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Gluten Free Israel, Jerusalem

lindalev1

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lindalev1 Newbie
lindalev1
Posted

we are traveling to israel with our 3 kids...one of them is severely allergic to gluten. does anyone have any restaurant or other food suggestions? just thinking of packing his food and anticipation the bag getting lost is giving me major anxiety. maybe i should send a fed ex ahead of time. that could be expensive though...

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rbh Apprentice
rbh
Posted

Try this link -- Open Original Shared Link or this one -- Open Original Shared Link

Felidae Enthusiast
Felidae
Posted

This may be somewhat helpful. Many of the packaged gluten-free items that I buy here are made in Israel. So, I would think that you shouldn't have too hard a time finding gluten-free products over there. Also, I have never got sick from any of them.

  • 3 months later...
maggiemagee Newbie
maggiemagee
Posted
we are traveling to israel with our 3 kids...one of them is severely allergic to gluten. does anyone have any restaurant or other food suggestions? just thinking of packing his food and anticipation the bag getting lost is giving me major anxiety. maybe i should send a fed ex ahead of time. that could be expensive though...

I am going to Jerusalem in 2 weeks, for 2 weeks. We have family there and will be staying in an apartment with our own kitchen. But I definitely hope to dine out a few times.

I was diagnosed in August.

How did your trip go, gluten wise?

How was the air travel/food situation?

Thanks for any info

MM

  • 4 months later...
Davyd Newbie
Davyd
Posted
I am going to Jerusalem in 2 weeks, for 2 weeks. We have family there and will be staying in an apartment with our own kitchen. But I definitely hope to dine out a few times.

I was diagnosed in August.

How did your trip go, gluten wise?

How was the air travel/food situation?

Thanks for any info

MM

Hi! Sorry this is so late, but I figured the resources might be helpful anyway for you later or someone else searching on the net. I hope your trip was fantastic!!

I recently was in Israel in Jan 07 and found that most food labeling includes listing sources of gluten (its pronounced and spelled phonetically the same in Hebrew). Eating out most people knew about gluten (compared to here where they don't). Many chefs walked me through buffets or their menus; and everyone was willing to make new batches of food to avoid cross-contamination. FYI buffets are very, very popular in Israel so be sure to ask about cross-contamination. You might find some people will just say don't eat it (better safe than sorry and reduces liability for them) and of course Israeli accents and attitudes might seem rude or off-the-cuff to us Americans (just like how in Israel many people don't form lines, but tourists do!). So just keep that in mind.

At fast-food restaurants don't expect the same - you'll find people who know about gluten (or have celiac's) and they'll likely tell you just not to eat there (some french fries in Israel, just like here, use bread batter or are fried with bread). There's an excellent website someone already mentioned. It also has a Hebrew restaurant card explaining you can't eat gluten or anything contaminated by it here: Open Original Shared Link

Also try this for some restaurants: Open Original Shared Link

El Al was fantastic about gluten-free & dairy-free kosher meals. I don't know anything about other airlines.

I did great in Israel. I loved the food quality there (except at the large kibbutzim which used food similar to the US). I did get sick from accidentally eating dairy once (mistake in translation). So if there's one thing I can suggest: GET A GOOD TRANSLATOR. My tour guide was helping another person so one of the assistants told me it was ok - but they didn't speak English as well as the tour guide so it was a miscommunication issue.

Since many of us Jews have GI problems like Chrons or Celiacs and since Israel's medical system is more advanced, gluten is more widely understood there.

During Pesach (Passover) ask for non-gebroktz (alt: gebrokts) food. Heck, if it helps with translation you could use it anytime. Speaking of, see below

Word: transliterated plural / transliterated singular (if needed)

Wheat: chitim/chitah

Barley: Seorim/Se'orah

Rye: Shifon or Kuccemeth (ancient) or Kusmin (Talmudic)

Oats: Shibolet shual

Spelt: kusmim

All 5 grains (above): Chametz

Matzoh: unleavened bread

I was planning to move to Israel before I knew as much as I do now about gluten in Israel. Once there and studying afterwards I found it suits my medical & personal dietary needs best (gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-minimal and kosher/organic/humane). Needless to say I'm no expert (the celiacs in Israel are probably more informed), but if you or anyone reading needs any more info let me know!

I hope this helps!

Davyd

PS. I found that Tel Aviv has the most amount of gluten-free food available, but Jerusalem was also very easy.

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