July 30, 2026

Travelling With Food Allergies: A Practical Checklist

Travelling with a food allergy is mostly a communication problem wearing a logistics costume. The allergen is the same abroad; what changes is your ability to ask about it and to read the answer.

Here is what actually matters, in the order you need it.

Before you go

• Make an allergy card in the local language. Not English “because everyone speaks some”. A card in the reader’s language gets acted on; a card in yours gets nodded at. Our free generator does 14 languages and prints at wallet size.
• Learn the local word for your allergen and one sentence around it. You will use it constantly, and hearing you try it changes how staff respond.
• Check what the local labelling law covers. In the EU, 14 allergens must be declared on packaged food and, in most member states, disclosed for unpackaged food on request. That is a strong baseline. It is not universal outside the EU.
• Pack more medication than the trip needs, split between two bags. Pharmacy access abroad is an errand you do not want on day one.
• Screenshot your card. Phones die, wallets get left in rooms.

What to carry daily

• The printed card, plus a spare.
• Your medication, on you, not in the hotel.
• Safe snacks for the first day. Travel days are when you are most likely to eat something rushed.

Supermarkets

This is where a scanner earns its place. Ingredient lists abroad are in a language you may not read, and the risky words are the ones you would not recognise anyway — casein, albumin, lecithin, semolina.

A barcode scanner reads the label and matches it against your list, which sidesteps the translation problem entirely. Coverage varies by country and database, so treat a “no match” as unconfirmed, not as safe. The package in your hand is still the source of truth.

Allervibe works on device with no account, and covers the 13 most common allergens.

Restaurants

• Hand the card over when you order, not when the food arrives.
• Ask a question the card can answer. “Does this dish contain any of them?” gets a reply; a statement gets a nod.
• Judge the kitchen, not the menu. A place that asks you a follow-up question is safer than one that immediately says “no problem”.
• Be wary of fried food. Shared oil is the most common invisible cross-contact, and the one staff are least likely to mention.

Hotel breakfasts

Buffets are the worst-case setup: shared tongs, unlabelled dishes, and staff who did not cook any of it. Ask for something made fresh from the kitchen instead of taking from the buffet. It is a normal request and usually easy to accommodate.

The mindset that works

Assume every explanation gets lost once between you and the person cooking. Build in redundancy: card and spoken ask and a check when the plate arrives. Three shots at the same message.

Most trips go fine. The ones that do not usually trace back to a single moment where someone decided it was probably okay.