You absolutely do not have to live off only products labelled gluten free. Certain products such as bread, yes, you will need to get those from the specialised sections, but there are many other things which don't contain a gluten free label which are fine for Coeliacs and gluten free diets. Surely you wouldn't look for fresh fruit and veg, meat, fish etc with gluten free labels? Why shouldn't other products be the same.
REMEMBER: check for BROWS (Barley, Rye, Oats, Wheat and Spelt), if a product contains these then it's not safe UNLESS it states gluten free. It is UK law to label all allergens, the term gluten free is also legally protected so it if states it, it is, even if it contains what would usually be a gluten containing grain (it will have been processed to be below 20ppm, the level deemed as safe for Coeliacs under UK laws). The other thing to check for is may contains, while not a legal requirement 99% of manufacturers do use it, and this guideline is being made stricter by the FSA by the day. No may contain warning and no gluten containing ingredients usually means it is fine for Coeliacs.
So what products can you avoid buying from the supermarket free from aisles? Let's have a look!
Ketchup
Most ketchup is gluten free and to be honest it is one I have seen the free from aisles exploiting less and less over the last few years. In 2016 there Chippa gluten free ketchup was widely available the free from aisles and double the price of regular ketchup. I have only ever seen one that isn't gluten free and that was a catering one. Heinz, supermarket own brand etc are all fine. Ketchup does still pop up occasionally in the free from aisles, but not one you need to think about buying.
Brown Sauce
Check your home brands, it's not everywhere but some home brands are safe. Tesco home brand is the one I see mentioned all the time. That one will cost you £1.10 for 450g compared to Chippa's free from offering at £1.90 for 300g. Some other brands do only contain barley malt vinegar, something Coeliac UK used to deem as safe but no longer do as it is impossible to know if it falls below 20ppm, so do watch out for those.
Mayonnaise
Absolutely no need to get this from the free from aisle. The only reason any Coeliac should need to buy it from the free from aisle is if they are egg free too. That is the only reason there tends to be mayo there. Remember the free from aisle isn't just for gluten free, it's all allergens. Hellmans, Heinz, home brands are all gluten free and taste way better. Like tomato ketchup I have only seen mayonnaise not gluten free once, and again that was a catering bucket of it (always check mayo when eating out!)
Cereal
This is a harder one but not impossible, there are cereals which are gluten free but not on the free from aisle. For example M&S new Only... ingredients range, which use the bear minimum of all natural ingredients. Cornflakes, Multigrain Hoops and Choco Hoops are currently the cereals available and only have a handful of ingredients, none of which are gluten containing. These come in at £2.50 a box for 300g, pretty much on par with the free from aisle BUT don't have any of the additives or added sugar. Also check the regular cereal aisle, while you don't get much sometimes you do find Eat Natural granola and Deliciously Ella cereal hiding down them and not on the free from aisle.
Cereal Bars
Often you will find Nakd, Eat Natural, Kind and other cereal bars lurking in the free from aisles but watch out... Nakd bars frequently get put in both normal aisles and free from and I have found more than once that the free from aisle usually has a higher price. It will be one or two flavours down the free from aisle and another 6 or 7 with the cereal bars, the ones in the free from tend to be marked up by at least 10p. Super cheeky but a ploy used quite often in supermarkets!
Don't be afraid of looking at other cereal bars too, Lidl have some similar to Alpen lights (which aren't gluten free) that don't contain gluten, there is one lot of Nature Valley bars that are safe too and also some Slimming World bars available in Iceland and at Slimming World groups are also gluten free!
Nachos/Tortilla Chips
No, don't do it! Check that crisp aisle instead! A lot of home brand tortilla chips are completely fine for a fraction of the cost. Tesco for example have a free from cheese flavour tortilla chips bag at £1.10 for a 200g bag, their standard own brand cheese tortilla chips are safe and 95p for 200g. If you can't have milk...well that's a different matter as the free from ones are milk free too, but if it's just gluten, get those cheaper ones! Same goes for the cool flavour and if you want them plain, even better they do a 57p pack in the crisp aisle! You will find similar in all the other supermarkets too, including Sainsburys.
Hash Browns
Or chips in general to for that matter. You don't need specific free from ones, often the normal ones are fine. For hash browns, Aldi, Asda, McCain, Leon amongst others are all good, chips follow a similar trend. Naked chips are usually a good shout, but check the ingredients as you do get them coated in flour for crispness. Every store has more than one variety that are fine though!
Back to hash browns and Morrisons Free From Mini Hash Browns will cost you £1.30 for 500g but you can actually get a 750g bag of their proper sized hash browns for £2. Why does everything have to be "mini" when it's gluten free?
Pesto
I've seen a few think they need to get this from the free from aisle but like so many of the above you don't. Only buy the free from version if you need a vegan alternative. Or in some cases the free from ones are nut free. You don't need it for gluten free, you can usually pick up a cheap 99p home brand one in the supermarkets and they will be gluten free.
Rice Cakes
Partial to a chocolate coated rice cake? Put those Natures Store ones down that are in the free from aisle and find the own brand ones. You will save yourself about 25%. The Nature Store ones aren't even milk free, they are just the same as the normal home brand ones, only difference is they are in the free from aisle. The same goes for the plain rice cakes too, you can usually find them down the cracker aisle without the free from labelling!
Chocolate
If you are only gluten free there is really no need to buy the chocolate from the free from aisle. Unless you want a Mars Bar, Ferrero Rocher or Malteasers and then closest ones happen to be dairy free. The only time you need to buy chocolate from the free from aisle if if you are dairy free or Vegan as well. Many normal everyday chocolates are gluten free! They are often much nicer and cheaper to, so why bother forking out twice the price if you really don't need too.
Pasta
Ok, pasta isn't the worst price when it comes to gluten free products and often a staple to have about, but you can actually get SOME varieties in the regular aisles, it is worth checking! In Aldi especially and often Sainsburys you can get lentil and green pea pasta. This one is an instance where the free from is cheaper however if you want a DIFFERENT pasta than those made from corn and rice, you will actually find alternatives in the regular aisles.
Pasta sauces
Again these are generally in the free from aisle as they suit dairy free and/or egg free diets but when it comes to gluten free you really don't need to buy them. Check out Dolmio or even home brands, a lot of them are completely fine. Asda free from tomato and herb pasta sauce for example is £1.30 for a 500g jar, their standard tomato and garlic pasta sauce is 69p and bizarrely contains a lot less fat and saturates than the free from one, which uses rapeseed oil as one of the top ingredients (tomato is only 5% of the sauce). The normal one is pretty much all veg (and 71% tomatoes)! It always pays to check ingredients!
Tamari/Gluten Free Soy Sauce
Always double check this one, there will always be one in the free from aisle, but also check the Asian foods, Tamari is a Japanese alternative to soy sauce and you can sometimes find it for cheaper down the Asian foods aisles. It's not always the case with this one, but worth a look if it is going to save you a few pennies. You can also often get big bottles from Asian supermarkets which work out cheaper in the long run.
There are certain things you can't help but have to get from the free from aisle, gluten free bread and biscuits for example but there are so many things you can broaden your horizons on, don't rely on the free from aisles you will make your life so much more restricted and expensive!
If there anything else you often see down the free from aisles you can buy elsewhere in the supermarket