Brief 4 - Research

In doing a brief about Freefrom food, I decided to do a bit of research into this subject because I actually had not really heard of it until this point. While I knew about food without gluten, I didn't realise there was a whole category of food under this titles.


What is it?
A range of foods and ingredients free of gluten, wheat or dairy.

How much does it cost?
Very slightly more than the foods and ingredients that actually come with gluten, wheat or dairy.

What does it promise?
Once confined to dark corners of funny-smelling healthfood shops, these food ranges allow those with intolerances to eat relatively normally. Increasingly, though, they are also being eaten by people without medical need as an ostensibly healthier choice.

What’s it actually like?
That depends on what you buy. I went to my local supermarket and filled a basket from the freefrom aisle with hazelnut milk, bakewell tarts made with rice flour and tapioca starch, and gluten-free sausages, all of which managed to taste more or less like the things they were supposed to. But then again, I also bought soya milk, and drinking soya milk is like straining three-week-old yoghurt that’s been kept on a radiator into your mouth through a stranger’s sock.

Best and worst bit
If you’re coeliac, it must be refreshing finally to have your needs catered for in a largely edible way. However, as someone who can eat gluten and dairy without issue, I was disappointed not to see any benefits. I didn’t lose weight or feel any more energetic, and my skin remained as pallid as ever. All it really did was remind me how much I love bread.

Is it worth it?
If you need to? Yes. If you want to? Go ahead, but try to pick only the foods that taste nice – the last thing you want is an accidental mouthful of soya milk.

Freefrom Food Awards

The FreeFrom Food Awards, the UK's only industry awards for freefrom food, were started in 2008 by FoodsMatter and FreeFrom Foods Matter to encourage innovation and celebrate excellence in the freefrom food industry. The awards are entirely independent, supported by sponsorship and entry fees only.

• The FreeFrom Food Awards logo is a certification mark and should only be used as such. It will not be used without indicating it is a certification mark.

• Food products entitled to use the mark must be free from at least one of the 14 major allergensand must be able to substantiate their claims with independent laboratory reports.

• Only those who have been shortlisted, commended, highly commended or won an award are entitled to use the awards logo or mark. Their names will be listed on the current and previous winners pages of this site.

• The logo or mark is awarded for excellence in the creation of 'freefrom' food e.g. food that is free of gluten, dairy, nuts or any other of the 14 major food allergens.

• The logo or mark is awarded by a team of professional independent judges appointed by the the Freefrom Food Awards each year. For more information on the judges see here.

• Use of the logo is monitored throughout the year by the FreeFrom FoodsMatter team who run fortnightly updates on all products and new launches in the 'freefrom' food marketplace.

• The decision of the judges in awarding the logo or mark is final. Any disputes which arose would be settled by an independent arbiter.

• There is an entrance fee of £125 + VAT per product; £75 + VAT per product if you have 3 or fewer employees to enter the awards. If a certification is awarded, there will be no charge or levy on displaying the certification mark on the products.