The article discusses why gluten free eating may be a fad and how much it is costing people to follow. At one point, the article said that there is a 242% difference in price between gluten free and regular foods and that 29% of Americans are trying to follow a gluten free way of life, when most of them have no reason to do so.
I actually had a personal connection to this article because last year, I went gluten free for Lent. It was a very hard thing to do because it required a lot of discipline and concentration on what I ate. I was doing it to test if I had a gluten allergy but at the same time I felt better and lighter on that diet. So I can understand why non-gluten allergic people follow a gluten diet. But I am interested in perhaps researching more on why the costs are what they are.
Gluten free products are somewhat differentiated in their own markets as they do provide a "healthier" option for people. Although some people don't need to follow gluten free diets, they do because it is labeled as "healthier," and staying healthy is becoming a much more common fad in America, probably partly because we have been named the fattest country. Hopefully it is a fad to stay because it is good! However, as a result of the fad, prices are of course rising for gluten free products because there is a higher demand for them. You can even see it on restaurant menus. My family just ate at PF Changs and realized they had created a gluten free section of the menu.
ReplyDeleteThe gluten free diet has not caught on yet as much as many would like so the prices are still ridiculously high. The gluten free companies need to make enough profit to cover their business, salaries, etc. As more people start realizing the importance of a gluten free diet, the prices will fall. But until then, they will stay high. In the US, basically all of our food is made of gluten filled, sugar-coated GMO products such as wheat. That is why regular foods are so inexpensive because the unhealthy GMOs and sugar are so easy to produce. I realize some gluten free food is packed with sugar, but the organic gluten free products are still expensive to make because they cant be made with the GMO wheat.
ReplyDeleteSince people who are gluten free have to consume gluten free products gluten free manufacturers have a bit of leeway when setting the prices for how much to charge for their gluten free products. Although this is a harsh reality some people rely on gluten free food and there for have to pay a costly price to consume it.
ReplyDeleteIt should be interesting to see what happens to the price of gluten-free products as time goes on. I have no idea what will happen either way. Hopefully the supply can keep up with the increasing demand to keep prices under control.
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