Food Allergies and Travel

This topic has been on my mind for the past few days as I have recently returned from an amazing all-inclusive vacation in Cuba. I have an anaphylactic allergy to shellfish and had no problems eating at the resort I stayed at, Sol Cayo Guillermo. I just made sure I stayed away from things where I wasn’t sure of the ingredients and focused on simple, safe, foods. Easy enough for an adult with a single food allergy to do.

Unfortunately, I am not sure how easy this would be for someone with multiple food allergies (like my son). One reason is the language barrier. If you do not speak the national language where you are staying, and if the resort workers do not speak fluent English, the seriousness and severity of your allergy can get lost in translation. Another reason is that most of the meals are done in a buffet style restaurant – how can you be certain that they staff are aware of cross-contamination and what means do they use to prevent it? I wasn’t completely comfortable in this regard at the resort I stayed in so I just did not choose foods that were close to where the shellfish was. However, this is more difficult when you are dealing with multiple food allergies.

I found this fantastic website called Select Wisely (www.selectwisely.com). They create cards that state your allergy and they can be customized in 15 standard world languages. You can also put in a special order for allergies that are not in their standard list and for additional languages that are not part of their standard list. The cards have pictures as well as text so that there can be no question as to your food allergy. I think these cards, or something similar, are a travel must have for those with multiple and/or severe food allergies.