Hi Everyone,

I was inspired by Nanny's recent post in the Madrid v. Granada thread. I didn't want the thread to get off topic, so I decided to open this instead.

My son has been diagnosed with celiac disease which is an intolerance to gluten. Gluten is the protein that is found in wheat, barley, rye, oats, etc and all its derivatives (flour, pasta, malt, yeast...).

If you follow the mediterranean diet (which isn't hard to do here in Spain!)... it's fairly easy to maintain a gluten free diet (just be sure to elimate the bread, pastries and pasta).

On the other hand gluten free products are relatively easy (although considerably more expensive) to find in most supermarkets. The best supermarket (considering cost v. quality) to shop in is Mercadona. They carry many products that have the guaranteed seal of FACE (Federación de Asociaciones de Celiacos en España). The second best is Hipercor (Corte Inglés' hypermarket) which has a section dedicated to special dietary needs, including a selection of gluten free sausages, pizzas, etc...).

As with any food allergy or intolerance, the trick lies within reading the labels and knowing which preservatives are a no-no.

Just thought I would share!

I can't say that I've paid attention in the past to gluten-free foods myself, but I have to second the recommendation of Mercadona as a generally great supermarket--I have found it to be the best in terms of affordability and availability.

I would also think that health food stores might be a good alternative source for special dietary needs; just as one example, there's NaturaSí.

I'm very excited to see that someone has started talking about food allergies/intolerances. I was the one who mentioned food allergies in the Madrid v. Granada forum that inspired THIS post to be started so I guess I'll reply here with details.

I have a life-threatening (as well as life-consuming) allergy to peanuts...as well as a fairly mild yet manageable allergy to soy that I tend to ignore since it doesn't matter outside of soy milk, tofu, and edamame...things I don't encounter often nor do I plan to in Spain. My concern--as well as my parents concern--is that we have no idea what level of useage peanuts has in Spain. Here in the States, there are traces of peanuts in probably about 80% of the foods I eat--and I check ingredient labels religiously and never eat anything with even a mild chance of peanut contamination unless I have a food label or know EXACTLY who made the food, where it was made, and whether there is a chance or not of coming into contact with peanuts.

I'll be spending the spring semester in Spain and intend to come bearing multiple Epinephrine pens (to help if I stop breathing from ingesting peanuts), wear an allergy bracelet in Spanish detailing my allergy with contact info, and even carry around a new-ish invention of paper cards that explain my allergy to peanuts in Spanish that I can hand off to waiters in restaurants to pass onto the chefs if necessary. Does anyone here know what kind of useage peanuts have in Spain? Whether it's popular or not to have them in foods (usually I only encounter them in Asian foods or desserts, which I avoid unless I've made them myself or they have a label on them) and whether peanut oil is common at all? Furthermore, though I doubt anyone knows, do food companies in Spain accurately label peanuts and traces of peanuts on food labels like we do here in the States--since it's federally regulated?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!