Traveling to Italy and Malta

[Niki Svik]

My daughter was diagnosed with Celiac Disease 2 years ago.  It's been quite a journey with a lot of learning.  She is finally healthy physically. We are going to be traveling to Italy and Malta next summer and I am curious of your experiences with gluten free eating while traveling in those areas.  Any advice is much appreciated!  

[cristiana]

Hi @Niki Svik

Welcome to the forum!

I am afraid I have not ever visited Malta, hopefully someone else will chime in about that.

However, I've read a lot of posts on this forum about Italy and it seems that for the most part, the Italians are very good at catering for coeliacs.  In Italy they look after their own coeliac population very well.   

My mother-in-law lives in Italy and my own experience is that the larger supermarket in bigger towns hold a good stock of clearly labelled certified gluten free ranges.  Most smaller shops will only stock a limited range of pasta and crispbreads.

When at a restaurant, your daughter needs to make it clear that she a coeliac - time to get the phrase book out (or google translate!).   Most will understand and do all they can to help.  But I did have issues in a remote part of Liguria.  One cafe could only offer me gluten free cookies with my coffee, they had nothing else for me; another in restaurant, the elderly owner had never heard of coeliac disease so I didn't want to risk eating there.   So my advice would be for your daughter to buy a few staples when in a bigger town to keep in her bag in case she has this experience.  But for the most part, I think she will be well looked after.

This might be helpful.

https://www.miramonticorteno.com/blog/2020/1/13/gluten-free-in-italy-the-5-essential-tips

Edited August 18, 2024 by cristiana

[Scott Adams]

You may want to have a restaurant card like this with you just in case:

Quote

Attenzione: Senza Glutine

Ho la celiachia e non posso mangiare glutine. Il glutine si trova nel grano, orzo, segale, e farro. Anche tracce minime possono causarmi problemi di salute. Per favore, assicuratevi che il mio cibo sia preparato senza contaminazione da glutine.

Evito i seguenti alimenti:

• Pane, pizza, pasta, e gnocchi (a meno che non siano senza glutine)
• Farine e pangrattato
• Dolci, biscotti, e torte
• Birra e altre bevande a base di malto

Posso mangiare:

• Riso, mais, patate
• Carne, pesce, uova
• Verdure, frutta
• Formaggi, latte, yogurt
• Olio d'oliva, burro

Grazie mille per la vostra attenzione!

 

[Niki Svik]

On 8/18/2024 at 12:40 PM, cristiana said:

Hi @Niki Svik

Welcome to the forum!

I am afraid I have not ever visited Malta, hopefully someone else will chime in about that.

However, I've read a lot of posts on this forum about Italy and it seems that for the most part, the Italians are very good at catering for coeliacs.  In Italy they look after their own coeliac population very well.   

My mother-in-law lives in Italy and my own experience is that the larger supermarket in bigger towns hold a good stock of clearly labelled certified gluten free ranges.  Most smaller shops will only stock a limited range of pasta and crispbreads.

When at a restaurant, your daughter needs to make it clear that she a coeliac - time to get the phrase book out (or google translate!).   Most will understand and do all they can to help.  But I did have issues in a remote part of Liguria.  One cafe could only offer me gluten free cookies with my coffee, they had nothing else for me; another in restaurant, the elderly owner had never heard of coeliac disease so I didn't want to risk eating there.   So my advice would be for your daughter to buy a few staples when in a bigger town to keep in her bag in case she has this experience.  But for the most part, I think she will be well looked after.

This might be helpful.

https://www.miramonticorteno.com/blog/2020/1/13/gluten-free-in-italy-the-5-essential-tips

Thanks!

[Niki Svik]

On 8/19/2024 at 4:35 PM, Scott Adams said:

You may want to have a restaurant card like this with you just in case:

 

This is very helpful.  I will plan to have it on our phones.  Thank you!