<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Some time ago, I requested info on dining in London, Brussels and Prague. I received several responses, and now I'm finally summarizing them. I know this is long. I apologize for the delay! I'm finally leaving for my first overseas trip since diagnosis!! Belated thank you to those of you who responded!! --Mildred Oberkotter *Buy bread from Ener-G Foods (my favorite is tapioca, and they deliver in about two or three weeks by UPS) it is vacuum packed and advertises a shelf life of six months. <http://www.digimktg.com/enrg/nrg2.html> *For breakfast, bring Instantcream of rice - especially find ground) and some cinnamon, Instant grits. I buy fresh fruit, but also take some dried currants to add to the cereal. Get dried apricots, raisins and nuts in a local market for snacking Most bead and breakfasts have boiling water, so you can boil eggs. Frequently the kitchen help will cook the eggs. Carry red lentils to go with the rice for an evening meal, buy lettuce, etc. Most European countries have wonderful deli sections and salad bars in their grocery stores. *The pharmacy, Boots has gf foods, including products made by Juvela- a company in Ireland, gluten-free bread that has wheat starch with the gluten taken out of it, and a very nice selection of cookies and crackers and Schar brand pasta products. *Most English people are educated about gluten-free living. Most people will understand if you ask for gluten free food. There is a shop inVictoria Station called "Holland and Barrett" which carries the Glutano line of food and has bread, cake, cereal, pasta, chocolate bars, cookies, and a few other things. The musli is very good. Tesco also carries some stuff and fresh fruit. Canned rice pudding is available at most supermarkets. Eating out is a little more challenging, but places which serve "jacket potatos" are abundant. You can have the cheese, tuna, and the beans, in most cases they are from Heinz. Try the little pubs - they tend to serve really good homecooked meals and can usually modify them to be gluten free. Be careful of MacDonald's -get an ingredients manifest. Most of the teas, ice creams and candy bars are OK. There is a little pub and eatery near Buckingham palace where they take you upstairs to eat.. Do not have the avocado bake - gave me the worst case of food poisoning! Most of the people in England and Scotland are quite willing to help out. If you can book your B&B in advance (look at the travel agencies for what they call a BABA (book-a-bed-ahead), you may be able to alert your host to your gf status and they might be able to pick up some food for you. The hostels are also quite accomadating. *All over continental Europe (I don't know about England) there are stores called Reform Houses. They sell a variety of health foods and have a LARGE amount of gluten-free items. Gluten allergies are much more common in Europe than in the U.S. *It is to get gf food in England. All the head waiters know what gluten free is. Look up health foodstores listed in the phone books. They have EnerG bread. Almost everybody knows what CD is over there. Try the jacket potatoes (baked potatoes) at the tea shopes. *If you like Indian food it should be GF and there are Indian restaurants all over London. The only problem was the last night and they used tomato paste. I was letting down my guard and didn't ask. So ask that and you'll be safe as long as they don't use it. *In the Czech Republic, there are shops which have a very small number of items which were clearly stated to be GF. In the U.K., you should contact the UK Coeliac Society for help. They produce a "Food Guide" for GBP3-50 + postage and this will allow you to pick out foods from ordinary supermarkets. <http://www.coeliac.co.uk/> "Boots the Chemist"who have branches all around the UK can order bread and other GF foods. Some of our big supermarkets, in particular TESCO and ASDA, mark a lot of their foods Gluten Free if they are (but NOT all yet) and many TESCO stores have a small selection of GF goods. Most big supermarkets have GF food lists which you can obtain by ordering them a few days beforehand. Sainsbury and Asda and many supermarkets have an allergy handbook which they will make available so you can check for GF foods. Tesco's home page is at http://www.tesco.co.uk/index.htm ASDA's home page is at http://www.asda.co.uk/ *In London, health food stores stock GF foods, including various GF breads. In a hotel, make quite certain well before you get there that they know what you're talking about, and are prepared to help. *There is a chain of resturants in London called Garfunkels that have several GF items on the menu and they exercised care in preparing my choices. They are also in Heathrow ariport and in the vacinity of Victoria Station. They have a rotissory chicken with nothing on it that is quite good. *I usually have fruit (fresh, frozen, dried or canned) with soya yogurt. You can also have bacon which should be grilled on its own bit of aluminium foil to stop cross contamination - or microwaved. Eggs are also good. Sausages aren't worth the risk. Black pudding should also be treated with caution as it usually contains barley meal. Beans are sometimes served with breakfast - some are okay but most aren't. Heinz beans are fine but avoid other brands. Many of the larger stores in England (Sainsbury and Safeway) carry soya yogurt, and the health food chain "Holland and Barrett" also carry a good range of GF food including breakfast cereal. You will also find small local healthfood stores in the "yellow pages". The Boots chain of stores is of no use as far as GF is concerned. The larger pub chains are also helpful; one, Brewer's Fayre has an excellent allergy list. Most places will do a salad but you have to tell them exactly what to avoid. The Little Chef chain is one to avoid. Cooked meats and burgers often have starch added and that may well be wheat starch. . Soups may be thickened with wheat flour or corn flour and may contain barley. It is always best to ask the chef what is suitable. If a chef has been properly trained, he or she will know what you can and can't eat.