As strange as this may seem moving to CH...

I have an intolerance to lactose (which means i cant eat things like cheese, chocolate, cream etc etc)

In the UK I am able to get alternatives to dairy like Soya spread and soya milk (they are generally vegan products).

I have had a look and I think I should be ok getting hold of soya milk but is anyone aware of if I will be able to buy soya spread, cream, custard etc etc?

Thanks in advance

For those products, your best bet will be a "Reformhaus" which you can find in basically every village.

Migros and Coop also has a decent selection of soya products these days. And there you will also find low-lactose milk e.g.

might find some links in here

http://www.englishforum.ch/other-gen...se-zurich.html
Healthy Living:diet & fitness support
http://www.englishforum.ch/other-gen...ght=vegan+soya
http://www.englishforum.ch/other-gen...ght=vegan+soya

Thanks for the quick responses

I feel happier now that I've asked this.

Switzerland is brilliant for food allergies and intolerance: In addition to there being little health food shops all over the place (many more than I recall from Britain, although it may have changed over the last few years), the bigger supermarkets tend to have a decent selection of Freak Foods for those of us who are picky about our eating...

I have to avoid gluten, which is a pain in the arse, although nowhere near as annoying as having to avoid lactose (especially in a country like this!), but I have no trouble finding stuff to eat. I also recently catered for a friend who, in addition to being gluten intolerant, had to avoid lactose and eggs. And she was vegetarian. Finding suitable ingredients for her dinner and breakfast was as easy as walking the 20m to the Reformhaus next to where I work. Followed by a trip to the greengrocery department of the local Migros. Soy and rice milk, soy spread, soy 'yoghurt' and various other odds and sods were readily available.

Good luck, anyway, and if you want to know some of the better Reformhauses in Zurich and its suburbs (how's that for Schwinglish?), let me know when you get here.

Hi!

I also have lactose intolerance and I was happy to find Lactose free milk. I'm quite lucky, my intolerance is not too bad for some product like cheese, and I still eating it a lot! But I have very bad reaction with milk and ice cream.

I didn't drink milk for 4 years until I came here. Now I drink 1 litter per day. Migros have lactose free milk 1.5% fat for 1.98 swiss franc.

For yogourt, I didn't find, but I didn't really check for it. I do my own yogourt with the lactose free milk.

Coop's "Free From" yoghurts are lactose free, I buy them quite a lot. It is so nice to be able to eat yoghurt again!

Thanks so much for all these hints - going to help me a lot

On a side note:

the Coop has gluten free beer for those poor folks who can't manage gluten. I haven't tried it yet; but on price comparison with back home (Oz) it's very cheap at 4 bottles for 10.-

I get the emmi lactose free milk, it costs 2chf from the local Spar. I also get soya milk shakes in vanilla, which are delicious and come in packs of three. I was told by my dietician that cheese does not have as much lactose in it and is more the milk protein, because I found it confusing that I was ok eating cheese.

I'm also intollerant to lactose and I have a question about restaurants.
Is it easy to order lactose free food if you visit a restaurant and is the avarage chef well aware of what lactose free food means?

Soyana products are great. I think they have a website, you can find their products in many Reformhaus or Drogeries, also in Manor but they don't have that much variety. I hardly recommend the Soya-Mandel Milk, or Soy-Almond milk. The best option for coffee.
Freeform products are a bit weird from my point of view and you don't get the lactose but you get all the hormones, antibiotics and toxines from milk products which are not very good for you. good luck!

I only just noticed this...

I can't speak for lactose intolerance, but, personally, I never trust chefs when it comes to advising me on the contents of their food. I've been caught out a few times by chefs who assured me that their meals do not contain wheatflour (the main problem for a gluten intolerant), when my belly told me, within minutes, that they bloody well do!

Of course, I wouldn't expect a chef to know everything about gluten intolerance, or, indeed, to give much of a damn. After all, sealing a piece of meat in a bit of flour - well, that doesn't count, surely? Except it does. For at least the next 24 hours.

So I'd advise you to watch out for yourself. Only you are responsible for what you put in your mouth, and an overworked, exhausted, irritable chef is the last person you should trust to give you informed advice and help, for all their good intentions.

By the way, can any other gluten intolerant people out there explain why I can have problems with the tiniest amount of flour (an oxo cube once ruined my weekend), yet seem to be able to drink lager beer (not dark beers, alas) with impunity? Is this common? Is it something to do with the processing of the barley?

Not that I'm complaining, of course. Perhaps I should question less and drink more? Bibere aude!



EDIT: Fredy at the Sonnenhof in Uetikon is a big exception to the rule - not only is he very aware of food intolerance (he also runs a school catering business), but has even come out of the kitchen to tell me that I can't have something I unwittingly ordered from the menu, because he knows it will ruin my evening. Top chap, he is. And his food is delicious!

Hi Claire,

My husband's lactose intolerances grew much worse when we moved to Switzerland. We have discovered (through much trial, pain and error) that the nicotine, around food and in centers makes this worse. Also, it improved a lot when we bought a water-filter. So, try this is it gets worse.
But I think the water is so good here, you know filled with so many great minerals that his body didn't take to it too well. The filter had made his health so much better. Odd to work in the reverse! But some immune systems don't like all those extra minerals to work with.
Just thought I'd pass these things on. They may save you a lot of hassle

This is also normal. When I moved to Turkey, I was sick for the first 6 months. The food, the water, everything was so different, my body was not able to take it.

And we moved here, and lucky me, I'm not in the same situation. Is it because I'm still in the same ''area''? Maybe... But everytime I go to Canada for vacation, I'm sick...

Nil

Yeah, I can understand that.

Cheese curds, gravy and chips, anyone?

ehhhh, I'm from the french part... we don't eat those things.... but lets talk about poutine!!!!!

That's exactly what I'm talking about!

ehhhh true! Really, I need to go to sleep! LOL



Ps: She is cute, but not fast fast....

Here's a rather handy gluten-free shop if anyone's interested...

It's Taboa, at Seefeldstrasse 25, Zurich. Here's their website: http://www.gfshop.ch/

Bon appetite!