As a gluten intolerant, having a meal in foreign country is a struggle. Every time in a supermarket, restraunt you need to carefully look what’s in them, It’s like walking on an egg shell(it’s gluten free though lol)
Here in Sweden, I would say it’s easy to find gluten free! However even if it is written ‘gluten free’, extra attention is needed. Let me get to this in the end and here’s how you find gluten free in supermarket &restaurants
<Finding gluten free in supermarket>
In supermarket, buying an ingredient could be a little struggle. Make sure you have google translator installed in your phone. Some of the products have ingredient labelled in english, but some are just directly written in Swedish. Also if you find this logo, it means gluten free A little vague tip, if I find the word Vetemjol(wheat in Swedish) in a product, I just put it back to the shelf.
<Are there a lot of gluten free products in supermarket?>
I would say, essentials are mostly covered. Gluten free pasta, gluten free bread, gluten free cookies etc(oh yeah I see cookie as essential😤) Gluten free section is available on most of the supermarkets. When it comes to variety, hope you don’t expect too much. Food in Ready made corners, such as sandwich, granola with yogurt etc mostly contains gluten.. cooking it yourself is definitely a safer option.
<Gluten free in a restaurant>
In restaurant, mostly they have gluten free options, gluten free foods are labeled in the menu most of the time. Staffs are well aware of it as well. Of course I can’t generalize it but mostly yes. There is one funny thing. I went to McDonalds and asked if there is a gluten in ice cream, but the clerk handed me the ingredient information, telling me he can’t tell me if it is gluten free or not, according to the instructions he got. So I had to google translate ingredients(which was written in Swedish) and finalize that it doesn’t have ingredient with gluten! I guess lawsuits are big thing huh. As a sidenote, they also have gluten free burger buns which could be swapped with normal one!(I didn’t get sponsored though🙄)
<Be careful though!>
Although gluten free products are eaily found, here is one thing to be cautious: OAT. Sweden includes oat as a gluten free. Not all oats are labelled gluten free though. There are oats grown close to gluten-containing-grain field, which is not labelled gluten free. However, Oats that are grown/processed with no gluten contamination will be gluten free. Nevertheless, I know there are some gluten intolerants who avoid oat, so I just wanted to let you all know😃
To wrap up, I would say yes Sweden is gluten free friendly, restaurants are mostly well aware of the allergies and easy to find products that are gluten free. however relatively not much options available in supermarket(though general problem for gluten intolerants worldwide😅) Don’t hesitate to go out and enjoy Swedish gluten free meal!