Detailed Gluten Free Restaurant Card - General French

This is a general French gluten free card, written by a celiac and translated by native French speakers familiar with the condition. I traveled the world with celiac disease for a decade and created these cards in 2014 to help others with the condition travel safely.

This card is for use in countries outside of Europe, including in Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Senegal, and more), as well as in Canada (Quebec and elsewhere), Haiti, Madagascar, Togo, Vanuatu and other places where French is spoken. For a card with foods tailored to France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, or Switzerland, please see my detailed restaurant card for France, here.

🚫🌾 Show this card to restaurants, hotel staff, chefs, or anyone preparing your food to help make sure that your food requirements are communicated politely and accurately — and that they are taken seriously.

Accessing your card

Upon purchase, you will receive an email receipt with a green 'download' button. On your computer, click the download button and download:

📱your digital download (PNG image file) with French only, sized specifically for your smartphone, and/or

🖨 your printable PDF version of the detailed gluten free restaurant card with English on one side and French on the other.

You will also receive a second email from me, sent automatically upon any purchase, with the English translation written out in full.

Why buy a detailed Legal Nomads gluten free translation card?

• Each card is carefully crafted by someone with celiac disease, and then goes through 2 sets of translations to ensure accuracy.

• Unlike shorter, less-detailed cards, each card it lists out local ingredients and dishes that have hidden (and not hidden!) gluten in them. Saying "I can't have gluten" just isn't usually enough to keep celiacs safe — many people preparing your food don't know what ingredients have gluten in them.
• It expressly mentions that we cannot eat food from pans, shared fryers, or cooking surfaces that have had cross-contact with gluten.
• It helps communicate what celiacs can eat via a list of safe ingredients.
• To ensure the card is taken seriously, it adds an apology for the inconvenience, and emphasizes that avoiding gluten is a medical obligation — not a choice.

Upon purchase, you will receive a confirmation email with a green 'download' button. The download button will give you a digital download (PNG image file) that is specifically sized for your smartphone. You will receive also receive a second email with the English translation for the card, and in that email you will also have the option to download a PDF file as a digital download. This PDF is meant for printing, for those who want to print their GF card instead of keeping it on their phone. The PDF has the French text on one side, and the English on the other—there are dotted lines for where to fold the card and take it with you.

To access: on your computer, click the download button and download the .png file for your phone. For printing, download the PDF file and print from your laptop or phone.Your gluten free translation card: 

• includes a basic explanation of the disease and what we can't eat;
• uses local ingredient names to best communicate what has hidden (and not hidden!) gluten;
• expressly mentions cross-contact with gluten for oil or surfaces that have been in contact with gluten—something less detailed cards don't do;
• provides a list of ingredients that can be eaten safely; and
• adds an apology for the inconvenience to the chef and staff of the restaurant or stall, to explain it's an obligation, not a choice, that we are eating gluten free.

NOTE: If you have any questions about this card, or are having trouble purchasing or downloading it, or accessing the English translation, please send me an email to jodi@legalnomads.com. If you purchase via credit card, your statement charge will read "Gumroad" (the e-commerce platform where I sell these cards).

Looking for other gluten free suggestions for other parts of the world? See my gluten free travel page on Legal Nomads, here.