Travelling With a Food Allergy: Checking a Menu in Another Language

Travelling with a food allergy takes more planning than most trips, and the hardest moment is often the simplest one: sitting down at a table and trying to work out whether a dish is safe when you cannot read the menu. This guide explains the allergen categories you will meet in Europe and elsewhere, where they tend to hide, how to communicate your needs, and what a translation app can and cannot do.

One thing first. Nothing in this article is medical advice, and no app or translation can guarantee a dish is safe. If you have a serious allergy, talk to your doctor about your travel plans and emergency medication, and always confirm your order directly with restaurant staff.

The EU 14 allergens

In the European Union, food businesses must tell customers when a dish contains any of 14 named allergens. This applies to restaurants as well as packaged food, although how the information is provided can vary: it may be written on the menu, on a separate chart, or given verbally by staff. The 14 are:

1. Cereals containing gluten: wheat, rye, barley, oats and their varieties
2. Crustaceans: shrimp, crab, lobster, crayfish
3. Eggs
4. Fish
5. Peanuts
6. Soybeans
7. Milk, including lactose
8. Tree nuts: almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios and others
9. Celery, including celeriac
10. Mustard
11. Sesame
12. Sulphur dioxide and sulphites, above a set concentration
13. Lupin
14. Molluscs: mussels, oysters, squid, snails and others

Other countries use different lists. The United States, for example, names nine major allergens, and Japan's mandatory list is shorter and applies to packaged food. If you are travelling outside the EU, do not assume the same protections apply on a restaurant menu.

Where allergens hide, by cuisine

Allergens do not always appear in the dish name. Here are some of the most common surprises.

East and Southeast Asia

• Peanuts appear in satay sauces, many Thai and Indonesian dishes, and some Chinese cold dishes and noodle sauces.
• Shellfish is behind oyster sauce, shrimp paste and dried shrimp in curries, salads and stir-fries. Fish sauce is a fish allergen.
• Soy and wheat are in soy sauce, which is also an ingredient in countless marinades and glazes.
• Sesame oil and seeds are common in Japanese, Korean and Chinese cooking.
• Egg is in tempura batter and many fried-rice and noodle dishes.

India and South Asia

• Tree nuts, especially cashew and almond, thicken many curry sauces such as korma.
• Milk shows up as ghee, yogurt, cream and paneer.
• Mustard seeds and oil are used in tempering and pickles, and sesame appears in sweets and snacks.
• Gluten is in breads such as naan, roti and paratha.

Mediterranean and Middle East

• Sesame is everywhere: tahini, hummus, halva, bread toppings.
• Tree nuts are common in desserts, pesto-style sauces and stuffings (pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts).
• Fish such as anchovy is hidden in Caesar dressing and some sauces.
• Lupin flour turns up in some bakery products, especially in France and Italy.

France, Germany and Central Europe

• Celery or celeriac features in stocks, soups, spice mixes and salads.
• Mustard is in dressings, sauces and sausages.
• Sulphites are used in wine and in dried fruit.
• Gluten is used to thicken sauces and soups.

Mexico and Latin America

• Peanuts and sesame are ground into moles and pipian sauces.
• Corn and wheat tortillas differ, which matters for gluten.
• Milk is in many sauces and toppings.

Cross-contact: the part menus never mention

A dish with no allergen in its recipe can still be risky. Shared fryers, shared grills and cutting boards, and spoons moved between pots are all ways small traces can end up on your plate. The EU's list is about ingredients, not kitchen practices. If cross-contact matters for you, explain this directly to the staff and ask whether the kitchen can handle it.

Carry an allergy card

An allergy card, also called a chef card, is a short written statement in the local language that names your allergens and explains how seriously you take them. It is one of the most useful things you can carry, because it is clear, polite and does not depend on your pronunciation.

A good card:

• Names each allergen specifically, such as "peanuts and tree nuts" instead of "nuts".
• States the severity in plain language, such as "I have a severe allergy and can react to small amounts."
• Mentions cross-contact, such as shared oil, utensils and surfaces.
• Includes the words for "ingredients," "sauce," and "stock" so staff know you also mean those.
• Is available in the language of the country you are in, ideally with a back-translation in your own language so you can check it.

You can keep it in your phone's notes or print a copy. Hand it to your server at the start, not after you have ordered.

What a menu scanner can do for you

Travel Eat is an iOS app that helps with the reading part. You photograph a menu, and the AI translates each dish and flags the EU 14 allergens it thinks the dish contains, with a confidence level for each flag. Dish details also show ingredients, estimated nutrition, cultural background and reference photos, so you understand what a dish actually is.

That is useful for three things:

• Speed. Seeing which dishes are flagged for your allergen saves you from reading and translating the whole menu line by line.
• Better questions. A flag such as "may contain sesame" gives you a specific thing to ask about.
• Discovery. A dish name that looks unfamiliar, like a regional sauce, comes with an explanation.

What it cannot do

Be clear about the limits:

• The flags are an aid, not a medical guarantee. The AI infers allergens from the dish and its usual recipe. It cannot see the kitchen.
• A low-confidence flag is not a clear sign. Treat uncertainty as a reason to ask.
• No flag does not mean no allergen. Recipes vary, and menus can be incomplete or hard to read.
• It does not know about cross-contact in a specific kitchen.

If you have an allergy, confirm every dish with the staff, even if the app shows no flag. Use the app to narrow the field and to prepare better questions, not to replace the conversation.

A simple routine for the table

1. Before you leave, learn the local word for each of your allergens, or have it in your allergy card.
2. Scan the menu and note which dishes are flagged or unflagged.
3. Hand over your card and ask about the dishes you are considering.
4. Ask about sauces, stocks, frying oil and shared equipment.
5. If the answer is unclear, rushed or you feel uneasy, choose a different dish or restaurant.

FAQ

Is a restaurant in the EU required to know what is in its food?

Under EU rules, restaurants must be able to provide information about the 14 allergens in the dishes they serve. In practice, how well that works depends on the establishment, so you should still ask clearly.

Does the app work for allergies outside the 14?

Travel Eat flags the EU 14. If your allergen is not on the list, such as a fruit or a specific spice, mention it directly to staff and check the ingredient list on the dish page.

What does a confidence level mean?

It shows how sure the AI is that the allergen is present in the dish, based on the dish name and typical recipe. A high confidence flag is a strong signal. A lower one is a prompt to ask.

Is Travel Eat free?

It is free to download on iOS. Pro is an optional upgrade that unlocks larger AI models.

Eat carefully, and enjoy it

Most allergy-related problems abroad come from missing information, not from bad intentions. Learn the allergens, carry a card, ask specific questions, and treat any app as an extra pair of eyes. If you want that extra pair of eyes on your next trip, get Travel Eat on the App Store.