From 1 May, people who are on the coeliac voucher scheme shall be benefitting from a wider range of food options which do not contain gluten.

Coeliac disease is a common digestive condition where the small intestine becomes inflamed and unable to absorb nutrients and so far the only sure-fire treatment for this is a strict gluten-free diet.

A press release issued by the Ministry of Health said that the new product list for the coeliac voucher scheme will also include food products made from gluten free ingredients. These food products are also included in the list of balanced food items.

The voucher scheme was introduced in February 2015 in order to substitute the previous system whereby the choice of products and brands were limited. The previous system also had limited accessibility.