My husband is considering a 2-3 year position in Germany. We would be relocating from the United States. Both of our daughters (ages 3 and 7) are celiac and one has severe food allergies in addition to celiac. Are any of you able to let us know how easy or difficult it is to live with food allergies in Germany? I am concerned about their well being. Also, the 3 year old suffers from speech delay due to celiac (she is gluten free and improving, but quite behind in speech still). Are there speech services in Germany like they have in the U.S.? Many thanks in advance!

I don't know for sure but I have a friend whose grandchildren are in Germany for the same reason, so I will ask her the next time I see her. Celiac runs in her family, so she is aware of the needs.

I do know that here in the USA parents have the option of homeschooling their kids if that seems to be the best option for whatever reason, including constant exposure to gluten and other allergens from what other people bring into the school. That is not an option in Germany. The state will actually remove your child from your custody if you dig your heals in. Some families flee to other European countries. That isn't always enough. One family has moved to Canada and another has moved to *Iran* of all places, all in the name of the freedom to educate their own kids as they see fit.

If you don't home school your kids and have no intention of doing so, that isn't an issue, but I thought I'd give you a heads up, just in case.

OHNE GLUTEN.
ZOELIKALIE

Those are the two words to translate gluten free and celiacs disease I think.

For research purposes (my wife is opening a gluten-free bakery & pastry shop), I surfed around the net in Germany, to see how they do it.

There are some options available and I am sure many more I did not find.

Schaer, widely available in drug marts, like the DM chain. Soso stuff, we ate some on our last trip to Austria.

Hammermuehle, a corn producer, they have a shop near Frankfurt I think.

But the best I could find while surfing was an actual Baeckermeister, Thomas Kaufman, who dedicated his craft to gluten free bread. We exchanged some emails since and he is really into his bakery, which when it comes to gluten-free is so important. Passion for quality is it. He ships via his website. Here is his website. Under "links" you can find a whole list of celiac related websites in Germany.

http://www.meingesundesbrot.de/

Just so you know, Italy is the the most advanced country when it comes to Celiacs screening. Every child before school age gets tested. Italy is not far from Germany at all and you can find tons and tons of gluten-free products there as well.

Hi!
I recommend you to get in contact with the "Deutsche Zöliakie-Gesellschaft e.V.", the german society of people with coeliac disease. Address and contact-dates you can find on www.dzg-online.de.

You can find a pretty good supply of glutenfree food in the supermarkets, drugstores and so on. Some of them labelled with the "glutenfree symbol" (crossed out ear). All allergen containts of a food-product have to be listet on the wrapping (in descending order).

Please excuse my imperfect english. I didn't use it for years and registered only today to this forum. I hope I'll improve soon.

Love, Heidi

Here is a super blog post for Germany and Austria for you:

http://www.bookofyum.com/blog/gluten-free-...sants-1187.html

Hi,
I'm a German celiac and live in the north-western aerea of Germany, at the dutch border. If you have any special questions, you're welcome

Mia

Hi Mia,

I have never blogged before but am getting ready to visit Germany at the end of the year for 2 weeks. I came across this while doing as much research as possible and I am very excited you offered to help. I am going with my boyfriend and he has a friend who lives in Germany. I do not know where we will be staying but would love to get some suggestions from you for eating out. Oh, and what chocolate we can eat. I am a chocoholic. LOL I will certainly find out and get back to you, if you do not mind. Thank you


Kim in AZ (USA)

Hi Kim,

if you can tell me exactly where you will go I'll be able to find out about eating out there. How sensitive are you to gluten? I know that some celiacs can tolerate chocolate which says "may contain traces of gluten" but some even get sick with those traces. There is chocolate which is declared to be gluten free, though. Do you prefer dark chocolate or milk chocolate?

Thank you all for your responses! The move did not go through, but I truly appreciate all of your support!