It’s not easy to find “free-from” food at the best of times, but when you’re travelling it’s nigh on impossible!
Last Monday I decided to pop into the M&S Food store whilst travelling through Birmingham New Street train station. I know they sometimes have gluten-free sandwiches, but they hadn’t got any in stock the last time I’d looked and, anyway, they didn’t taste too good the last time I tried them. However, what did I spy but an M&S Made Without Wheat – Turkey, Bacon and Cranberry Sandwich. This sounded right up my street (though I did have my reservations about the bread). I could only see two downsides – the £4 price tag and the fact that it’s not lactose-free (something which could easily be fixed if they didn’t baste the turkey with butter).
Safely on my train home, I opened the sandwich and tucked in. The seeded bread actually tasted nice. It was a little dry, but that’s common with gluten-free bread. Anyway, the sandwich had plenty of cranberry sauce in it to keep it moist (something which many sandwich makers would scrimp on). Actually, there was plenty of filling all round. As well as the roast British turkey breast, smoked British bacon and cranberry chutney, the sandwich also contained sage mayonnaise and spinach. I wolfed down the sandwich and really enjoyed it. It was simply delicious!
5% of the sale of the M&S Made Without Wheat – Turkey, Bacon and Cranberry sandwich goes to Shelter (the housing and homelessness charity), which is great, but it’s not much per sandwich.
Apart from the £4 price tag and it not being lactose-free, the only other downside I can see is that the M&S Made Without Wheat – Turkey, Bacon and Cranberry sandwich is a seasonal product. So once Christmas is gone, so is this sandwich. It’s a shame, but I’ll be travelling through Birmingham New Street once again before Christmas, so I hopefully I’ll be able to grab another sandwich before they go for good.
Isn’t it nice that there are getting to be more good-tasting options out there for folks with food allergies, etc. That does sound a bit pricy for a pre-made sandwich, but at least a little of that is going to charity.
That’s a hefty price tag. I’m a bit of a skinflint and take my own sandwiches when I’m travelling.
Hi Nikki,
The hospice shop in Warminster, Wiltshire, is very conveniently sited right next door to a branch of Greggs the bakers, a rather too convenient for that lunch time snack!
They also offer a ‘Christmas Lunch Sandwich’, which although it is made with malted bread, definitely isn’t wheat, or anything else free!
It is however, quite tasty; a similar portion of the money from the sale goes to charity (I can’t for the life of me remember which one and I only checked out the packet today); and best of all it retails at £2.75 a bargain compared to M&S.
The downside, like M&S, the sandwich is seasonal and will disappear off the shelves before the New Year!
I am pleased for you that there is more food around which caters to your allergies, although I don’t really think it fair that you should have to pay through the nose for it!
Have a good weekend 🙂
Yvonne
That’s a bit expensive for a sandwich I must say, but at least it tasted nice 🙂 x
-Leta | The Nerdy Me
As one of the members of my reading group has multiple allergies I’m both amazed by the products that are out there and yet can be difficult to source. An interesting post, thank you for sharing your experiences.
I’m glad you enjoyed the sandwich, after paying so much for it!!