Allergic to Chocolate

Where are you going?

We're starting in Venice, 2 days on our own. Then join a tour to Croatia, Slovenia and Austria, ending in Vienna.

Get someone to translate your allergy into the language(s) of the place(s) you are going, and type it out a card. Show this to the waiter (s)he will understand.
Do not trust Google translate with something that important. You should be able to find some free printable cards on the internet.

Write this down and take it with you.
Croatian
Ne mogu jesti čokoladu imam alergiju
German
Ich kann keine Schokolade essen Ich habe eine Allergie
Italian
Non riesco a mangiare il cioccolato ho un'allergia
Slovenian
Ne morem jesti čokolado imam alergijo

I travel with a food allergy. It's pretty doable. Here's my basic tips. Bring plenty of Benadryl - it's not for sale in Italy. If your allergy is anaphylactic, bring 2 Epipens so you're not looking around for a new one if you use one.

I buy a lot of my food in grocery stores so I can read the ingredient lists. I carry an allergy card I make on my own. I don't like the preprinted ones - mine are more specific and make it clear that my allergy is the kind that leads to a lot of trouble. I think there's a lot of varied ideas of what a food allergy is and I want to make sure I paint my specific picture accurately.

If you're new to traveling with a food allergy - don't worry too much. I've been all over with mine and never had a single incident anywhere.

One other tip - a daily Zyrtec when I travel gives me a little "buffer" protection - so I always take one of those.

I don't think there's that much "hidden" chocolate in European desserts - usually it will be mentioned on the menu. (Does tyramine give you migraines? If so I would be more worried about "hidden" cheese.)

I hate chocolate , I don't think I've ever had any problems accidentally eating it , but I suppose there could be chocolate shavings on something .

I have never ever heard of chocolate on a fruit pie , that's a new one .

The only problem I can think of is with gelato, because they don't rinse the scoopers after every dip and sometimes when they're scooping, sometimes bits fall from one flavor into another. Also some gelati that aren't "chocolate" have bits of chocolate in them. I'd stay away from any flavors resting next to any of the chocolate ones, if that's a potential danger.

Thank you all. Obvious chocolate is easy to avoid but it's the little bits of chocolate hidden in the gelato, pastry fillings, tart crusts, etc and chocolate added to drinks that can cause an awful migraine. One M&M will put me in bed with a migraine. I sure don't want to spend my vacation sick. It's been 25 years since I was in Europe.
Jazz+Travels, I printed out your phrases. Thank you so much for taking the time to find them.
Kathy

You can use Google translate when required. It will be very helpful to you.