Many parents who have a child with severe food allergies opt not to travel because they fear a negative allergic reaction away from home. Our lives changed forever when we discovered our daughter, Chloe, has severe allergies to milk, egg, wheat, and peanut. My husband and I have always loved to travel and we can’t imagine giving up visiting faraway friends and family and seeing the world with our two children. Travel with a food-allergic child is possible. It just takes preparation, communication, and vigilance!

At home, we prepare safe food for Chloe and we control her environment to avoid accidental reactions. Travelers, however, are at the mercy of uncontrolled surroundings, especially when it comes to food. In restaurants, on airplanes, and at stops along the highway it can be a tricky game to find safe food. Here’s what we do to make sure our daughter stays safe on the go.

Kate and Chloe posing beside a statue of Sacagawea and Jean Baptiste at Fort Clatsop, Oregon in 2009

Road Trips
Before long road trips, I pack a bag full of “Chloe-safe” snacks such as fruit, safe store-bought pretzels, juice boxes, raisins, and homemade muffins. I also pack a “Non-safe” bag of travel snacks because, let’s face it, it’s not always possible to please everyone with Chloe-safe choices.

On the road, we have learned which convenience foods and fast-food items are safe. Cross-contamination is also an issue – we can’t just pull ham out of a sandwich. Usually, safe snacks are of the “potatoes fried in oil” variety, such as plain potato chips or french fries. These aren’t the healthiest options, but if it comes down to unsafe but healthy, or unhealthy but safe, I’ll take the second choice!

Dining Out
In restaurants, I communicate with the server extensively and politely. Often the chef will make something special, especially in fancier places.

If traveling to a foreign country, you can purchase Select Wisely food and travel translation cards. These handy cards are available in a numerous languages to make it easy to tell wait staff about food allergies or other dietary restrictions.

Air Travel
The food allergy community is very concerned about airlines serving peanuts on flights, and rightly-so! Some people are so allergic to peanuts they will go into anaphylaxis just by breathing in or making skin contact with peanut dust. Thankfully Chloe is not that allergic but she still cannot eat the pretzels or other airline snacks. Therefore we are sure to bring our own snacks onboard.

Airline travel presents families with food allergies another challenge: getting through security with medicines. In a sturdy zippered pouch that lives in my purse are Chloe’s Benadryl and Epi-Pens in original packaging, along with a copy of the food allergy treatment plan signed by her physician. I remove all of these and show them to the agents as we move through the security line. Only once have we been stopped so the officials could test a partially-used bottle of Benadryl.

On our recent trip to Europe, what concerned me most was the long flight. What if something happened in the air over the Atlantic? That was the only time I felt the need to inform the flight attendant of Chloe’s allergies. On domestic flights we don’t bother. The flight attendant appreciated our preparation and communication. She said, “You would not believe how many parents expect us to come to the rescue when their kid has a reaction!” 

Explore the World!
Our travel experiences with Chloe have been very positive because we are proactive. We understand the nature of her allergies and make careful choices based on this information. Traveling with a child who has food allergies requires some extra planning, but the rewards of seeing loved ones and exploring the world together as a family is well worth it!

Kate Newmyer is the author of Chloe’s Food Allergies, a blog about dealing with the emotional and logistical aspects of parenting a food allergic child. Kate and her husband, Daniel, love to travel with their two children, Andrew (age four), Chloe (age two) and their nephew, Morgan Hart (age 16). Chloe had her first anaphylactic reaction and was diagnosed with severe food allergies at eight-months-old.

Do you have any tips for traveling with food allergies? Leave a comment below!

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