food allergies in Italy?

Someone posted on that subject, or at least part of it, just today. Here's a link. The poster recommends several restaurants:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/food-drink/gluten-free-in-italy-f74cdb25-a72e-4252-a952-8671bbeb7775

Also, go up to the "search" box at the top of the screen, and search for gluten free, or shellfish allergies. You'll find some help there.

This topic comes up rather often. If you search the forum you'll find some detailed responses in earlier threads. The short answer is that Italy appears to be quite good about dietary restrictions and is probably the best place in the world for people who are gluten-intolerant. It is normally suggested that affected travelers carry with them multiple copies of a statement about their food restrictions, in Italian, to eliminate confusion. Folks have reported that translations can be found on the Internet.

Europeans have the same problems with allergies as US citizens so they are use to deal with it all the time. You might look at the Italian words for your allergies.

a few weeks ago we were in amalfi coast ( various locations) milan and dolimites. virtually every restaurant had a full sheet of information describing the food allergies, either with the menu or on the wall/s. you should have no problems with GF, if its not listed, just ask. I do, and they often have GF pasta at least. check for 'senza glutine'
hope this helps.

I am sure the restaurants will be more than happy to meet your requests as long as you let them know when you first arrive

woinparis, not just diet, but lifestyle. Americans are less likely to be exposed to normal environmental elements including dust, pollen, and other naturally occurring things. We know people who never open their windows, never walk farther than from the house to the driveway, and spend as little time possible outdoors. We know people who run their a/c at home until the day they switch the unit to heat - then back to a/c in the spring. They have almost no exposure to actual fresh air. Children aren't encouraged to play outside or get dirty. And surface sanitizers are everywhere!

If we don't let ourselves be exposed to some of these things, our bodies aren't able to build up a natural defense.

I'm not saying that applies to celiac disease or seafood allergies, by the way. Just a generalization.

Thank you all for your assistance. We are looking forward to our trip and hopefully will enjoy the food without worry!

what I forgot to mention, while there are plenty of GF options in italy. they 'mostly' don't know how to cook GF pasta and pizza. we found they don't know that you have to cook GF much longer and often in a different way. so you will no doubt find undercooked pasta and GF pizza on an under cooked base. we even had to ask for the pasta to be re-cooked ( i think they just zapped it in the microwave for a while)
its a common mistake made by people you just don't understand GF food. they treat it like 'normal' wheat based food.
hope this helps.

Gluten free is extremely easy in Italy. Every restaurant we stopped at was quite familiar and was able to point out safe choices on their menu. Many had gluten free pasta and pizza, and the ones that didn't were careful to say the risotto was made in house with no gluten, or that the sauce on this dish had flour so avoid it. It was light years better than what I see in the US.

As for shellfish - is cross contamination a problem with this allergy? A lot of places offer shellfish but will of course have non-shellfish options. If cross contamination or hidden sources is an issue, I'd print a card in Italian specifying the allergy. Italians take food allergies seriously so they will understand.