My food allergies mean I only trust one supermarket

In our series, Supermarket Swap, we challenge a family to change where and how they do their weekly grocery shop. Can they save money by trading old habits for new – and will they decide to switch to another supermarket as a result? If you want to take part, email money@inews.co.uk. This week, we speak to Julianne Ponan, 37, of Surrey, who lives with a series of life-threatening allergies which can send her into anaphylactic shock if she eats the wrong thing. She trusts Tesco for its product range and decent labeling – so can Lidl match up with some safe options – and save Julianne some money, too? Supermarket Swap Old supermarket: Tesco New supermarket: Lidl New bill: £31.78 Equivalent in old supermarket: £34.97 Saving: £3.19 Julianne Ponan had her first anaphylactic allergic reaction when she was just two years old, after innocently eating a cookie. Shorts After that harrowing experience, Julianne, now 37, underwent multiple tests, which led to her discovering she had a series of life threatening allergies – to peanuts, tree nuts (for example, Brazil nuts, pistachio, hazelnuts and others), sesame, chickpeas, lentil, coconut and buckwheat. Julianne’s allergies have shaped her whole life. “I remember growing up and never being able to have cake at a party, never being able to attend a sleepover, and I could never buy anything from a bake sale,” reflects Surrey-based Julianne. “My mum removed so many products from our house to keep me safe. Going over to other people’s houses for things like Christmas was always very difficult.” Eating out at a restaurant is also difficult for Julianne to do. “It’s not just about the food that’s been served in front of you. I’ve told my allergy to this staff member, who’s now got to tell this person and this person, and that’s got to get all the way back to the chef,” she says. “There have been many times when I’ve accidentally been served the wrong plate. Once I ordered a salad and it came with walnuts on top, after I had specified no nuts. The waitress argued that it didn’t have nuts, then tried to pick them out with a spoon. I was like, ‘No, I’m anaphylactic. I still can’t eat that.’” While Julianne has become quite the expert in what foods she can and can’t eat, she still has unwelcome surprises to contend with. Just three months ago, she ate a specific brand of bread which she had previously deemed safe based on its ingredients. After just two bites, she experienced an anaphylactic reaction, and was rushed to hospital in an ambulance. It turned out the brand had changed its recipe and introduced ingredients Julianne is allergic to, without making it clear on the packaging. The worry extends to Julianne’s weekly shop. This can take her up to an hour and a half as she has to check all labels. One of her biggest issues is with products that are advertised as “free from”, yet have the disclaimer “may contain traces of…”, as these are still unsafe for her. It’s the reason she has been campaigning for clearer labeling, and dedicated sections within “free from” aisles to cater to different allergies. Julianne’s experiences inspired her to create her own brand, Creative Nature Superfoods, which offers a range of baking mixes, snacks and superfoods that are all certified as being “Top 14 Allergen Free”. Julianne does her usual weekly shop at Tesco, with the occasional trip to Sainsbury’s, largely because both retailers make it straightforward to filter out what she can’t eat. She spends around £50 to £60 a week on herself and her husband Matthew, 39. This also includes an Abel and Cole recipe and meal box. For this edition of Supermarket Swap, Julianne agreed to do her shop at Lidl instead, to see whether the budget retailer could work for someone with multiple allergies, and whether it would actually save her money. The trolley was a typical family mix: fresh produce, fish, cheese, and a few ready-to-eat extras like a snack bar, Quorn cocktail sausages, a chilli soba noodle pot, barbecue chicken kebabs, croissants and lean beef mince amongst her items. Julianne’s Lidl shop came to £31.78. It was a cheaper price than Tesco on the salmon – £3.59 compared to £5.15. The eight pack of croissants were also cheaper, coming in at £1.49 compared with £2.25 at Tesco. Also cheaper were the peaches (£1.29 versus £1.70), the barbecue chicken kebabs (£4.35 versus £4.50) and the microwave rice (69p versus 85p). The same trolley, according to an online price comparison, would have cost £34.97 in Tesco, leading to a saving of £3.19. The saving, however, came with a catch that mattered more to Julianne than the total on the receipt: a pair of near-misses. Both the lemon and blueberry snack bar, and the eight pack of croissants carried a “may contain nuts” warning that Julianne missed, but noticed once she checked in more detail at home. “That’s the real risk with switching stores when you’ve got allergies. At Tesco, I know the ‘free from’ range and the layout really well. In an unfamiliar aisle, moving fast, those are exactly the kind of labels I’d normally never miss, and I missed two in one shop,” says Julianne. But it wasn’t all bad news on the labeling front. Julianne also spotted Lidl bagels with no sesame and no “may contain” warning at all. She didn’t buy them on this trip, but has flagged them as something to go back for. On top of that, there was a structural problem, too. Unlike Tesco, which has a dedicated ‘free from’ range, Lidl had no such section in her local store. That meant no allergen-free cakes, no desserts, very few snacking options and no ready meals she could safely eat. “For me, with numerous allergens to avoid, it wasn’t really workable as my main shop,” says Julianne. “I could buy the fresh basics perfectly well, and cheaply. But the moment I needed something processed or ready-made, there was next to nothing there for me. “It’s made me think about Lidl differently as somewhere I’d happily buy the fresh, unprocessed half of my trolley from now on. But until there’s a proper ‘free from’ range on the shelf, and clearer allergen labelling on the snacking side, it can’t replace Tesco as my main shop.”