Seeking advice for visiting with food allergy
Hi everyone!
My partner and I are traveling to Portugal (Algarve) and Spain (Andalusia) in a couple weeks. We are SOOOO excited.
My partner has a severe life threatening dairy allergy - we carry an epi pen and he is sensitive to cross contamination. This includes milk, butter, cheese, etc. He also cannot eat red meat unless it is cooked well well done (something with the milk protein in cow’s blood).
We LOVE food and we want to really experience local and traditional cuisines. But this is the first time he has traveled to a country where English is not the language. He is understandably very anxious and nervous about traveling with his allergy.
I figured I’d hop on here to see if anyone has any advice or insight for navigating food during our trip. Any tips would be appreciated, including:
- traditional/popular local foods we should look out for because they ARE usually prepared with dairy products
- specific dishes that generally do NOT use dairy products that we can mark as possibly safer
- how we can best explain the allergy without offending
Bonus, we also used ChatGPT to translate a little blurb we plan to print out on cards to explain the allergy. We would be SO grateful is someone who speaks Spanish or Portuguese can review to make sure it makes sense/let us know if we should add or remove anything for any reason.
Spanish:
“Tengo una alergia muy grave a todos los productos lácteos, leche, queso, mantequilla, nata, yogur y cualquier ingrediente que contenga leche o proteínas de la leche. Incluso pequeñas cantidades o la contaminación cruzada pueden causar una reacción alérgica. Los huevos y la mayonesa son seguros para mí. Si es posible, les agradecería que prepararan mi comida por separado, utilizando utencilios, superficies y guantes limpios o con las manos recién lavadas, para minimizar el riesgo de contaminación cruzada. También necesito que la carne de vacuno esté completamente bien hecha. ¿Pueden adaptar un plato para esta alergia? Si no es posible, lo entiendo perfectamente. ¿Hay algún plato en su menú que me recomendarían y que sea seguro para mí? Muchas gracias por su ayuda.”
Portuguese:
“Tenho uma alergia muito grave a todos os produtos lácteos, leite, queijo, manteiga, natas, iogurte e qualquer ingrediente que contenha leite ou proteínas do leite. Mesmo pequenas quantidades ou a contaminação cruzada podem provocar uma reação alérgica. Os ovos e a maionese são seguros para mim. Se possível, agradecia que preparassem a minha refeição em separado, utilizando utencilios, superfícies e luvas limpas ou com as mãos acabadas de lavar, para minimizar o risco de contaminação cruzada. Também preciso que a carne de vaca esteja completamente bem passada. Conseguem adaptar um prato para esta alergia? Se não for possível, compreendo perfeitamente. Há algum prato do vosso menu que recomendem e que seja seguro para mim? Muito obrigado pela vossa ajuda.”
ANY HELP OR INSIGHT WOULD BE SO SO SO SO SO APPRECIATED. THANK YOU TO ANYONE WHO READ THIS WHOLE POST ❤️🙏