New research by online store Honest Eats suggests that the food industry has yet to catch up with consumer demand when it comes to taste, availability and the motivations behind free-from diets.
Honest Eats asked 1,798 members of the Gluten Free Centre about their shopping habits and perceptions of free-from products in an online survey.
The findings revealed that 54 per cent do not buy free-from foods specifically for an intolerance.
The survey results suggest that diets without gluten are nearly as popular for the perceived health benefits as they are necessary for people with coeliac disease or a gluten intolerance.
The 54 per cent of the survey respondents said that they ate free-from foods "as part of a healthy and balanced diet" or because it made them "feel better", rather than just for an intolerance, medical need or coeliac disease.
Shoppers admitted to struggling to find the free-from goods they wanted.
An incredible 91 per cent said that they have struggled to find free-from alternatives and over a third went so far as to say that they often struggle to get free-from food.
The free-from aisles in supermarkets may be growing, but it seems there is still some way to go to cater for those that don’t, or simply can’t, eat gluten or dairy.
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