Travelling gluten free in Italy

Are you going on a holiday to Italy and looking for the best gluten-free spots? Look no further! We have gathered all necessary information for gluten free in Italy in one easy overview.

Italian coeliac dietary explanation

Italian

Soffro di celiachia/dermatite erpetiforme, un’intolleranza permanente al glutine. Per questo motivo i miei cibi non devono contenere la minima quantità dei seguenti cereali: grano (compreso farro e grano khorasan, spesso commercializzato come kamut®), orzo, segale, spelta, avena.

In questo ristorante vengono serviti cibi adatti, senza nessuno di questi cereali (ad esempio, salse senza farina, scaloppine non impanate o infarinate)?

Avreste piatti preparati utilizzando farina di granoturco, riso, miglio, grano saraceno, fecola di patate, soia? In caso contrario, è assolutamente necessario che le mie pietanze non vengano né impanate né infarinate, e che non siano servite con crostini o pane.

Inoltre, è essenziale utilizzare stoviglie pulite e preparare il cibo in un’area pulita della cucina.

Infine evitate, per favore, di cuocere gli alimenti a me destinati nell’acqua già utilizzata per cuocere pasta con glutine o nell’olio già utilizzato per friggere alimenti pastellati con farina di frumento.

Per ogni dubbio, chiedetemi pure. Grazie mille!

English

I am suffering from coeliac disease, a permanent intolerance for gluten. For this reason, my food must not contain the minimal amount of the following cereals: wheat (included farro and Khorasan wheat), rye, barley, spelt, kamut and oats. Can you please tell me if I can eat in this restaurant or if it is possible to prepare a plate for me without some of the cereals over listed (for example, sauces without flour), or to use some other types of flour as flour of corn, rice, potatoes or soy.

Otherwise, it is strictly necessary that my food is not prepared with breadcrumb or wheat flour, and that it is not served with bread.

It is also important to use clean kitchen equipment and to prepare food in a clean area in the kitchen.

Please, don’t cook my food in water already used to cook pasta with gluten, or in oil used to fry breaded food.

If you are in doubt, please ask me. Thank you!

Where to find gluten-free food in Italy

In Italy, finding gluten free food got a lot easier in the past few years. It is now possible to find gluten free products in almost every supermarket and in many pharmacies. You will also find some specialised shops, which sell a great variety of gluten free food. If you don’t know if a product is safe to eat, check if it contains the “senza glutine” label. The product is also safe if it contains the crossed grain symbol or if it is in the Italian society’s list of certified products (Prontuario degli alimenti, available online and on the AIC mobile app).

Please remember that a product can be safe and gluten free even if it is not in our list, but has the “senza glutine” label and/or the crossed grain symbol.

Gluten-free restaurants in Italy

The Italian Coeliac Association has a project dedicated to eat out called: Programma Alimentazione Fuori Casa (AFC). The project was born to create a network of places that can provide safe gluten free food. Nowadays, this program counts more than 4.000 units all over Italy, which are divided into the following categories:

  • Restaurants, pizzerias, cafés, pubs, wine bars and ice cream parlours
  • Bakeries and patisseries
  • Hotels, B&BS and tourist resorts
  • Sailing boats
  • Catering services

All the venues that are part of this list are considered safe because specialized volunteers and professionals are trained and checked before entering the project and periodically after its entrance. In order to access the program, the venues have to comply with high standards for preparing gluten free food and offer a minimum choice of gluten free dishes. You can identify them because they may have this logo in their main door:

You can find the list of gluten free venues on our website or on the “AIC Mobile” app. Both the online list and the app include a map!

Unfortunately, the list of places offering gluten-free food is accessible only to the members of the Italian Coeliac Association. But don’t worry! You can easily use this service thanks to the temporary version of the app: AIC Mobile Welcome. For more information, please read the next section about AIC Mobile.

AIC Mobile

AIC Mobile is the application created by the Associazione Italiana Celiachia (Italian Coeliac Society) for celiac people, their families and friends. It offers many services, including the lists of gluten free products available on the market and of the venues that can provide safe gluten free food – Alimentazione Fuori Casa (Eating Out) project.

Some of these services are for free but others, such as the latter one, are accessible only to the members of the association. Does this mean that if you are not a member of the Italian Coeliac Society there is no way to have access to these services? Of course not! It is also available a temporary version of the app valid for 15 days that is called AIC Mobile Welcome.

In order to use it, you need to download AIC Mobile and register yourself. Once you have done it, you can have access to the temporary version at a negligible cost.

You can easily download the AIC Mobile on the Apple Store or Google Play. Remember that you need to complete the registration in order to use the app. Only in this way you will receive your username and password.

  • Apple Store:

https://itunes.apple.com/it/app/aic-mobile/id393650916?mt=8

  • Google Play:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.casarini.android.aicmobile&hl=en

Italian Coeliac Society

CYE Delegates:

For more information about the Italian Coeliac Society, please visit:

Head office of the Italian Coeliac Society:

  • Address:Via Caffaro, 10 – 16124 Genova
  • Tel:+39 10 25 10 235
  • Fax: +39 10 844 94 04
  • Email: segreteria@celiachia.it

The Italian Coeliac Society is a federation of 20 Regional Societies. For specific information about the situation in a region don’t hesitate to contact the local society. You will find their contacts on this page: https://www.celiachia.it/dove-siamo/

Last update of this Travel Net information: September 2024