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Hello Friends,
Wow, what a huge amount of great responses to my question, regarding
travel to Europe. I was amazed at the amount of enthusiasm people have
about eating GF abroad. Now I'm really getting excited and very much
looking forward to this trip from a whole different perspective. My family
all have their own ideas about our trip and what they are looking forward
to, but for me, the idea of traveling to Europe is starting to sound like it
will be a wonderful adventure in discovering a whole new way to eat gluten
free. That alone self will make this trip well worth it for me, and then to
top it all off, there is seeing Europe!
I loved all of your helpful ideas so much that I did not want to edit
much out of the information in which you have all so graciously provided.
Therefore, my summary will be kind of long and split into 3 parts, but well
worth reading every bit of. It is filled with much substantial and
encouraging thoughts and ideas! I will be gone August 10th through
September 1st. I will post a message to let you know how it went when I
return.
Thanks again to all who took the time to share your thoughts and ideas.
Gina
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*For a quick lunch I would go to a tea shop and get a jacket (baked) potato.
*Travel guide throughout Europe put together by Dr. Shcar is a resource.
*Small bell cheeses with some deli turkey in Italy.
I live in Slovakia -next door to Austria. I am just now getting used to
what is available in Austria. The Dr Schar web site gives specific
information on where their products are sold. www.schaer.com
Also there is an English section in the Austria Celiac Society's Web
Sitewhich might be helpful zoeliakie - [log in to unmask] word of
caution: some wheat is allowed in the European gluten free diet - I guess
the gluten has been removed. This is not allowed in the US - So it's good
to watch labels even on GF stuff. I don't think Schar products use it
though.
Well, what a wonderful response. As one listmate said..."visiting the
mothership of the god PASTA" was indeed daunting!! NOT AT ALL!. Coeliac
disease is very common in Italy, with mandatory screening for the
disease at the age of 8. It seems that its probably the easiest European
country to visit with the disease As one listmate said "."it takes on
average ten years to diagnose Celiac in the US - ten days in Italy.
In the UK the obvious places to buy GF foods are pharmacies (which are
called "chemists" just to confuse our transatlantic cousins :-). However
small pharmacies won't have such things in stock and may take time getting
them. Even "Boots the Chemist" (a nation-wide chain) is not likely to have
much special GF food actually in stock.
The place to go is a local big supermarket in one of the big chains.
Particularly helpful is "Tesco". In their bigger stores, they have areas
where special diet foods can be found with GF foods available. "Asda" have
all their own-brand foods marked as GLUTEN FREE if they are, but you'll be
unlikely to find a staff member who knows anything about gluten-free whereas
in Tesco stores most staff members now seem to know where to direct you. At
least some "Sainsbury" stores also have a range of GF foods on a special
diet counter but, although we have tried and tried, it seems impossible to
get them to arrange these away from high gluten foods, which could easily
contaminate them.
An important issue for you is whether you are prepared to eat highly
purified Codex Alimentarius wheat starch. If not then you will have to
check contents lists very carefully, especially the specialist GF foods as
many of these are made with at least some of this starch (we use it all the
time and have no problems but YOU must make your own choice).
The Coeliac Society (Coeliac-UK) in this country produces a Food Guide and
you might contact them and see if you can order one; they are on
http://www.coeliac.co.uk/index_flash.html. The guide costs around GBP3.50.
Restaurants are a bit of a lottery. While you are in the UK, you should be
able to get GF products at Boots (pharmacy) also most supermarkets sell GF
food, ask at the customer service desk. Asda (Wal-mart) own brands are
usually marked if they are GF, they will have a list of their GF products if
you ask.Try health food shops such as Holland & Barrett.
England has a chain of health food stores (they call them whole food stores)
called Holland and Barrett. They have gluten free foods...many by Glutano,
such as pretzels, cookies, etc. You should know that wheat starch (which is
specially processed in the UK) is allowable by the UK Coeliac society and in
many breads, etc. We ate it, and we totally fine. In fact, I wish I could
get those products here in the states. When going to pubs (you'll be in the
country and will want to!) you can drink hard cider, but obviously not lager
or beer. Be warned, it's quite potent, and actually wonderful
They are quite celiac aware in the UK....Heinz products, for example, (baked
beans in the blue and black can and tomato soup are a couple I can think of
off hand) are specifically labeled "acceptable for a gluten free diet".
Jacket potatoes are a big thing there and you can get them most places, and
that's a good meal. Don't eat hamburgers anywhere, they put breading in
burgers, as they do with sausages. But, the UK has fabulous fish, and you
can get it most anywhere....just ask them to do it without breading or
flour. Gina-I've traveled to many parts of Europe and the rest of the world
before Celiac, and recently returned from a trip to Norway, my first since
being diagnosed Celiac. Some hints:
1. Before you go, go to the Dr. Schar website www.schaer.com . You will
find the names, street addresses and phone contacts for all the places that
Dr. Shar products are sold. That should give you an idea of how accessible
GF foods might be in the areas you plan to visit. In Norway I used these
addresses and easily found places to buy at least GF bread and cookies.
2. Don't count on getting ANYTHING safe to eat in transit. I traveled NW
and KLM through Amsterdam to Norway, and even though I ordered special meals
they didn't work. My "fruit plate" for dinner going over consisted of an
overripe banana and an apple (for dinner) and the rest of the stuff wasn't
GF. Coming back they forgot to put any special meals on the plane and the
best the stewardess could do for me was to get a few plain salads from first
class. I knew there might be problems and carried enough food for two or
three days each way (in case of delays in transit) and was REALLY GLAD I
DID! Also, not much GF in the airports, and sometimes maybe ok but
different brands so I didn't try as didn't want to be sick on the trip. I
took cheese and lettuce sandwiches (no refrig needed), fruit, cookies,
carrot sticks, etc. nuts GF pretzels. Also, don't take more fresh fruit
than you expect to eat on the flights as you typically can't take fruit
through customs into European countries. I took sealed packages of bread,
cookies, etc. into the countries without a problem.
3. In Norway, celiac is treated as "normal"-many Norwegians speak English so
it was easy to communicate, and even the local pizza chains and McDonalds
offered (and printed) gluten free stuff right on their menu and in
restaurants all I had to do is ask for GF bread or meals and they just said
"of course"-much easier than the USA, but each country is probably
different. I didn't get sick once the whole trip.
4. You are absolutely right about packing light-especially moving from place
to place and using public transportation (I'm assuming) you will be glad you
did. If you take too much stuff you just lug it around-less is better.
Most people I know (me included) who travel a lot take less and less each
trip. The places you are visiting are less exotic than you think-if you
don't take something essential you can always buy it there.
Although I am from Australia I spent most of last year in the UK and I found
it to be far more gluten-free friendly than here. Many items have
gluten-free on them and don't rely on you to know which ingredients are
dangerous. In particular Sainsbury's (a UK supermarket) supplements many
items with information on the shelf labels which sometimes advise that an
item is gluten free even though it may not say so on the item itself.
One thing you should be aware of is the situation with pharmacies (chemists
in the UK). In the UK coeliacs can go to their doctor and obtain a
prescription for gluten-free bread, biscuits etc. which they take to the
chemist to be filled and they only pay the basic prescription charge (6.50
pounds when I was there) for a month's supply of bread etc. (lucky them!).
But you can't do this as a visitor. This also means that gluten-free items
in chemists are much more expensive than supermarkets as not many people buy
them without prescription. Also I found that only the larger pharmacies
keep gluten-free items as regular stock. In most you have to order and pick
them up the next day.
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