Dealing with severe nut allergies in France

[Anonymous]

We're just finding out that our young elementary child has a pretty severe tree nut allergy, given a reaction recently at a restaurant likely due to contamination in the kitchen (there had been past reactions, but not this severe). Since then, we've started letting the restaurant know whenever we eat out, and haven't encountered any problems.

Does anyone know what the etiquette is in France? Just wondering whether we should pack our own meals for the kid when we go out, or whether the kitchens can accommodate our request. We'll be heading there this summer.

[Anonymous]

OP again, just adding that we do have an EpiPen, and plan on keeping it with us--but would rather not use it, if it can be avoided.

[Anonymous]

selectwisely.com sells French allergy cards for both peanuts and other nuts that you can show the restaurant.

[Anonymous]

I'm French and just had to deal with this several times this past year when we traveled back and forth to various places in France.

Europe is not allergy-friendly, despite huge progress recently when they made it the law that each restaurant, bakery, chocolaterie, etc, have a binder with a table of allergies for each of their product. When we asked, the binder was produced rapidly, was easy to read, and we could look up the possible contaminations. Well and good.

BUT!

At Parc Asterix, a theme park near Paris, the Ile Flottante dessert, which the binder said was nut-free because it's made with beaten egg whites floating on cream, actually had ALMOND SLIVERS all over it. It was lucky the contaminant was highly visible and we avoided that dessert, otherwise my son would have eaten it and had an anaphylactic reaction.

The problem is that this is so new to most people in France, that some don't even know what kinds of foods are included in the nut category. They actually had to create a category, because the translation of nut in French is walnut, a specific type of nut. So they call the nut category "fruits a coque" (literal translation: fruits with shell), which I am sure most French people had never heard about prior to this new law. Just before the law was passed, two years ago, we visited a patisserie and wanted an assortment of little tarts, and asked the owner which ones were nut-free. She did not know what we were talking about, and directed us to something with pistachios, the food to which my son is most highly allergic.

So ask for the binder, tell them which foods he is specifically allergic to, and never separate your child from his Epipen, even if you think you're not eating any time soon. Visually inspect and taste the food, and always be vigilant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I'm French and just had to deal with this several times this past year when we traveled back and forth to various places in France.

Europe is not allergy-friendly, despite huge progress recently when they made it the law that each restaurant, bakery, chocolaterie, etc, have a binder with a table of allergies for each of their product. When we asked, the binder was produced rapidly, was easy to read, and we could look up the possible contaminations. Well and good.

BUT!

At Parc Asterix, a theme park near Paris, the Ile Flottante dessert, which the binder said was nut-free because it's made with beaten egg whites floating on cream, actually had ALMOND SLIVERS all over it. It was lucky the contaminant was highly visible and we avoided that dessert, otherwise my son would have eaten it and had an anaphylactic reaction.

The problem is that this is so new to most people in France, that some don't even know what kinds of foods are included in the nut category. They actually had to create a category, because the translation of nut in French is walnut, a specific type of nut. So they call the nut category "fruits a coque" (literal translation: fruits with shell), which I am sure most French people had never heard about prior to this new law. Just before the law was passed, two years ago, we visited a patisserie and wanted an assortment of little tarts, and asked the owner which ones were nut-free. She did not know what we were talking about, and directed us to something with pistachios, the food to which my son is most highly allergic.

So ask for the binder, tell them which foods he is specifically allergic to, and never separate your child from his Epipen, even if you think you're not eating any time soon. Visually inspect and taste the food, and always be vigilant.

+1
I'd do some research ahead of time, and get a list of the French term for common types of nuts--including hazelnuts, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, peanuts, cashews, and pine nuts. Type up a card explaining that your child is allergic to those foods, laminate it, and carry it with you.

[Anonymous]

Almonds are everywhere in France, especially in pastries (macarons). I don't think you could eat from any patisserie.

[Anonymous]

I would scope out the nearest hospital in each place you are staying, just in case. We’ve been to a France a number of times with our food-allergic kids, and two of them have had reactions there. The good news is that each hospital provided excellent care (and the cost was less than half the price for similar treatment in the US).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I'm French and just had to deal with this several times this past year when we traveled back and forth to various places in France.

Europe is not allergy-friendly, despite huge progress recently when they made it the law that each restaurant, bakery, chocolaterie, etc, have a binder with a table of allergies for each of their product. When we asked, the binder was produced rapidly, was easy to read, and we could look up the possible contaminations. Well and good.

BUT!

At Parc Asterix, a theme park near Paris, the Ile Flottante dessert, which the binder said was nut-free because it's made with beaten egg whites floating on cream, actually had ALMOND SLIVERS all over it. It was lucky the contaminant was highly visible and we avoided that dessert, otherwise my son would have eaten it and had an anaphylactic reaction.

The problem is that this is so new to most people in France, that some don't even know what kinds of foods are included in the nut category. They actually had to create a category, because the translation of nut in French is walnut, a specific type of nut. So they call the nut category "fruits a coque" (literal translation: fruits with shell), which I am sure most French people had never heard about prior to this new law. Just before the law was passed, two years ago, we visited a patisserie and wanted an assortment of little tarts, and asked the owner which ones were nut-free. She did not know what we were talking about, and directed us to something with pistachios, the food to which my son is most highly allergic.

So ask for the binder, tell them which foods he is specifically allergic to, and never separate your child from his Epipen, even if you think you're not eating any time soon. Visually inspect and taste the food, and always be vigilant.

As a French person, what do you think of OP's idea to pack their own food for their child when they go to restaurants. Do you think most restaurants would be ok with that?

[Anonymous]

We've dealt with this for years in France. It is getting better. But as the PP mentioned, you pretty much have to list each type of nut individually, because the translation for "nut" only means walnuts. Desserts and pastries are always iffy with nut allergies, but there's much less risk of cross contamination with the savory restaurant dishes.

[Anonymous]

Watch out for peanut oil used in cooking as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:selectwisely.com sells French allergy cards for both peanuts and other nuts that you can show the restaurant.

This is brilliant!!!!

[Anonymous]

As an allergy parent, I’m kind of skeptical your child could have a “severe allergy” you are just discovering in ES.

Putting that aside, epinephrine, if given quickly, is extremely effective and not something you should be wary of using. My daughter sees Dr. Wood at Hopkins, failed a food challenge there, and I’ve seen epinephrine in action. A miracle drug. There is no downside to giving Epi even if you are unsure if the person “needs” it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I'm French and just had to deal with this several times this past year when we traveled back and forth to various places in France.

Europe is not allergy-friendly, despite huge progress recently when they made it the law that each restaurant, bakery, chocolaterie, etc, have a binder with a table of allergies for each of their product. When we asked, the binder was produced rapidly, was easy to read, and we could look up the possible contaminations. Well and good.

BUT!

At Parc Asterix, a theme park near Paris, the Ile Flottante dessert, which the binder said was nut-free because it's made with beaten egg whites floating on cream, actually had ALMOND SLIVERS all over it. It was lucky the contaminant was highly visible and we avoided that dessert, otherwise my son would have eaten it and had an anaphylactic reaction.

The problem is that this is so new to most people in France, that some don't even know what kinds of foods are included in the nut category. They actually had to create a category, because the translation of nut in French is walnut, a specific type of nut. So they call the nut category "fruits a coque" (literal translation: fruits with shell), which I am sure most French people had never heard about prior to this new law. Just before the law was passed, two years ago, we visited a patisserie and wanted an assortment of little tarts, and asked the owner which ones were nut-free. She did not know what we were talking about, and directed us to something with pistachios, the food to which my son is most highly allergic.

So ask for the binder, tell them which foods he is specifically allergic to, and never separate your child from his Epipen, even if you think you're not eating any time soon. Visually inspect and taste the food, and always be vigilant.

OP here, thanks so much to all PPs, very helpful. I should have mentioned, we will be in the south of France, near Antibes and later in Nice. Would you have any additional suggestions/advice given this location?

Also, would the term "fruits a coque" be familiar in the south of France? Not sure how long the term has been around. I just checked an email from the school nurse (kid attends the French school), and I see that she used the word "noix." Would this be adequate to describe her tree nut allergy? We speak a little French, but neither of us are fluent. Actually, I just realized that maybe we should speak to the school nurse re: any suggestions too.

I'm a little bummed that she won't be able to eat a lot of delicious things while there if it has nuts or may be exposed to nuts in the kitchen, but want to keep her safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:selectwisely.com sells French allergy cards for both peanuts and other nuts that you can show the restaurant.

This is brilliant!!!!

OP here, yes thanks--will check this out!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As an allergy parent, I’m kind of skeptical your child could have a “severe allergy” you are just discovering in ES.

Putting that aside, epinephrine, if given quickly, is extremely effective and not something you should be wary of using. My daughter sees Dr. Wood at Hopkins, failed a food challenge there, and I’ve seen epinephrine in action. A miracle drug. There is no downside to giving Epi even if you are unsure if the person “needs” it.

OP here, at age 3 we noticed that she vomited a couple times after ingesting nuts. She'd vomit immediately, and then be totally fine. We took her to an allergist at age 4 to confirm the allergy, and he mentioned that there's always a possibility it could get worse later. We didn't really take this seriously, but she had a pretty severe reaction recently that required an Epipen for the first time. My spouse is a peds ER doc so we're lucky in that regard, but want to avoid any reactions that require it if we can help it.