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Thank you all very much for your kind responses to my question about
traveling to England next summer.  The general summary is that I have
nothing to fear, but should still watch labels if I don't want to give
my son the Codex Alimentarius wheat starch that is safe to eat in
England.  Below are some of the replies I received.  You have helped me
feel much more at ease!  Juliane

------  You will be able to buy GF foods at Safeways,Asda,Sainsbury's
and Tesco supermarkets or Boots pharmacy or various health food stores.
Most of these will have a variety of biscuits, pre-prepared foods...

-----   We were in England last summer and had a blast!  Gluten free
eating wasn't a problem.  Tesco supermarkets carry Dove's brand gluten
free flour mixes and they are fabulous to bake with.  Tesco actually
carries a substantial line of gluten free stuff including Glutino and
Glutano.  Dove's rice flour is gorgeous.  Notify your airline that there
is a medical situation within the family and you will find that you can
take anything you want at any weight and it will go free of charge!  You
will need a letter from the doctor authenticiating the celiac and then
you are home free.  Asda-Walmart was useless in the gluten free zone as
were the smaller stores.  Walker's potato chips are actually marked
"gluten free" on the packaging!  Have a wonderful trip - we did!

-----   Last year (right at this time) we went to France and
Switzerland.  We too
discussed the wheat starch issue and what we would do if the gluten free

foods we found were all wheat starch based.  We decided that there were
many healthy European celiacs so, when in Rome.....However, we never
found any foods that had wheat starch in them.  They were mostly rice
based like our foods, but a whole lot tastier.  If your experience is
like ours there will be non-wheat starch based GF foods.

-----   The current Codex standard is 200PPM. Millions of Celiacs in
Europe eat Codex standard products without any apparent ill-effects.
Several studies have explicitly looked for any medical consequences from
eating Codex standard wheat starch and have found none.

-----   Sainsburys supermarket has the best GF range or Tesco's Free
From range.
Also look out for health food stores like Holland and Barrett and look
out for Heniz products as most are GF in England.. including beans with
mini pork sausages. Marks and Spencer do some lovely sausages and other
luxury GF foods.  Some flavours of Walkers Crisps are GF and most shops
sell something that is naturally GF if not specially made. Also, i have
been able to eat in most restaurants. Just call them before you go to
check but most have been more than happy to accomodate - it seems to be
a growing problem here at the moment and i am also lactose intolerant
too so can be even more difficult.  We even have some Gluten free fish
and chip shops here now...which is a must!! There's one in Yeadon, near
Leeds in Yorkshire but am sure there are more over the country. Try
contacting the british Coeliac Society before you go as they will be
able to help you with this info.. their website address is
http://www.coeliac.co.uk

-----   You need to understand that Codex Alimentarius wheat starch is
not tested for gluten but for total protein (not all wheat proteins are
gluten).  The minimum which can be measured by the internationally
agreed test is 300 parts per million.  Tests which are not accepted by
all, show very much lower levels.  Having said this, there is no reason
why you shouldn't get your son CA wheat-starch-free food here.  No-one
is FORCED to eat food containing this substance and if you ensure that
you check properly you can certainly get a lot of GF low-protein and
no-protein flours and breads over here.

-----   We lived in England for two years, from my celiac daughter's 6th
birthday to her eighth.  Before we went, I had heard Bette Hagman speak
about her travels to England.  She tried rolls with Codex wheat starch,
amazed at how delicious they were -- and was horribly sick after eating
them.  That was enough to make up my mind not to let my daughter eat
wheat starch.  It is possible to find gluten-free foods without wheat
starch in England.  You need to check ingredients, and be very clear
when ordering or buying g-f food in chemists (pharmacies) or health food
stores or supermarkets.

Hope that wasn't too much text in a summary, let me know if I made a
mistake!

*Please provide references to back up claims of a product being GF or not GF*