Five countries with strong gluten-free systems

Each of these five countries has something you can check before you go: a law, a labelling standard or a restaurant scheme. Wherever you travel, still tell staff you are coeliac and ask how your dish is made.

1. Italy. Venues in the Italian Coeliac Association's (AIC) Alimentazione Fuori Casa network are trained by AIC and inspected at least once a year. Law 123/2005 requires school, hospital and public canteens to provide gluten-free meals on request. Diagnosed coeliacs get a monthly health-service allowance for gluten-free food, usable in pharmacies and participating shops.

   On the site: Freedom, a dedicated gluten-free bakery in Turin, and all of Italy.

2. Spain. Restaurants in FACE's Restauración Sin Gluten scheme train their kitchen and floor staff, are checked with random lab samples, and display a dated annual badge. They are listed in the CELIGUIA app.

   On the site: Naked & Sated in Bilbao, and all of Spain.

3. Ireland. The Coeliac Society of Ireland publishes an annual Food List of verified gluten-free products. It also runs Coeliac Catering Training and lists the restaurants that completed it.

   On the site: Dublin and Cork.

4. Argentina. National law requires restaurants, bars and fast-food outlets to offer at least one gluten-free (sin TACC) option. The option must follow a national safe-handling guide, and the deadline for restaurants and bars was June 2024. Packaged gluten-free food must contain no more than 10 mg/kg of gluten and carry the official crossed-out wheat-ear logo. In Buenos Aires City, venues that charge a cover ("cubierto") must also offer a coeliac-safe dish.

   On the site: La Unión, a dedicated gluten-free bakery in Palermo, and all of Buenos Aires.

5. Japan. Packaged food in Japan must declare wheat as an allergen, even in small amounts. This does not apply to restaurant food or bakery counters, so ask staff there. Japan also has an official "non-gluten" standard for rice flour (JAS 0014), set at 1 ppm or less.

   On the site: Gluten Free T's Kitchen and I'm donut? Gluten-free in Tokyo.