sainsbury's free from range

Sainsbury’s has doubled its allergen-free product range to cater for “strong customer demand”.

The supermarket will expand its Deliciously FreeFrom range to 140 products by September in a drive to give customers “more choice and a broader offer” in allergen-free products.

The range will have new-look packaging that clearly labels which allergens it is free from - nut, gluten, wheat, milk, egg or soya - and traffic light nutritional information.

All 140 products will be available in Sainsbury’s larger supermarkets, and smaller outlets will sell “a bigger range than ever before”.

Sainsbury’s said it had looked at taste, quality and nutritional content in the 18-month development phase of the products, but could not confirm how many products had lower sugar, salt and fat content as a result.

The range aims to lead the market “on quality as well as value”, the supermarket said. “Our new Deliciously FreeFrom range is a perfect example of our constant drive to improve the quality, range, value and provenance of our food where we know it matters most to our customers,” said Judith Batchelar, director of Sainsbury’s brand.

Last month an investigation by The Grocer found significantly higher levels of fat and sugar in own-label gluten-free products at some of the major supermarkets. In the case of Sainsbury’s a gluten-free loaf of bread contained four times the amount of fat per 100g as a standard loaf, while a 400g Sainsbury’s free-from beef lasagne contained 7.2g of fat per 100g - 50% more than the supermarket’s standard frozen lasagne; it also had one-and-a-half times as much sugar.

At the time a Sainsbury’s spokeswoman said the retailer had been working hard on bringing free-from products “more in line with their standard equivalents, ensuring we offer a choice of healthier options”.

Sainsbury’s said it accounted for a quarter of all allergen-free food sales in the UK.

According to Kantar Worldpanel, one million people in the UK suffered from a food allergy in 2014, making the allergen-free market worth £355m.

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