Analysis of Sainsbury’s online freefrom range for those of us with both dairy and egg allergies

We went to a ‘carpet picnic’ (English summer to blame) at a friends’ house the other weekend.  Our kind hostess (hello Penelope!) had thoughtfully perused the freefrom aisle in her local Sainsburys’ hoping to find a treat for our Allergic-y One and found … not much!

Sainsbury’s promote their freefrom range as ‘free-from wheat, gluten and/or dairy’.  Supermarkets will offer products that make them money.  I suppose that wheat and gluten allergies and intolerance are more widespread than dairy and egg allergies?  Also, it seems as if there are a few mainstream, non-freefrom alternatives available to us ... 

A few days ago I had a very unscientific look at Sainsburys’ website and tried to analyse their online freefrom offering in terms of what it has to help those of us who are dealing with dairy and egg allergies. 

It looks as if there are 66 products listed in their online range.   Of those, 25 are both dairy free and egg free. 

Five of those are corn pasta products, which are thankfully not a consideration for those with dairy and egg allergies as we are able to use most other dried pasta products. 

Of the remaining 20, 7 are breakfast cereals which have mainstream alternatives, not within the freefrom range, that us dairy and egg allergic folks can eat (granola, muesli, muesli bars, cornflakes, oats, rice and buckwheat porridge, express oats).

Of the remaining 13 products, most have dairy and egg free alternatives within Sainsburys mainstream, non freefrom ranges.  These 13, and their (most of them cheaper!) alternatives are:

Sainsbury’s freefrom product	Dairy free and egg free, non freefrom branded, alternative
Treats
Jam tarts - £2.00 for 230g	Mr Kipling Jam Tarts - £1.00 for 235g
Mint crisps - £3.98 for 150g	Elizabeth Shaw Dark Mint Crisp - £3.69 for 175g (although with ‘may contain milk’ disclaimer)
Oaty flapjack slices - £1.99 for 140g	Nature Valley Oats and Chocolate Granola Bars - £2.39 for 210g
Rich tea biscuits - £1.39 for 150g	Sainsbury's Rich Tea Fingers - £0.54 for 250g
Toffee and nut bar - £2.19 for 180g	Jordans Frusli Bars Cranberry & Apple -180g for £1.98
Convenience food
Chicken nuggets - £3.75 for 425g	Sainsbury's Breaded British Chicken Nuggets - £2.00 for 200g
Chicken steaks (looks similar to above product!) - £3.74 for 380g	Sainsbury's Chicken Steaks In Crispy Crumb - £2.00 for 380g
Chicken hotpot - £2.29 for 300g	Sainsbury's Classic Chicken Hotpot - £3.00 for 450g
Fish fingers - £2.29 for 300g	Birds Eye Fish Fingers 100% Cod Fillet, £2.49 for 336g
Oven chips - £1.50 per kilo	Sainsbury's Crinkle Cut Chips - £1.00 for 900g
Spicy bean burger - £1.89 for 224g	Sainsbury's Meatfree Moroccan Burgers - £1.75 for 320g
Tomato and basil soup - £1.29 for 300g	Sainsbury's Tomato & Basil Soup - £1.60 for 600g
Tikka sauce pouch - £1.69 for 300g	All other ready made tikka sauces contain dairy. However, an alternative could be a couple of tablespoons of Patak's Original Tikka Paste, £2.02 for 300g, plus a can of coconut milk, Pride Coconut Milk, £0.99 for 400g

I don’t think we’ve ever bought any of the above products.  The one freefrom product we do seek out is one that doesn’t seem to be available online; where are the freefrom, dairy free and egg free chocolate buttons please?  I found them in a Sainsbury’s shop yesterday but why are they not available online?!