Anyone have experience of food shopping in Italy?

[ewna75]

We are taking our kids abroad to Italy for the first time next week. Our eldest has several allergies (nuts, mustard & legumes). We are going self catering so we can cater for him. I am trying to find out what international brands, that we might already know, are stocked in supermarkets over there. ie. can I get Petit Filous etc etc….?

[highgirl]

There are shops like lidl so they should have gb ingredients panels. They have lot of fresh foods so stick to simple ingredients. Not sure they have petit filous their brands are very different from ours.

[ClairesTravellingCircus]

Hi I live in Italy, no petits filous here, most brands are different, even though sometimes it might be just the name, and the packaging/product is the same.

Just beware that there's not much awareness or understanding of nut allergies as they're quite rare here.

Hope you have a nice holiday and do ask if you any questions.

[ewna75]

Thanks highgirl and ClairesTravellingCircus

ClairesTravellingCircus - do you know if any Yoplait or Nestle yoghurts are available? Or are you able to recommend a brand of kids yoghurts that are ok for people with a nut allergy? We plan to eat fresh fruit, veg & meat & take some freeze packed bread with us but it would be great to be able to buy him yoghurts.

[ClairesTravellingCircus]

Can't think off the top of my head but will look next time I'm in the supermarket! (Prob tomorrow)

[ClairesTravellingCircus]

I'm sure you find Nestle, I'll check thrir products names

[pashmina696]

I have taken DS twice to Italy, he has severe nut, sesame and egg allergies, in the supermarkets everything is labelled as it is in the UK as allergy labelling is required under european law. Some things may be in Latin as this is so more people can understand it - (apparently). In Italy it is rare to find much in the supermarket that isn't Italian but they are all labelled well so it is quite easy. I also noticed that most things are not "processed" so really cross contamination risk is probably better than in the uk. I also didnt have a problem with people understanding his allergies, it was taken very seriously in restaurants. enjoy your holiday!

[ClairesTravellingCircus]

Sorry didn't manage to get to the shopd today. But as pp posters says everything is labelled. Hope you enjoy your holiday.

[Twinklestein]

Hi, we have a house in Italy. Generally the food is all labelled unless you're buying from a little deli with home-made stuff.

My preference for supermarkets is Esselunga - they're like Waitrose.
I've not tried to buy nut-free yoghurt, but they have a 'bio' - organic section, stuff for coeliacs - so you might find nut-free stuff too.