Saturday 23 January 2016

The Celiac Traveller

Traveling normally presents a certain range of difficulties, but for those whose every day is spent reading food labels and questioning the safety of the kitchen the food is cooked in, it presents particular challenges. Celiac disease requires those who have it to follow a strict gluten free diet that does not contain wheat, rye, barley, and most oats. The degree of severity differs, but for most, simply having a meal cooked in the same kitchen where these foods are used is enough to cause illness.

There are certain places that are easier to travel to and certain things that can be done to make travelling with celiac easier. A lot of the same tips would also apply to other food allergies as well. While travelling with allergies poses some extra challenges, it should by no means keep you from travelling. Get out there and enjoy life!

Airlines

Of course, to travel, you need to first get where you are going. While most airlines offer special meals for those with allergies, they do not always provide them. There are some things you can do to make this more likely.

First, make sure that you have specified the correct meal for your allergy upon making your booking. It is usually an option with most major airlines, including Air France, Air Canada, British Airways, Air New Zealand, Delta, United, etc.

Second, approximately 1-2 weeks prior to your trip, phone the airline and ask to confirm the requested meal. If possible, ask for an email confirmation of this request.

Third, check your ticket upon booking in. Ask the attendant at the desk if the meal specified to be served on the flight is gluten-free and where it indicates this on your ticket. If it has somehow been missed with all of your advance preparations, it might still be possible for them to get a gluten-free meal onto the plane before it departs. If you wait until you are at the gate prior to checking, it will likely be too late.

Of course, stuff happens and it is always best to be prepared and capable of being self-sufficient if necessary. I have had the worst luck on United, Air France, and LAN airlines. Somehow, no matter what preparation steps I take it is always a surprise to them that I require a gluten-free meal. Before I learned how to be appropriately prepared, this sometimes resulted in me landing at my chosen destination ready to gnaw the arm off of anybody who got between me and food (not the best way to start a trip!).

If you bring your own snacks, it is necessary to be aware of the customs requirements of your destination country. Most countries will not allow you to bring fresh produce into the country or most meats (although I have found most customs officials are alright with commercially packaged dried meats like beef jerky). If you still have these items in your bag when you arrive DECLARE THEM! They might ask you to throw them out, but usually when you explain that you have an allergy they are willing to allow most things except for fresh fruits and vegetables.

Here is a list of items I have found work best as in-flight snacks:
  • Commercially packaged meat jerky
  • Gluten-free instant oatmeal - the flight attendants are usually willing to provide you with a cup of hot water if you ask nicely!
  • Almonds, Cashews, most nuts except peanuts - although I have been on a flight where there was an extreme peanut allergy and they asked us to all refrain from eating anything with nuts
  • Rice crackers/Rice cakes
  • Popcorn

Tips for Any Destination

There are certain things that you can do to make travelling to any destination simpler, regardless of the availability of the local food there. One thing that I have found to be the biggest help is to learn the following words in the language of the country that you are travelling to:
  • Wheat
  • Gluten
  • Allergy
  • Safe?
Obviously if you are fluent in the language at your destination then things become easier, but I have managed to communicate effectively enough with these four words for most purposes. If you are a prepared traveller, there are resources that can be extremely useful. The website Celiac Travel has cards like the one shown here printed in a variety of different languages.



Like visiting any restaurant at home, you do need to exercise a certain degree of caution when visiting an unfamiliar restaurant.

Hostels

Hostels prove a different difficulty altogether. While hostels and backpacker accommodations can be a haven for those wanting to travel inexpensively and save money by making use of the kitchen facilities, they pose a unique conundrum to those with allergies. Just how well was that pot scrubbed by the last guest and what has been cooked in it? 

This can be mitigated to some degree by rewashing all dishes and preparation surfaces prior to using them and trying to limit how much your food comes into contact with these surfaces. For myself, I found it useful to take my own small pot and cutting board and to use these surfaces exclusively for food preparation. It is a bit more work and a bit of a pain in the butt, but it certainly beats the alternative of spending your vacation feeling unwell!

My Favourite Destinations

While I have managed to eat adequately most places that I have visited, there are certain destinations that I have found to be easier to navigate than others.

Disney Parks

While more of a destination within a destination, Disney in general does a fantastic job of caring for its guests. A sick guest isn't likely to spend much time in the parks, eating the food and buying souvenirs! When booking, it is possible to put a note on your file indicating that you have an allergy. This will then flag an alert whenever you check in to restaurants.

There were many times that I went to a restaurant with my family, only to have the head chef come out and go over the menu with me so that I knew what was safe to eat. They are aware of the dangers of cross-contamination and, when we ate at buffets, offered to bring me a plate of fresh food directly from the kitchen once I had decided what to eat.

I was thoroughly impressed and astonished one day while ordering breakfast when the server saw me looking longingly at the Mickey Mouse waffles that my husband already had on his plate. She stepped aside for a moment, talked to the chef, and I was then told that my breakfast would be out shortly. The chef pulled out a special waffle maker that is reserved for use with gluten allergies and brought me my very own waffles!

Thailand

When eating in Thailand, I rarely had any issues, even eating from street carts. The Thai people truly love their food and will go out of their way to make sure that nothing in them will make you sick. Many of the dishes are rice based and many of the sauces are fish-oil based instead of soya based. Thai food is also incredibly tasty! I had the pleasure of doing a cooking class in Thailand and even there they emphasized food safety and avoiding cross-contamination in all of their cooking, which was nice to see.

New Zealand

While eating out has been slightly more difficult than some other destinations, every town I have visited has had at least one gluten free cafe or restaurant. Grocery stores and supermarkets are exceptionally easy with everything clearly labelled. So much of New Zealand food culture is based on fresh, whole ingredients and scrumptious meals that I have had no difficulties eating here. As a bonus for those with other allergies, they tend to make all gluten free products egg, nut, and lactose free as well!

Peru


Although I had some difficulties at first with the language barrier, once I managed to figure out how to pronounce what I needed, everywhere was very accommodating. Primarily a corn and rice based diet, I was able to enjoy most dishes with little to no modifications. I hiked the Inca Trail with G adventures when we were in Peru and the cooks on the trail always had plenty of snacks and food available that was safe to eat. They even managed corn pancakes one morning that we were on the trail!

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