FRANCE 2019: Gluten Free Products & Stores for Celiacs??

[JamesM66]

Hi I am new to this forum. I have Celiac disease AND IBS.

I am considering teaching English/Living in France, but I am concerned

about product availability in the stores/restaurants (if I dare). 

I have done some research already on this site and found only one

detailed post from 2007 and she was gluten intolerant, not Celiac.

She referenced the AFDIAG site, which is their Association as did another post,

but I thought I would try getting some info from a native English speaker first

who lives in North America and is used to our wonderful products (Udi's, Amy's Etc.)

and could compare experiences.

Are there any Celiacs living in France or recently visited who could

update me on the situation?? I am considering specifically the cities

of Strasbourg and Lyon. I definitely do not want to go to Paris for a 

variety of reasons, so please no Parisian recommendations ?

 Thanks in advance.

[kareng]

There is a great Facebook page called “ Celiac Travel” by Gluten-free Globetrotter.  They have had recent posts on France.  

[Nikki2777]

My info may be a bit old, but I believe Bionatura and Schar products are easy to find there, and you probably want to focus on organic ("bio") stores.

[cristiana]

Just to add to this... I had a holiday in France this year.  There certainly are some gluten free products available with the crossed grain symbol on them in the larger supermarkets, and even in the smaller supermarkets.  However, I did not find the range as comprehensive as the range we have in the UK.   I did not eat out while we were away - I rarely do in the UK - but I did buy some processed food for our holiday gite and relied instead on allergen warnings on tins and packets. (I am a lazy cook!) Perhaps things aren't so strict there but I think I was glutened on more than one occasion (cc) and when I had my latest blood test my TTG had gone from 14 to in the 20s.  My consultant thought it probably was due to glutening in France, as I had been feeling quite good until I went on holiday.  I'd be very interested to hear from others if they have encountered the same sort of problems.  In the UK, I find I can rely on labelling from the major supermarkets (M&S, Tesco, Sainsburys, etc) to reveal if a product may have been exposed to gluten in the production process but if I visit France again I think I'll be cooking from scratch or only cooking stuff with the crossed grain on it.