whilst some basics were easier than others, there wasn’t the wide range of gluten free products and ingredients there are now and it’s amazing that he and other people can now have treats like cakes, with minimal fuss, that are safe for them to eat. It makes my life as the main cook and grocery shopper much easier too.
For us, treats like cakes for tea time, or when you just fancy something sweet, and finding things that the husband could enjoy was always hard. To be honest, some of the gluten free stuff we have tried, when companies started to produce gluten free products, were not that great and we have a saying in our house “looks good, tastes like socks or cardboard”, to describe things that might look like a good gluten free option but don’t taste that great.
Tesco have come up with a fab range of goodies that solve that problem, though and we have been thoroughly enjoying testing out some of them.
In fact, I have to confess that I only have photos of the before, because they were all so good and they got eaten before I could take any more. 
The husband particularly like the bakewell tarts, which were delicious, and the children loved the jam tarts. I was most impressed with the shortbread though, which is hard to make when you are using gluten free ingredients (I have tried myself) and these are just as shortbread should be.
Also, price wise, these are really good when compared to other similar items. Some gluten free items can be quite pricey, but the Tesco Free From range is very reasonably priced and works for us, within our weekly shopping budget.
It really is good to see that supermarkets are taking the needs of people who cannot eat gluten and who struggle to find nice foods to replace gluten containing items, Coeliac disease and other allergies related to gluten can be hard to manage, so being able to find treats like these has to be good thing. We have been very impressed and would definitely recommend them and it’s useful to know that when I am trying to find treats that are safe for someone with Coeliac Disease, that I can just grab something off the shelf in Tesco. Next time I buy them, I will be hiding them so they don’t all get eaten so quickly…
This post is written for Coeliac Awareness week, in collaboration with Tesco Groceries Coeliac Awareness Week.