going to Italy with a family member with celiacs, which isn't just fashionably gluten free gluten kills people with celiacs.
Has anyone with celiacs travels ti Italy without getting gluten? Are there resources ?
Posted by
123 posts
Hi Ericka,
Congrats on your upcoming trip to Italy! I am a celiac, and my trip to Italy this year was my first international trip since diagnosis. As many fellow forum members will attest, Italy is one of the best countries for celiacs as they invest heavily in awareness of the disease and proper food protocols.
What research have you completed so far? If you search for “celiac” or “gluten free” in the forum, you will find many threads on the topic, all with great recommendations.
We are happy to help you with initial feedback, but speaking from personal experience, it really is best to dig in to the research to find what works best for your family member.
AiC is Italy’s national association for celiacs and has restaurant recommendations. http://www.celiachia.it/home/HomePage.aspx
The Find Me Gluten Free app is an invaluable tool for research and live lookups in a pinch as I experienced in Florence this year.
Eleonara Baldwin recently updated her gluten free Rome dining list on her blog.
Eater has a great Rome gluten free dining list.
Where are you traveling in Italy? Other forum members can offer more insight if we know more about your plans.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
If you do a search here, you'll see that this topic comes up often. Italy is just about the most celiac-aware place around. All children in Italy are now tested for it (apparently it's pretty prevalent), and restaurants are very aware of issues like cross-contamination.
For starters, here's a NY Times article on the subject, and it has links at the end to more resources: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/29/travel/gluten-free-dining-in-italy.html
Posted by
Chicago
8227 posts
No problem; restaurant industry is connected to the travel industry and very aware.
I've traveled to Italy with a person gluten intolerant and we got bread and pasta senza glutine gluten free in Italian.
This might help
http://www.celiachia.it/dieta/Dieta.aspx?SS=95&M=1280
Posted by
Midwest
2768 posts
Italy is by far the easiest place to travel with celiac in my experience. Walk into any restaurant and ask the waiter if they have “senza glutino” and 90% of the time they will list gf pasta, bread, and often pizza. If they don’t have it they will offer the segundos (usually meat). Regardless, I have never run into a restaurant in Italy that was unaware of celiac. They take it very seriously. They also will tell you if nearby restaurants have more gluten free items.
Gluten free food is also sold in most grocery stores so you can buy snacks like cookies or bread for a picnic.
The GF translation cards are good to have but I’ve actually never had to use them in Italy.
Posted by
Washington DC
28436 posts
I've occasionally seen entire stores in Italy devoted to gluten-free products.
Posted by
NSW Australia
703 posts
as others have mentioned we find it good. BUT like other countries, some restaurants don't know how to cook gluten free pasta. they bring it out still uncooked. ( we even sent one meal back- which was a first for us) and pizza bases not cooked through.
if there is one thing about gluten free food, you can 'generally' cook it with an oxy torch and not worry, compared to 'normal' food.
if you have trouble finding gluten free bread etc, try the pharmacy, they generally stock a range of pre packaged bread, biscuits etc.
hope this helps