No, but you keep doing this but-but routine that implies there is some exception. I really don’t know what “they’re all gluten-free, except that some are cheap and most are expensive” adds to the discussion.
I mean, rocks are all gluten-free and some aren’t igneous, either. :dubious:
OP asked why all gluten free foods are expensive. I said that many gluten free foods are cheap, including certain cuts of meat. If I had left out the qualifier, then OP might be left with the impression that I consider a filet minion to be cheap.
EDIT: Crap, hit submit too soon.
Okay. The sense got a little convoluted along the way, but I getcha.
People with celiac should say they “have celiac disease and cannot eat gluten.” The trendy gluten avoiders and celiac wannabes can co-opt “gluten-free” and they can claim fictitious “gluten allergy” but your mother is a celiac woman, silly.
Want to eat gluten-free? Try meat and vegetables.
As far as cost, some cuts (to continue with the theme) of meat can be expensive. Even those probably aren’t THAT expensive (especially for the calories/nutrition) compared to a lot of processed food. This week, multiple grocery stores (they tend to compete) had fresh chicken breasts for $1.80-1.99/lb. We eat a lot of chicken thighs, and can usually find them somewhere for around $1/lb. Beef prices have shot up, but fatty ground beef is relatively cheap and cheaper cuts of steak can work well in certain dishes. Roasts are usually pretty cheap. Pork tenderloin is always on sale. I can’t find a dozen eggs for a $1 anymore, but $2 something isn’t bad.
As far as produce goes, whenever I go grocery shopping I use the self-checkout and ring up all produce first. It is crazy how full the bagging area and my cart get for such a low price when I’ve done scanning the vegetables, herbs, and other fresh ingredients. Then I start scanning all the snacks and convenience items my kids request. That’s when the numbers rapidly climb from the low double digits to triple digits in $ per trip. “Gluten free” packaged foods are typically just highly processed versions of other processed foods, and I’m sure they can charge a premium for the trendy branding.
FWIW, many of the gluten-free diets/books say not to buy “gluten free” marketed foods because their substitute ingredients are often just as bad.
What’s often expensive are products that are aiming to be “just like” established gluten containing products.
Yes the “just like” products typically have a much higher production cost than the components they are replacing. As an example Xanthan gum is refined from bacterial excrement and must be grown in an oxygen free environment, typically it is grown in cheese whey in the US. As it is one of the more common methods to improve mouth feel of gluten free products it should be clear that the production costs for it would be higher than growing some wheat.
Add in lower economies of scale and a smaller, typically more affluent consumer base and the costs will be higher.
Just like alcohol is yeast piss and honey is bee vomit.
Alcohol is much more expensive than it’s base ingredients, especially if it is used as a direct replacement for other food stuffs the personal costs can be quite high.
It does not change the fact-fulness of my original statement, which did not have had the subtext that your response infers.
If the alternative ingredients were the same cost or cheaper they would tend to be the ingredients which would be used for the original products.
Xanthan gum is a polysaccharide secretion of the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris. It’s used by the bacterium to form a biofilm to adhere to surfaces. It is not a waste product. It is not bacterial excrement. Further, the growth medium must be well aerated, hence it is not produced in an oxygen free environment.