
Food and medication allergies, dietary restrictions, intolerances like gluten and lactose and medical emergencies can be ordered as required in any language, if you make prior arrangements with the travel agency entities you’re dealing with. The menu informs you about your allergies and helps kitchen staff to understand and prepare safe meals for you, as a standard part of the typical tourist-geared service.
Food and drug allergies, dietary restrictions and intolerances like gluten and lactose, as well as medical emergencies are taken into consideration when preparing and planning meals, but once again, the onus is on you to make contact ahead and make sure your special requirements are catered to.
During your visit, you will find a grocery store near your destination that offers safe products, a restaurant that might be specialised to catering to special diet requirements, and a hotel that offers a room with a kitchen. Food allergy support groups and food allergy websites can be helpful if you are travelling across the country, but probably across the world too. If there is a language barrier or if you need more answers, ask food allergy sufferers, travel agents, travel coordinators, local friends and relatives for help.
Once you have completed your research, make sure you know what ingredients are used in their foods and how they fit into your diet. It is also a good idea to find local staples in certain places. This will help you choose the food for the tour so that you do not have to make any other choices when booking your tour.
Food tour operators are used to dealing with allergies and dietary restrictions and most will ask about them. When you make your reservation, you must specify your food restrictions and their catering. If you want to go on a food tour with allergies or dietary restrictions, tell the company of any time limit so that you can determine what options you have.
It is also worth mentioning that some food tour operators do not allow you to eat fish or drink alcohol, for specific reasons related to public health advice for travellers coming from specific countries. You can ask for safe snacks or bring your own food just in case. This can happen in most accommodation that are good for food allergies, but it’s important to check before making a reservation if dietary restrictions are an option.
If your food allergy is severe, you can ask detail questions about spices and hidden ingredients that affect people with food allergies. For many people with allergies or an aversion to certain meat products, fish, and shellfish (myself included), vegetarian restaurants can help figure out some of what’s in food and what’s not. Allergen-friendly foods may not be available at the airport at your destination, so plan accordingly. You might be best served to order from a food website as the ingredients are often explicitly listed on such platforms.
The foods most often associated with allergy are dairy products, eggs, nuts, wheat, gluten, soy and fish. Food labelling systems in different countries have different requirements, but 7 core allergens are usually labelled. Research into local food labelling laws at the destination is important.