Coeliac disease is a serious condition, there is no denying it. Its sufferers can develop serious illnesses if they eat gluten, from digestive disorders to  osteoporosis or bowel cancer. That's why the NHS gluten-free food prescriptions are so important and valuable for people with this condition.

"The aim of providing gluten-free food products on NHS prescriptions is to encourage patients with coeliac disease to stick to a gluten-free, nutritious diet so they do not go on to develop more serious illnesses, which can affect their quality of life as well as being much more costly for the NHS," said Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.

Sticking to a gluten-free diet is, however, a very expensive business. BBC Newsnight has revealed that two prescription gluten-free pizza bases can cost the NHS as much as £34. But this is just the tip of the iceberg - the NHS spent £27m on gluten-free prescriptions in 2011.

Still, the real problem comes when we add to that sum handling and delivery charges, which can quadruple the cost and are not recorded.

With the health service budgets under constant scrutiny, one wonders how they could afford spending more than £100m on gluten-free prescriptions a year.

The NHS is well aware of the unsustainable nature of the situation. As Lansley said: "we keep this area of prescribing under ongoing review and are currently considering how we might get better value from the prescribing of gluten-free products whilst ensuring patients continue to get the products they need."

Put this way, it seems like manufactures and wholesalers are the ones to blame for the stratospheric prices of gluten-free products. But the NHS could save some millions too if it would only prescribe staple food like bread and pasta - at least until the problem with the middlemen that make huge profits out of this food gets solved.

Because, according to Newsnight, cake mixes and bourbon biscuits are also available to people with coeliac disease. Is this the kind of "nutritious diet" Lansley wants to promote amongst coeliac disease sufferers? Isn't it an unaffordable treat, anyway?