International Travel With Food Allergies

[JumpyTheFrog]

Technically I don't have food allergies, but I do need to strictly avoid gluten. I also avoid dairy, although I have a little more leeway with cross-contamination. I feel better avoiding corn and rice, although I'd be okay if I had to eat them on a trip. DS is allergic to eggs. He's not anaphylactic, but they do give him digestive issues and make his asthma worse.

I'd like to plan some international trips, but the food is so hard to deal with. I've learned not to trust restaurants until they have a totally separate area for cooking gluten-free food or it's a place like Chipotle where only nearly everything is gluten-free already. As a result I almost never go out to eat. Even domestic travel is a pain. I either have to book a place with a kitchen and cook or get grocery delivery of foods I can have. 

Any ideas?

 

 

 

[bolt.]

I think your strategy of booking places with kitchens is a good idea.

The other option might be higher-end all-inclusive styles of travel, such as resorts or cruises. At a certain "level" the kitchens there seem to very much know about western-style dietary restrictions and allergies. (And they expect very serious complainers if they don't toe the line -- so they've figured it out.)

[MEmama]

We only have one food allergy between us (DH is severely allergic to coconut) so we learn the name for it wherever we travel and just ask. Everywhere we've been people have been extremely helpful, even with any language barrier.

We typically stay in places with kitchens or at least a fridge and make a lot of our own meals. We all enjoy grocery shopping in different countries so it's actually really fun. 
 

It seems more common now to see allergens and gluten mentioned on menus, but not to the same degree as it is in North America.

[Lilaclady]

Make sure to ask. I was surprised with how much gluten awareness was in Italy despite being the pasta capital and all but I’m not gluten free so might be different. I just noticed a lot of restaurants and groceries listen gluten free items 

[lmrich]

Maybe not the solution you were looking for - we took  a cruise to the  Greek Islands last  year, and I was  stunned with how great they were accommodating my allergies. I am allergic to wheat, dairy, rice, nightshades.... so traveling is just  difficult for me. I  met with an allergist specialist  and  planned my meals for the next  day. 

[rebcoola]

Idk where you are going but my SIL and Niece have traveled through Western Europe and have celiacs and say its actually much easier there. 

[lewelma]

I cant eat wheat or dairy (but can have gluten). Im currently in mexico and all is well because i just go to food vendors who only cook with masa. Easy to ask for no dairy. Dont see many eggs here. I also had no trouble in Thailand. Basically, i pick places that dont eat wheat or dairy in their local cuisine, then i have no trouble. 

[Spryte]

We just did our first international trip with 3 people with multiple life threatening food allergies and 1 Celiac. It sounds like yours aren’t anaphylactic like ours, but maybe some of what we did will help.

- we took enough epinephrine to keep an elephant alive on the flights, per allergist’s recommendation. Inhalers, too. Also, any other allergy meds. 

- our kid with airborne nut and seed allergies masked continuously on the plane (he has had anaphylaxis on a plane in the past but masks are genius for this!). Board early and clean the seats, tell flight attendants about allergies, if needed.

- we booked an Airbnb with a kitchen and a table large enough to sit and eat.

- we traveled with a huge suitcase full of safe foods, and planned menus around being able to shop for meats and produce. 

- we researched labeling laws in our destination country, and knew enough to understand that we could not count on labels for “produced in a facility that also manufactures” types of statements for may contains. So shopping was limited.

- we did not feed our anaphylactic kids in restaurants. Period. That requires placing all of one’s trust in the cooks and servers. I just couldn’t do it. However, for Celiac only, or non life threatening allergies, I’d have been comfortable.

- ah, wait, one exception to the restaurants — DH has a work colleague with almost the same allergy set, and she ordered pizza that was safe for our kids and me for the company party, from a company that knows her. We went out and spoke to the food truck/tent chefs and felt comfortable. We watched them cook it, and read all ingredients beforehand. Awesome pizza.

- we used a translation app with our phone camera to read labels.

- we all had chef cards made through FARE in the appropriate language.

- we all wore our medic alert jewelry and carried allergy meds, etc.

We survived two weeks, and would do it again. It does make traveling much harder, though, and I’m envious of people who can just hop a flight with a suitcase of clothes!

Edited July 6, 2023 by Spryte
Clarity

[JumpyTheFrog]

1 hour ago, lmrich said:

Maybe not the solution you were looking for - we took  a cruise to the  Greek Islands last  year, and I was  stunned with how great they were accommodating my allergies. I am allergic to wheat, dairy, rice, nightshades.... so traveling is just  difficult for me. I  met with an allergist specialist  and  planned my meals for the next  day. 

I have considered cruises because it sounds like it might make dealing with the food easier. I'd like to have a vacation where I don't have to put so much effort into finding ways to eat. I don't really want to have to spend so much time cooking, grocery shopping, or trying to bring most of my food with me.

Which cruise line was this? How did you handle lunch if you were doing an all-day shore excursion?

[lmrich]

10 minutes ago, JumpyTheFrog said:

I have considered cruises because it sounds like it might make dealing with the food easier. I'd like to have a vacation where I don't have to put so much effort into finding ways to eat. I don't really want to have to spend so much time cooking, grocery shopping, or trying to bring most of my food with me.

Which cruise line was this? How did you handle lunch if you were doing an all-day shore excursion?

We did a Norwegian Cruise.  Sometimes lunch  was part of the excursion so they accommodated my allergies. But, I always ate a breakfast so a  salad or an apple for lunch  was enough. 

[Harriet Vane]

I had a really, really good experience in France in April. I cannot have gluten or milk products. At multiple restaurants in multiple cities over almost two weeks, a quick explanation to the manager or wait staff was all that was needed. They were kind and very willing to make sure I had safe food that was tasty. If they couldn't modify something on the menu for me, they made up a new dish not on the menu. It was a magnificent wonderland of fabulous food, and I am genuinely grateful to the French for being so culinarily awesome.

That said--I do not have cross-contamination concerns because I have food intolerances, NOT celiac. But the restaurant staff that I interacted with were knowledgeable and they were all so kind about making sure I could eat good food that I would definitely trust them again. They were ALL careful to discuss my exact needs with me. It was easier there than it is here in the US. (Actually, here in the US I have been to quite a few restaurants who respond to my concerns with irritation or who have nothing safe for me to eat.) My experience with French restaurants was really pretty amazing. 

[Spryte]

38 minutes ago, Harriet Vane said:

I had a really, really good experience in France in April. I cannot have gluten or milk products. At multiple restaurants in multiple cities over almost two weeks, a quick explanation to the manager or wait staff was all that was needed. They were kind and very willing to make sure I had safe food that was tasty. If they couldn't modify something on the menu for me, they made up a new dish not on the menu. It was a magnificent wonderland of fabulous food, and I am genuinely grateful to the French for being so culinarily awesome.

That said--I do not have cross-contamination concerns because I have food intolerances, NOT celiac. But the restaurant staff that I interacted with were knowledgeable and they were all so kind about making sure I could eat good food that I would definitely trust them again. They were ALL careful to discuss my exact needs with me. It was easier there than it is here in the US. (Actually, here in the US I have been to quite a few restaurants who respond to my concerns with irritation or who have nothing safe for me to eat.) My experience with French restaurants was really pretty amazing. 

My dairy allergy kid will be happy to hear this! Wheat people, too!

[Harriet Vane]

11 hours ago, Spryte said:

My dairy allergy kid will be happy to hear this! Wheat people, too!

One thing I definitely recommend is to carry a card written in the language of the country you are visiting explaining your needs. I did this, but I only needed it once. I was able to comfortably talk and answer questions most places--where my fluency in French faltered, GoogleTranslate was there to save the day.

[wintermom]

3 minutes ago, Harriet Vane said:

One thing I definitely recommend is to carry a card written in the language of the country you are visiting explaining your needs. I did this, but I only needed it once. I was able to comfortably talk and answer questions most places--where my fluency in French faltered, GoogleTranslate was there to save the day.

This is a wonderful idea! It would also be good to explain exactly what you can't eat. For example, a friend of mine has a violent reaction to anything with tomato (any product with even a trace of tomato). She ended up in hospital because the restaurant didn't quite understand that tomato traces in the seasoning and/or sauses could be considered "tomato." 

[Faith-manor]

When we were in Iceland, we booked an apartment and did most of our own cooking, packed lunches and snacks for when we would be away for quite a while. When eating out, I ate salads ordered for without croutons, and a vinegar and oil type dressing to avoid gluten. 

In France, it was easy. My sister has celiac, and restaurants there use entirely fresh ingredients, cooked from scratch. The kitchen staff know exactly what is in every dish, so sis would just tell them she had celiac and that I was allergic, and wait staff would go ask the kitchen what was safe for us to eat. Often the kitchen manager or the chef would actually come out to talk to us about preparation to prevent cross contamination. Very accomodating! My sister also has a favorite coffee shop around the corner from her apartment who let her bring her own GF pastry/snack with her because they do not serve GF pastries. I found the same kind of helpful desire to accommodate in Germany as well as Egypt. One place we stayed in Luxor had a massive breakfast buffet that came with the room rate. The head chef was German, and he was so kind. He walked around the buffet, pointed out everything that would be GF and not likely to have any cross contamination, and then would have his staff prepare a plate for me in the kitchen so I would not have to worry about possible contamination from folks using tongs for bread and then for fruit, or spoons used from one item to the next. It has always been easier for me to eat out in foreign countries than here in the U.S.

[Spryte]

1 hour ago, Harriet Vane said:

One thing I definitely recommend is to carry a card written in the language of the country you are visiting explaining your needs. I did this, but I only needed it once. I was able to comfortably talk and answer questions most places--where my fluency in French faltered, GoogleTranslate was there to save the day.

Yes. We always do this. If you go to FARE, there is a link to follow to create and print chef’s cards in your choice of language. We laminate ours, and take many, many copies. We like to give them to the chef so they can keep them on hand while doing food prep, and sometimes we don’t get them back.

https://www.foodallergy.org/resources/food-allergy-chef-cards

Edited July 6, 2023 by Spryte