August 1, 2026

How to Explain a Food Allergy Abroad

The sentence you need abroad is not “I am allergic to peanuts.” It is closer to “I cannot eat peanuts, and even a small amount will make me ill.”

The difference matters more than the translation quality.

Why the literal translation fails

In a lot of places, “allergy” has been diluted by casual use into something adjacent to “dislike”. Say it plainly and you risk landing in the same bucket as someone who does not care for coriander.

Three things fix that:

1. State it as an inability, not a preference. “I cannot eat X.”
2. Add the consequence. “Even a small amount makes me ill.” You do not need to say how ill.
3. Ask a question. A statement can be nodded at; a question needs an answer.

The phrase, in nine languages

The one to have written down, roughly: “I have a food allergy. I cannot eat [X]. Even a small amount makes me ill. Does this dish contain any?”

• English — I have a food allergy.
• German — Ich habe eine Lebensmittelallergie.
• Spanish — Tengo alergia alimentaria.
• French — J’ai une allergie alimentaire.
• Italian — Ho un’allergia alimentare.
• Portuguese — Tenho alergia alimentar.
• Dutch — Ik heb een voedselallergie.
• Polish — Mam alergię pokarmową.
• Croatian — Imam alergiju na hranu.

Say it, then hand over the card. Speaking it signals that you mean it; the card carries the detail into the kitchen.

Do not rely on saying it well

Pronunciation under pressure in a loud restaurant is unreliable, and the person you say it to is often not the person who cooks. Written beats spoken for anything that has to travel.

Our free allergy card generator prints the whole thing — your allergens, the cross-contact request, the question — in the language of wherever you are. Wallet-sized, no signup.

When there is no shared language at all

• Point at the card, then at the dish. The question becomes obvious without words.
• Use the local allergen word, even badly pronounced. It is more recognisable than a fluent English sentence.
• Watch for the follow-up question. A kitchen that asks you something has understood. A fast “yes, no problem” with no questions is the answer to worry about.
• Fall back to simple food. Grilled fish and plain rice is a smaller ask than a sauce whose contents nobody can enumerate.

The part people skip

Cross-contact does not translate well anywhere. “No peanuts” is understood; “cooked in the same oil as peanuts” often is not, because it is a different kind of request — it asks the kitchen to change how they work, not what they use.

Put that sentence on the card and point at it specifically. It is the line most likely to be skimmed and the one most likely to matter.