Daughter with Food Allergies, Visiting France Next Summer, Beginning Prep Now

Posted by Matt (Somerville, MA) on 08/16/14 12:15 PM

Hello,

My family will be spending 3 weeks in France next summer (see link to previous post below on our plans to go to Dordogne-Provence-Alps). My younger daughter (will be nearly 6 six years old when we travel) is allergic to eggs, nuts, and sesame. We are well accustomed to the rigors of living in America with food allergy concerns. Can you provide me with some good tips and resources to help us begin preparing for what to expect in France? In addition to carrying all of her meds around with us at all times we are planning to cook most of our meals and/or picnic. I am aware that Beynac's specialty is walnuts and that even sausages may have nuts in them. I am also aware that most desserts have egg in them.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/3-weeks-in-july-2015-looking-for-input

As always, thanks a bunch for your input!

-Matt

Posted by Laura

Rick Steves' Europe

08/21/14 11:10 PM

16895 posts

There's been a lot of discussion on this forum about how well western Europe caters to needs such as gluten allergies, so I hope your experience will be the same. http://www.selectwisely.com/ is a web site that sells allergy cards in different languages, but I think it's not hard to simplify and make your own.

Posted by Matt OP

Somerville, MA

08/28/14 10:50 AM

653 posts

Thanks for the help - I will look into all of these.
-Matt

Posted by Eileen

Texan in CA

08/29/14 01:16 AM

4415 posts

Matt, I've read responses here in the past from travelers who, upon pointing out to their waiter/chef that there was (banned food substance) in their food, heard the reply, 'oh, I thought you just couldn't eat much of (banned food substance)' or 'oh, I thought you just didn't like that food'. You MUST include on your translation cards that these (banned food substances) could be/are deadly. Otherwise, they could just assume you have a picky eater :-(

Posted by Matt OP

Somerville, MA

08/29/14 01:29 AM

653 posts

Thanks Eileen - that was our expectation as well. In addition to the cards I will become well versed in niche phrases like "do you put an egg wash on your baguettes?"

Posted by Valerie

Pacific Northwest

08/29/14 02:17 PM

2679 posts

I have grown so used to my food allergy that, in the arena of my life at home, with access to all my normal foods and the restaurants I can frequent without too much scrutiny, I am lulled into a certain ignorance about food allergies being "no big deal". And every time I head out on one of my trips to Europe, I am reminded of what a pain the allergy can be. I have found a few key things keep me healthy when I travel. One is that I almost always stay in an apartment so I can cook myself simple meals. I find that way less stressful than picking around on my plate in a restaurant, holding small pieces of unidentifiable food up in front of my face to determine if, somehow, it's corn. I have made some pretty surprising "corn" discoveries in restaurants over the years and I imagine your daughter's trio of allergies would present far more of a mine field than corn does.

I realize that, for most people, food experiences are one of the best parts of travel, but I have fantastic trips while keeping safe with food...I just don't feel comfortable trusting that many other people to prepare my food, especially when there's a language barrier.

I bring a fair amount of food with me from home and I always visit the grocery stores, where I can read labels to my heart's content. I always find some really fun products that I love and seldom feel cheated on the food front.

I carry a lot of Benadryl, my Epi (which no airport security/immigration personnel have ever questioned, so don't worry about carting it around), I take a daily Zyrtec just in case it gives me a little protection, somehow.