I recently took my mother to a well-known farm-to-table restaurant in Athens. It’s not particularly seafood focused, but it looks like it’s on the ship when I visit. When I told the hostess while seating us that I was allergic to shellfish, she looked at me as if I had told her I was allergic. a shellfish. He wandered off, laden with off-limits material, to find a copy of Prix fixe. Sea-urchin? I won’t leave this to chance. Octopus? Squid? A hard no from me.
While my mother sucked the crayfish, I ate the mushrooms in six ways. But I’m used to being fooled by mushrooms and free table bread. There are worse things than a hastily defrosted burger at a wedding in Mallorca after a chef pointlessly removed molluscs from a long-simmering paella – anaphylactic shock, for example. (Hours earlier, I had begged him to put aside the vegetarian portion; he clearly found this absurd.)
I’ve been looking at spring rolls and smelling oyster sauce ever since I took a solo trip when I was young. When I lived in Shanghai in the 2010s, I used my allergies to avoid sea cucumbers and abalone. But I also paid the price for carelessness: running to the bathroom to “exorcise” the hidden crab or taking a road trip to the nearest hospital.
I saw the other side of Mumbai from the hospital gurney, then visited roadside chemists to fill my prescription. At an emergency room in Canada, I was denied the customary shot of adrenaline and forced to drink a liter of activated liquid charcoal instead.
Seafood allergies can be serious but are fairly easy to manage, although a few major airlines still offer shrimp salad on board. Last week in Japan, a veritable Squid Game for sensitive eaters, restaurant staff were hilariously alert and rushed me and my friend Ben, who has a peanut allergy, into the kitchen for stilted consultations with the chef. Ben had learned the Japanese word for “peanut allergy” and had taken two EpiPens with him. He’s never had to use EpiPens, even though big bags of peanut M&Ms are still airplane snacks sold at Duty Free.
Hannah, an executive function coach and fellow celiac patient, packs her suitcases with gluten-free bread and cereal because, despite assurances to the contrary, a chef in Mexico won’t always understand the high stakes. Others assume that “celiac” is Western parlance for “lifestyle choice.”
“Restaurants are more conscious,” he says, “but in Crete there is an 80-year-old local woman who cooks for you in your seaside Airbnb…” Only one bread crumb is drowned in a bowl of soup, and he, too, is chained. bath with stomach ache and drowsiness.
But it is slowly catching up with the range of world nutritional needs. Regulations introduced in the UK and EU a decade ago force restaurateurs to inform customers about dishes containing any of 14 allergens. In North America, it’s as much about protecting diners as it is about protecting themselves from plaintiff restaurants. In Casablanca and Beijing, waiters asked in advance “Do you have any allergies?” I saw you ask. A Parisian will wearily point to the salad mix.
However, forewarned is forearmed. Keep the following in mind and being a traveler with allergies becomes a little easier.
Allergic traveler’s pre-travel checklist
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Consider food desensitization treatment Professor Adam Fox of the Allergy London clinic offers a multi-month course that involves the administration of increasing amounts of, for example, peanuts, eggs or milk to increase tolerance. This way, accidental exposure to the allergen will result in a less severe reaction. This is of course something to only try under qualified professional supervision and will not work for everyone.
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Remember: If you have one food allergy, you probably have another. For example, shellfish fall into the same category as some dust mites. Raw apples, stone fruits, and pears can cause “pollen food syndrome,” which is a tingling sensation in the mouth. About 40 percent of those allergic to peanuts are also sensitive to cashews and pistachios, 25 percent to sesame seeds and 4 percent to lupine flour, a ground legume used in some European pizza bases.
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Pack smartly. Bring non-perishable snacks and Tupperware to pack in buffet leftovers. If you are suffering from potential anaphylaxis, bring a current EpiPen and prescription. “If you don’t have a prescription for your medications, they can be a laughing stock at security,” says Fox. Dr D., a pediatric allergy consultant at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Claudia Gore recommends a food allergy management plan that includes evidence of prescription medications from your doctor or allergist. BSACI has one for kids. An adult version will be released later this year.
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“Never put your medications on hold,” warns Gore. It is not good for you if there is a reaction in the air or your checked baggage is lost.
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If you do not speak the language of the country you are going to, carry translation cards with phrases such as “I have an allergy…” and “I have an allergic reaction – please call an ambulance.” A great resource, AllergyUK offers customized cards in 35 languages.
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Find out the emergency number at your destination. In North America and many other countries, the situation is 9-1-1. 1-1-9 in Japan.
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Find your online tribe. Anaphylaxis UK is a useful site. Fox rates blogger and podcaster Daniel Kelly, who uses @maycontain. There is also Coliac UK, a support network that publishes research, recipes and case studies.
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Make sure your health insurance covers accidents and hospital treatment at your destination. Gore suggests applying for a GHIC (global health insurance card) that covers emergency services abroad.
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If you plan to attend the party, “remember that alcohol and drugs reduce risk perception and change reaction thresholds, so you’re likely to respond to a smaller amount of your allergen sooner,” says Gore.