Where to go with food allergies?

[Anonymous]

My daughter is allergic to milk, peanuts, and tree nuts. So far we have limited our travel to places where I speak the language and can read ingredient labels (Mexico, England, USA), and where we can rent an apartment to do our own cooking. But I'd like to stretch ourselves a bit. The kids are 9 and 5 and otherwise more ready for exciting travel. Does anyone have any recommendations on places that have been particularly food-allergy friendly? Where local restaurants know about allergies and can accommodate them? Where grocery store labels might be written in English even if that's not the dominant language? Travel operators with organized tours who have accommodated specific food needs? I'd be grateful for all advice - foreign and domestic. And also info about places where it was hard to travel. For example, we recently went to Colonial Williamsburg and, after checking menus online, brought enough food for the 2 days for DD. And I'm glad I did - there was peanut everything. She did get to eat a meringue dessert at one of the taverns, though. I look forward to hearing from you!

[Anonymous]

Canada. May not be as exciting as you are looking for, but they have great allergy labeling. My son has multiple food allergies as well. Would you mind sharing any places in the Uk and Mexico where you had luck? TIA.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Fabulous! Thank you for the suggestion. How are restaurants in Canada about food allergies? Any place that you've found to be particularly fun?

We spent a week in London and rented an apartment. Did not feed DD in any restaurants simply because it was easier to pack her a lunch every day. One exception was fish & chips at the Tower of London. They had the box right there with the ingredients.

We've twice been to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico and rented a condo there. We go because my in-laws have a condo in the same development.

I've found food labelling to be good in both places, and both countries sometimes have "may contain" labelling, which shows me they're paying attention to the issue.

[Anonymous]

How about New Zealand? They speak English and have pretty good food labels as I recall.



I just googled this....

Since December 2002, New Zealand’s food labelling laws require that the most common allergenic foods be stated on food labels. This includes milk, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, sesame, fish, shellfish and gluten-containing cereals, including wheat.
While it is not mandatory for manufacturers to include precautionary statements such as ‘may contain traces of peanuts’, these are usually only used if the manufacturer feels there is a significant risk of cross contamination; for example, if biscuits containing peanuts are produced on the same line as another biscuit.

[Anonymous]

Canada-recommender here. Check out this website for good recommendations:

http://allergicliving.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=21&sid=6c0cf1d7ee055f3f5b41dac0f70d9e1b

Thanks for the recs on London. I used to make food such a big part of my traveling and have now learned to make that a sustenance-only consideration (cook for ourselves what we might eat at home).

[Anonymous]

I do not recommend Italy. We had a terrible problem there with restaurant staff (and gelateria employees) blowing us off outright. Even when we could communicate in Italian and even when we had one of those "I have a food allergy" cards written in Italian.

It's not that they couldn't understand us, it's that they had decided on their own that it just wasn't a big deal.

[Anonymous]

have a co-worker with three kids with varying degrees of allergies - they had a fabulous vacation on the disney cruise line. one daughter has SERIOUS allergies and a list a mile long... she actually gained weight on the trip b/c there was so much stuff for her to eat... ok -- so maybe not europe BUT a great family trip and NO food worries!

[Anonymous]

OP here - fabulous advice, all! I'm so glad to know about NZ, Disney, and Italy, and will definitely start thinking about the first two.

[Anonymous]

South Africa is pretty good. They speak the language, it's beautiful, the food is fabulous (think Napa Valley-esque) and if you go on safari, which kids that age would go gaga for, all of the chefs are pretty top end and know how to deal with food allergy issues. They cater pretty well to it.

[Anonymous]

Wow- South Africa! I hadn't thought about that, though I do remember a friend's telling me that it was the best place in Africa to go with kids, because of good medical care. Thank you! Because of your recommendation, I actually am looking into South Africa in the next two years. (Need to make sure kids are old enough to deal with the looooong plane rides.)

[Anonymous]

I can't say enough about Disney-

we went when my dd could only eat a handful of things and they still made it safe and fun.

also check out POFAKS-they have an entire section on travel with allergies

[Anonymous]

No problem - if you want reccs for places to stay in South Africa, just let me know! There are a couple of safari regions, fyi, that are malaria free (more central and north/northwest areas) so no one has to take the malaria pills either.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the Disney rec! What's POFAKS?

[Anonymous]

Disney has the chefs come out and speak to you if you have allergies, and they will tell you what you can/can't have on the menu. If you have the dining plan, children under 9 must eat from a designated children's menu where available. From that perspective it is good. If you are looking for healthy meals for your kids, however, don't expect it there. Alot of burgers, fries, nuggets, chicken tenders, etc...

[Anonymous]

OP here - I'd love more details about where to stay in South AFrica, particularly without malaria pills. I am giving serious thought to this trip!

I'm also hoping for a Disney trip before South AFrica. Thanks for the food warning on the menu choices. If they're safe, we put up with a lot, but not sure how many nuggets DD could take.