gluten free/allergy friendly food

chiakijohnson · Post by **chiakijohnson** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 3:12 pm

Hi -
I moved to Finland a few weeks ago. I am having a hard time finding/buying groceries and other living neccesities mostly because I have no ability to read in Finnish... I am gluten intolerance, and have quite other things that I am sensitive to. It is really hard for me to buy and eat a safe product not to aggrivate my simptoms. Where can I find and what are the names of the food should I look for? (I have to be no meat, no eggs, no dairy, no soy, no gluten/wheat)

- Gluten free flour: I used to use sorgham flour but do they sell it in Finland? Or backwheat flour? I found gluten free flour in a store, but the first ingredients it said "wheat flour"...??? What kind of wheat flour is it? Is it backwheat?

- egg substitute: I like to use ground flax seeds. Where can I find it?

- Allergy sensitive snack: Any suggestions?? I really need some support for this department. In the U.S.A., I liked to buy "enjoy life" product, because they do not use wheat, dairy, soy, eggs.

- Dairy free ice cream? Do they sell coconut milk ice cream?

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Bee · Post by **Bee** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 5:25 pm

Veganism and vegan shopping in Finland: http://www.vegaanituotteet.net/inenglish
Though of course a lot of the vegan products are made of soy..

Can you not eat dairy at all or are you "just" lactose intolerant? Because there are loads of lactose free products available in Finland.

There is a list of gluten free products available to download from this page: http://www.keliakialiitto.fi/liitto/glu ... /tuotteet/ (Keliaakikolle soveltuvia tuotteita -luettelo 2013) it's in finnish though, so i don't know if that's any help, but i couldn't find anything in english.

DMC · Post by **DMC** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 7:35 pm

http://www.celi.fi/ may also be worth a look

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 8:03 pm

IF they sell it as gluteeniton / gluten free, then they have a legal standard (<30 mg/kg) to match. Engineers are pretty good at extracting and removing stuff (you may of course mention the actual product name). Coconut "ice cream" I do not remember, soy based products I think are widely available.

jahasjahas · Post by **jahasjahas** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 10:16 pm

chiakijohnson wrote:- Dairy free ice cream? Do they sell coconut milk ice cream?

I guess your best bet is rice-based ice cream (riisijäätelö). Not that common, but larger stores probably have at least one vanilla one available.

Pappagallo sorbets are lactose free, gluten free, fat free and vegan - just be sure to choose a sorbet and not an ice cream.

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 12:27 am

This is a useful site for learning the Finnish terms for the foods you can eat.

http://www.dlc.fi/~marianna/gourmet/multi_ve.htm

You can buy buckwheat flour in any supermarket (tattarijauho) and also flax seeds (pellavansiemen). There is usually a good range of foods for people with various food allergies and diabetes in the bigger supermarkets like Citymarket and Prisma. The specialist stores sell the same things, but are more expensive.

CH · Post by CH » Sun Jun 23, 2013 11:25 am

Here is a list of different products for people with different allergies/intolerances: http://www.erimenu.fi/tuote/:tuoteryhmat/
... but it's in Finnish, so use for instance Google translate.

Perhaps make a list of the things that are no-no for you (and exactly what are no-no for you... for instance, dairy free doesn't say much... do you mean milk protein free or lactose free, or are you a vegan?, etc.), and perhaps people here would translate that for you. Or... even better... try to find someone who has the same kind of allergies/intolerances as you, and have them show you in the store what you can buy and where to find it. Perhaps ask on the forum of the Allergy and Asthma Federation: http://www.allergia.fi/keskustelut/ (the page is in Finnish, but use Google translate... you can write in English)

Anyway, there usually is a non-gluten shelf somewhere in the store, ask a sales person in the store to show it to you. Most products have a label if it is low lactose (vähä-laktoosinen), lactose free (laktoositon), or gluten free (gluteeniton)... but that does not mean that they are dairy free or wheat free, so learn to read the labels! You may also try reading the Swedish labels, as they may be easier to understand as an English speaker.

chiakijohnson · Post by **chiakijohnson** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 8:42 pm

Thank you so much for your informative replies, everyone! I will look into the suggested websites. And yes, I do feel the need to learn to read the food labels!!

Thank you!

(I am not lactose intolerant... I am not sure what it is that gives me trouble, but milk/cream/butter/cheese gives me acne problems.)

Eliss · Post by **Eliss** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 1:53 am

And for gluten free products there is "gluteeniton" (gluten free, that could include vehnätärkkelys - is it wheat starch in english?) and "luontaisesti gluteeniton" (naturally gluten free which does not contain wheat at all). That took me sometime to figure that out when i was wheat-free diet some years ago.. So if its wheat that you are avoiding try to check these Luontaisesti gluteeniton products!

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 9:54 am

You may find that your conditions improves simply because you are in a different environment and NOT consuming the same food/water etc on a daily basis. One of my kids had terrible acne and was on medication then he did his military service and within a few months he was free of his acne and his meds. So... maybe you should sign up!!!

chiakijohnson · Post by **chiakijohnson** » Wed Jul 03, 2013 10:24 pm

Thank you so much for your advice! I am still figuring out which section in a grocery store I should go to and look for the specialty items for gluten-free. I also have to be careful for soy products because my skin reacts very badly for it (it breaks my skin and starts to bleed on my fingers)

Is there any soy free chocolate sold in Finland?? I miss it very much. In the U.S. "Enjoy Life" companies make soy-free & dairy-free chocolate.

chiakijohnson · Post by **chiakijohnson** » Wed Jul 03, 2013 10:45 pm

Rosamunda wrote:You may find that your conditions improves simply because you are in a different environment and NOT consuming the same food/water etc on a daily basis.

Yes, you are actually right! I am now given up for being on a strict elimination diet just because it is so hard to maintain without having all the specialty items. It has been 2 days now that I am eating regular bread. It seems it does not affect me as much as I used to. Soy, though, breaks my skin and bleeds on my fingers. I am suspecting the gluten free flour sold in a regular store may contain soy products... It is always a trial and error to figure things out about foods. I will take it easy and watch what this new life will bring

onkko · Post by **onkko** » Thu Jul 04, 2013 12:00 am

You should try, if safe.
I were "strict" lactose free died for over 30 years and one day i decided that since i can eat one cone of ice cream what wasn't lactose free without smelling or !"#¤% my pants etc i should try so i made sure i had nowhere to go and drank liter of milk. Nothing. I did eat only small amounts of lactose products when i were drunk or just didn't care and that is what helped me to make my decision. Yes that decision was made by drunk me thinking "what the hell, lets try".
Im not allergic anymore.
I were clearly allergic and i were called "small factory" due smell of farting due allergy.
Of course this doesn't apply on any more serious problems than smelling like factory and minor stomach pains etc.
I dont know if products have changed (majorly, where lactose would go?) over 30 years or if i did lose my allergy but if its product change and there is no risk of serious things then you should try.

I do love a fact that i can now use milk, cream and cheese in cooking without worries. I don't drink milk since i don't really like taste so i prefer water. and no i didn't drink water while i was growing up, i did drink self made juices from berries so its something cheap me get used to and yes i now eat mysli with milk/youghurt and that's good. I'm just not used to drink milk so i don't really want it.

Who knows what exactly, and i mean exactly, causes reaction. Maybe moving to other country with other ways to do things removes allergy. Or not. In old days natural selection would have wiped you out like it did for my ancestors who cuoldnt tolerate milk but modern days came and save me

rider1000 · Post by **rider1000** » Thu Jul 04, 2013 12:50 pm

I've been gluten free for 10 years now with about a year of that in Finland. If you have questions or need advice, feel free to PM me.
I also have the added benefit of being married to a native Finn, so I have my own private translator to help with ingredients. I'd be more than happy to help you if I can.

jahasjahas · Post by **jahasjahas** » Thu Jul 04, 2013 1:42 pm

If you're actually diagnosed with celiac disease, you should avoid gluten even if you don't see any symptoms - it will still be harmful for you. Or so the internet has told me.

As for milk & soy free chocolate, there are of course many sorts of dark chocolate (tumma suklaa). (They might "include trace amounts of" milk and soy, but it's up to you whether that's a problem.) Back when I was a vegan, I also had some rice-based white chocolate. It was expensive and only available at eco shops like Ekolo and Ruohonjuuri, but I liked it.

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