Detailed Gluten-Free Restaurant Card — Netherlands

High awareness — but check the fryer

The Netherlands has high celiac awareness and excellent product labeling, and Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Utrecht have dedicated gluten-free bakeries and restaurants. Supermarket gluten-free sections — especially at Albert Heijn — are extensive. I still confirm the fryer and the roux every time.

What’s on the card

• A plain-language explanation of celiac disease in Dutch
• What I can’t eat and where gluten hides: bitterballen and kroketten (the ragout filling is a wheat-flour roux), frites that usually share the fryer with breaded snacks, rookworst that often contains wheat starch
• What’s usually safe: haring (naturally gluten-free) and Dutch cheeses like Gouda and Edam
• The questions to hand the kitchen — including “Are the fries cooked in a dedicated fryer?”

What’s in the travel companion (page 2)

• How I find celiac-aware places: the NCV’s online eating-out resources, asking “Heeft u glutenvrije opties?”, and skipping traditional snackbars where kroket cross-contact is everywhere
• Dishes worth ordering, shopping notes (Schär, Consenza, Damhert, and the Albert Heijn and Jumbo own-brand glutenvrij lines), and where options cluster — the Jordaan and De Pijp in Amsterdam, plus Rotterdam and Utrecht
• If you get glutened: the apotheek phrase “ik heb coeliakie en heb gluten binnengekregen” — most pharmacists speak English — and 112 as the EU-wide emergency number

The honest certification picture

The NCV (Nederlandse Coeliakie Vereniging) is one of Europe’s most active celiac associations and publishes eating-out resources. The AOECS Crossed Grain mark (gekruiste korenaar) applies to packaged foods, not restaurant dishes, and “glutenvrij” on labels is an EU-regulated claim (max 20 ppm). No mark certifies your individual meal — that part is still conversation, which is what the card is for.

Format

Instant digital download: a 2-page PDF to print or show on your phone.

This card helps communicate your dietary needs. It does not guarantee a gluten-free meal or eliminate cross-contact risk. Always use your judgment, and when in doubt, do not eat. Not medical advice.