Comparable basket

The comparable basket is the set of items in a household's logs where both the gluten-free price and the regular-price equivalent are known. It is what the GF premium is calculated against. The cleaner the basket, the sharper the premium.

The basket-building habit is simple. When a gluten-free item is logged in Gluten Hero, the user fills in the GF price (from the receipt) and the regular price of the closest non-gluten-free counterpart (the brand the household used to buy, or whatever the store carries on the same shelf). The pair is the comparable. Sum across the year and the premium falls out.

Items that do not have a non-gluten-free counterpart (xanthan gum, sorghum flour, certified GF oats, specialty mixes) do not belong in the comparable basket; they are flagged GF-Only and their full price counts as a medical expense rather than a premium. Items where the household has not yet entered a regular price are tracked but excluded from the basket; they show up in the Insights tab BackfillNudge if the household has logged enough total trips and unpriced items to justify the prompt.

The basket does not need to be exhaustive. The IRS rule (see Revenue Ruling 55-261) is the increment over an ordinary-diet equivalent; a representative basket across the categories the household actually shops is enough. A celiac household that logs 60 percent of grocery items with both prices will produce a more defensible Schedule A medical line than a household that logs none.

For the full concept walkthrough, read Building the gluten-free vs gluten control basket.