Food Allergies

Hi everyone,

I am going to Phuket on Dec 10th (only 10 more weeks!!) for my honeymoon. Hubby is HIGHLY allergic to nuts, crustaceans and peas. Would we be better off sticking to the western food in the resort, or do you think we would be safe in other restaurants and just explaining to them he is allergic to things. I know a lot of the thai people speak english but not sure if they would understand the seriousness of it. Just wanting some advice!!

Thanks

Katie

Food Allergies

Since Thai cuisine-as well as other Oriental cuisines-use peanuts in many dishes you ought to be very careful! It may be better to avoid Thai dishes just to be on the safe side

Crustaceans should not be a problem, you%26#39;ll know how to avoid them.Make sure that wherever you take your meals reasonable English is spoken and understood.

Food Allergies

If you really mean HIGHLY ALLERGIC--there is one thing you MUST do:

Get a few file cards/blank business cards and have someone knowledgable write in THAI what exactly your husband CANNOT eat. Have them make it VERY CLEAR.

Keep the cards in every piece of bag/pack you take so you ALWAYS have one.

I assume you have taken precautions for medication required for an emergency? Perhaps you should have that written int THAI as well.

Be prepared, be cautious and be safe--have a great time, but never assume anything if this is a serious issue.

There is a famous case of a young lady dying from anaphylaxis after she kissed her boyfriend who had recently eaten peanuts.

Also, be aware that peanut oil is used in many Asian countries.

katie,

I%26#39;d suggest you to let a hotel staff or any local write down for you in thai of what he%26#39;s allergic to. You have to express your concerns seriously..because some thais dont take it too seriously.

Katie,

I agree with the above posters. If he is HIGHLY ALLERGIC, then I would probably avoid Thai food, as they really do use nuts/peanut oil in most dishes. Have medication with you at all times, as you can never really trust that there are no nuts in the food, or that they didn%26#39;t just use the same pan/knife/spoon to prepare someone elses dish that did have nuts in it. It%26#39;s always better to be safe than sorry, and as I have family members that are highly allergic to nuts, epinephrine is a life saver.

Be careful and have a great honeymoon.

J

my daughter is very allergic to peanuts, before we left i found someone to write on a card about her allergy. While we were away i would always place the card on the table at a restaurant for the waiter to see.and it worked very well, no trying to explain about the allergy.

Katie,

My kids both have Coeliac Disease (can%26#39;t eat gluten) which makes them very sick. We use cards translated into Thai which we show. I know that it is not as serious as your peanut allergies but you would encounter the same problems as we have in working out if you trust the waiter/chef - as you would back home in Aus.. We usually get a %26#39;feel%26#39; for whether or not they understand fairly quickly. We also take with us bread, pasta, soy sauce and oyster sauce so that we can use this if we are not comfortable. Maybe you could take your own oil or products that your hubbie likes to eat?

Louize

i wouldn,t entrust your husbands health to a thai cook -- no way !

Thanks for your suggestions! I think writing it on a card is a good idea, and I would love to have it all organised before we go so I just need to find someone who speaks thai!!

We have vials of adrenaline and needles etc if (god forbid) he needs it, so there should be no problems there, and hubby is really good at recognising the smell quite easily so I think we should be ok, but I would still like to have the card, just to be on the safe side!!

thanks for your help

Katie

Katie,

Have a look at this web site http://www.dietarycard.com/index.html they translate dietry information into different languages. It is not an Australian website but you may be able to google and find something similar.

Louize

Hi Katie,

I read your letter and assume that you are now back from your Phuket trip now..... how did you go with your hasbands allergy to Nuts... we are going in July, and my daughters boyfriend is allergic to nuts and we don%26#39;t want any problems.... what advise were you given and how did it all turn out and was it hard to dine out or easy ....? I hope we hear back from you as we are a bit worried...

Thanks

S.P in Perth