If you have to deal with food allergies, you know that traveling and dining out can be a real hassle. But between increased awareness and common sense, you can make the process a little easier.
What makes allergies especially tricky is when language barriers make it difficult to communicate your needs. One helpful resource is SelectWisely.com, you can order allergy and emergency cards in several languages, and you can even add pictures.
AllergyEats.com, which is also available as a smartphone app, lists allergy-friendly restaurants around the U.S., which you can filter by items like gluten, fish and dairy. AllergyFreePassport.com offers tips on travel, reading food labels, and snack suggestions.
Avoid buffets or other self-serve situations where there’s a risk for cross-contamination. Just because an item doesn’t have peanuts in it, doesn’t mean the serving spoon doesn’t have trace elements.
Speaking of peanuts, some airlines have stopped serving them, but not all. Right now the Department of Transportation is reviewing public commentary and studies to decide whether it should implement and across-the-board ban.
For more information, visit the Travel & Health archives.
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