Top Ten Tips for Tenacious Travellers
1. Put peace of mind in your pocket by ordering a Dietary Alert Card or Classic Coeliac Card translating your personal dietary restrictions to chefs and servers.
2. Even if you don’t have a Dietary Alert Card in the first local language, it is well worth carrying a card in an international language.
English is widely understood especially in the tourist industry abroad, but presenting a printed English explanation is much less risky (and more discreet) than trusting a foreign waiter to understand your dialect and verbally convey your needs to the kitchen.
3. Use the DietaryCard when ordering your meal, then again to confirm its content when your food arrives.
4. Eat at local non-chain restaurants. They are far more likely to have chefs cooking foods from scratch to recipes that can be altered to accommodate your needs, and the chance to sample local culture and cuisine can enrich your holiday immensely.
5. Be aware that the ‘standard’ items on chain restaurant menus are cooked with different ingredients from region to region, so don’t presume that ‘your usual’ from home will be safe abroad.
If you think you may be reliant on chain restaurants, try calling their international customers helpline before you travel to obtain information on ingredients and preparation.
6. Be aware of international culinary differences and methods of food preparation in the country to which you are travelling. For example:-
o Spanish chefs often use ground almonds to replace
flour in cakes, and Portuguese pastries also
usually contain almonds.
o American cookies, chocolate bars and cakes
often contain peanuts or tree nuts even when
European versions of the brand don’t.
o Weisse, a German beer, is brewed with wheat.
o Russian cooks often use barley to thicken
Borscht (beet soup).
o Japanese and Chinese chefs use soy in their
cooking stock and miso (soyabeans and barley,
wheat or rice) is a basic element in Japanese
sousps and stews. Peanuts are a common ingredient
in Dim Sum and hot mustard greens in China. Rice
is sometimes mixed with barley or soyabeans in
Korea and Korean cooks often stir fish into
breakfast porridge.
7. Increase your chances of being served safe meals, especially if you have a serious allergy and cross-contamination is a problem, by knowing what type of restaurants are virtual ‘no-go areas’ for you.
For example, those acutely allergic to wheat should stay away from pizza places, those highly-sensitive to corn shouldn't go to Mexican restaurants, those with shellfish allergies shouldn’t go to seafood eateries and those with peanut or nut allergies should avoid Asian restaurants.
Cross contamination mainly occurs in three ways:-
“food-to-food” - touching or dripping
“food-to-hand” - handling by the kitchen staff, waiter or market
vendor
“food-to-equipment” – in preparing a meal using non-reserved
pots and utensils.
8. Always carry a ‘safe snack’ eg a piece of fruit, crackers or a favourite chocolate bar brought from home, to avoid your blood-sugar levels plummeting so low with hunger that you give in to temptation and take unnecessary risks in restaurants you would normally avoid. Use your Dietary Alert Card at groceries, supermarkets or market stalls to purchase safe eatables and ask sales assistants to help you check product labels using your Dietary Alert Card.
This should also make it easier for you to order your meals at ‘off-peak’ times, when you are more likely to have the undivided attention of serving staff.
9. You should also carry your usual antihistamines or adrenaline shot for emergencies. Make sure you have completed an E111 or are carrying an EU Health Insurance Card if travelling within the European Union and are insured for medical emergencies if travelling overseas.
10. Be careful but not too careful. Above all, relax and enjoy your holiday!
