Eating Gluten Free Is Expensive, Find Out Exactly How!

To give an indication of all gluten-free market in 2004, Americans consume 133 pounds of grain per person. From July 2004 to July 2005, consumers spent over $ 600 million gluten-free foods, the annual growth of 14.6%. Markets, GF foods and beverages in 2007 exceeded $ 700 million, and is expected to be $ 1.7 billion in 2010.


ECONOMIC COSTS

While few studies have been done, they give us a good indication of what is celiac disease can cost you at the cash register. Consider this study in June 2007 "using data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) food consumption of typical households, the researchers combined" basket "of food and regular gfree. Differences in availability and prices between 11 and gfree regular articles in the market basket was compared by type of store and region where they are purchased. The researchers interviewed local grocery stores, upscale grocery stores or regional chains, the stores 'health food, and 4 sites online. the country was represented by New York and Westchester County, Portland, OR, Atlanta, GA, Rapid City, and Chicago IL. "REF 1

The researchers found that food stores and online sites have the largest selection of gluten-free foods, leading to 94% and 100% of the items in the basket, respectively, compared with the availability of a 41% market premium and 36% in local supermarkets.

How many more?

Price, GF foods were found to be 79% more than similar foods. Bread and pasta was twice as expensive than their wheat-based counterparts. He has contributed to the purchase cost more than the geographic location of the place. In this U.S. study, GF cereals were found to be an exception, which cost about the same. However, in Australia, GF cereals are generally much more expensive than those that are often sold in smaller boxes (half weight) for the same price of wheat gluten similar. It was noted that the internet shopping portals were the most expensive place to buy food GF, followed by health food stores and upscale markets.

Again, in Australia, the opposite seems true, as is generally found that online supermarkets are one of the most competitive price - no shipping costs. Researchers (reference 1) has admitted that performed the analysis on a number of relatively small sample it is advisable to compare this to any research. Food Research, GF Acquisition Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia offers a higher standard of proof. Ref 2 comparison was made between the prices of all foods labeled "gluten free" and comparable to foods containing gluten from two large chains of grocery stores in general. The researchers compared the unit cost of each food, the price is calculated in dollars per 100 grams of each product. Not surprisingly, all 56 GF products were more expensive than ordinary products. And, in particular:

The average price of gluten-free products was $ 1.71

The average unit price of ordinary income was $ 0.61

The statistical probability of this result was very high (p

Specific costs

The following data are from a 2007 study by the U.S. government (Ref 2). This shows that the cost of gluten-free products is far superior to products of wheat requirements:

Wheat flour $ 0.34/lb $ 1.89/lb Brown rice flour

Bread wheat bread 1.09/loaf GFRE 6.00/loaf $ $

Wheat pasta $ 0.87/lb $ 3.69/lb to pasta GFREE

Chocolate Chip Cookies $ 2.69/lb for chocolate chip cookies GFREE $ 12.83/lb

Biscuits Wheat $ 1.63/lb to 9.12/lb Rice Crackers

(Ref Study of US Department of Labor, 2007, the Bureau of Labor Index of Consumer Prices)

CONCLUSIONS The justification for the additional cost of g food without pay is compelling:

GF food in need of production lines and factories, clean of all gluten-free products before they can be manufactured. This usually means once the environmental costs of production of producers has increased.

GF is a beginner, and the captive market, only a small number of suppliers that produce foods that meet strict standards, GF. This means you can set a higher price for things relatively simple.

The power supply is often limited to specialty stores, which typically have higher margins.

Additional ingredients (such as xanthan gum, guargum, etc.) require additional preparation steps that increase the cost.

Until enough of celiac disease is diagnosed (current rate is about 10% to 20% in developed countries) to reach critical mass in manufacturing and retail segments, prices remain high.