vaso Fabbri

Ice-cream parlour project

The Associazione Italiana Celiachia (AIC - Italian Coeliacs Association) intends to establish, in every region, a chain of ice-cream parlours that are informed and aware of the problems of the coeliac sufferer's diet, where ice-creams with a reduced risk of gluten contamination can be produced and sold.
Because of the importance given to artisan ice-creams, the Ice-cream Parlour Project is now the new challenge taken up by the AIC. Ice-cream is especially important to children, so it is one of the hardest things that young coeliacs are forced to give up. The Ice-cream Parlour Project responds to the need to limit the coeliac's condition. The realistic objective set by the AIC is to reduce the risk of involuntarily consuming gluten, by spreading awareness of coeliac disease among workers in the ice-cream industry, and providing training on the actions that should be taken to avoid this substance. The Project is aimed at all ice-cream parlours. Those eligible for the courses (which are free of charge and held in various regions and provinces), are the business owners and staff working in the field of ice-cream preparation and sale. At the end of the course, and once they have signed an accord with the AIC, the ice-cream parlours can take advantage of the following promotions:

  • publication on the lists of ice-cream parlours in the newsletter Celiachia Notizie published by the AIC;
  • a feature on the AIC's national and regional website (www.celiachia.it);
  • dedicated publication;
  • involvement in local AIC events.

During 2005, the AIC ran information courses in every region in Italy, meeting with great interest and support by workers in the industry. To date, over 200 businesses have joined the AIC Ice-cream Parlour Project. This number is set to double during 2006 due to the constant requests for attendance on the courses. Anyone interested can contact the regional branch of the AIC, whose addresses and telephone numbers can be found on the website www.celiachia.it.
The AIC's training courses are not designed to teach a new or alternative way of preparing traditional ice-cream, but to convey the level of responsibility required for anyone proposing to offer a service to a specific group of people with a serious dietary condition.