Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) Guest Blogger Jennifer Roeder Shares Her Summer Travel Tips!

I'm so excited to share the following guest blog post with you from Jennifer Roeder, Director of Marketing and Media Communications for FAAN, The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network. I have met Jen a couple of times at FAAN conferences, including the most recent one in Chicago and she kindly offered to write a guest post. As someone who not only works with FAAN in a dynamic capacity, but as someone who deals with dietary restrictions herself, Jen gives us some valuable insights on summer travel with food allergies. She also shared this great picture of herself with her husband Mark on a recent vacation. Thanks to Jen (and FAAN) for all you do!

School’s out for summer! And that means summer vacations are in full swing. Traveling with food allergies presents unique challenges, but with advance planning, it can be done.

While I don’t have a life-threatening food allergy, I do have to avoid all milk and gluten products due to my own medical conditions, so I always have to plan ahead to make sure that I have access to safe foods when traveling.

My husband and I enjoy traveling. Earlier this year we traveled with my parents, and next week we are headed to North Carolina with my husband’s parents to enjoy some time at the beach. Here are some of the preparations I make when traveling, as do others who are avoiding certain ingredients:

1. Pack safe food and snacks. There are certain foods that are hard for me to find substitutes for such as yogurt, butter, pasta, and bread. These substitutes are certainly easier to find then they were 15 years ago, but when you are traveling to an unfamiliar location you don’t always know what the grocery stores will carry. When traveling by plane, I always have one bag with food staples and snacks. It works out nicely that you eat the food while you are on vacation and then have a bag to bring home souvenirs. When driving to a vacation destination, I pack a cooler and a bag with food to make sure that I have enough food to eat on the drive, plus some cooking essentials for the week. I have also heard from people that they ship food to their destination in advance. The method of getting the food to vacation may vary, but one thing is for sure – vacation is much more enjoyable when you know you won’t have to worry about what you’re going to eat.

2.Reserve a hotel room with a kitchen or kitchenette. With food allergies and intolerances, many of us feel safest eating food that we or family members have cooked. Having access to a kitchen makes it that much easier.

3.Research local restaurants. Many hotels and resorts have a wonderful concierge staff that knows the local restaurants. On several trips I have found wonderful restaurants I would never have known about without their help.

4.Bring your medicine. It is always important to have your medicine in case of an allergic reaction. Before traveling, make sure to double-check the expiration dates of all medicine you are packing, and talk to your doctor if you need extra.

5. Find the location of emergency medical care. We hope you won’t need it, but it is better to know the location of emergency medical care and never need to use it than need it and not know where to go.

The key to traveling with food allergies and intolerances is planning ahead. Here is to a safe and enjoyable summer. It’s time for me to start packing!

Peanut Allergy, Nut Allergy and Summer Travel Tips!

For me, the most stressful part of traveling with my nut-allergic daughter is restaurants. When you're away from home and staying at a hotel, restaurants are your main source of food. As someone who watches "Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares" on BBC America, that is a pretty scary reality for me. The bottom line is that you just never know what is going on in a restaurant kitchen and who is doing the cooking. As we know, restaurant workers vary widely in their knowledge and understanding of food allergies. So the pressure is on us to communicate and navigate menus and establishments on our own. Yes, some restaurants do a stellar job, but you always have to do your research prior to eating.

Less is more. When evaluating a restaurant for allergic folks, seek our restaurants with small, simple menus. Why? Well, big menus that feature everything under the sun usually contain several off-limits items and cross-contact risk becomes greater. Also, the bigger the menu, the more likely that several chefs are cooking at once and again, cross-contact is an issue.

Find out what kind of oil they use for frying. This is especially important if a fried dish is one of a resto's specialities. When we travel, we call restaurants with lots of fried items and ask if they use peanut oil. If they do, we skip it. I've heard a lot about the "cold-pressed" vs "refined" peanut oil debate and some people insist that peanut oil is safe. The thing is, people have reacted to peanut oil -- some fatally -- and I would also argue that if you tell restaurant staff that you can have peanut oil with a peanut allergy, you're sending them a mixed message that may result in other kitchen mishaps. Plus, no peanut oil is 100% free of peanut protein, so for me, that's dancing too close to the mouth of the volcano. Many times, restaurants tell us that they use canola oil, and we have staff confirm this from the kitchen. These are the restos we feel good visiting. If you want to be absolutely safe, peanut oil is out and canola is in. Minimize your risk ahead of time and you'll have a better experience.

Get the menu in advance. Most places have their menu displayed outside the restaurant and in many cases you can get menus online. This is hugely helpful--don't skip this step! Knowledge of the menu helps you to avoid places that emphasize items that your allergic family members need to avoid.

Pay attention to salads. Salads are one of my daughter's favorite meals, especially Greek salads (no doubt a heritage thing since my husband is Greek.) However, salads can be high risk so before you let your child order one, examine what other salads are on offer. Do any of the salads contain nuts or nut oils in the dressings? If so, don't order a salad. The reason? Sometimes chefs untrained in food allergy simply pick the nuts off of a prepared salad and serve it--this makes for a potential reaction because the salad is then contaminated. Dressings look alike and can be mistaken for each other. Side note: my daughter knows to do this already. When she ordered a Greek salad, I opened my mouth to say--let's look at the other salads first--and she already had read the menu. None of them contained nuts. One more reason to involve your kids in the menu-reading process, even when they are young. It's great when they take responsibility for their own allergies.

Take the pressure off with some non-restaurant meals. We made sure to get a room with a refrigerator, enabling us to give our kids some cereal for breakfast or simple snacks. We also had a picnic dinner and lunch during our vacation using items we purchased from the local grocery store. Our kids really enjoyed picking out foods for our picnics and our allergic daughter felt more in control and more relaxed. Our picnics were some of our best times while on our trip--and it was the one time I wasn't on alert for allergic reaction. I needed a break--and so will you. Adding a few non-restaurant meals to your trip is not only stress-saving, it's money-saving as well.

AllerDine and Allergy Eats. These two food allergy restaurant guides help you decide where to eat by offering a database of U.S. restaurants that are rated according to your specific allergen. If you travel and find a good place to eat (or a bad place) don't forget to share your experience on these helpful web sites! www.allerdine.com and www.allergyeats.com

Food Allergy Travel Tips for Summer Fun!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Fourth of July celebration! It seems that this holiday kicks off the start of the summer travel season, and a lot of you have been contacting me about summer travel. As we know, getting to our destination can be tricky on an airplane. But what about when you get there? Or if you plan to drive? Restaurants are a part of travel and eating away from home needs a little more planning with food allergies.

Here are some tips to help you have a safe, fun summer trip with food allergies:

Do your homework. Research your location for restaurants that you know are safe and plan to visit them. You also want to know what types of eateries are available at your destination, so go to the city's web site and check out their offerings. If you aren't sure about a restaurant, call before you leave on your trip and ask them about their menu and practices. You will get a feel for the place and how they handle food allergies before you even set foot in the restaurant. This is a great way to head off problems before they can arise.

Consider your hotel accommodations. If it's possible to get a room with a refrigerator or a suite with a small kitchen area, this is ideal. The ability to give your child a few meals in the room will prevent you from having to deal exclusively with restaurants. It will also take a little of the pressure off and you'll have a more relaxing time.

One word: Picnic! Summer is the time for picnics, so why not make this a part of your trip? A visit to the local grocery store can also add some local color to your vacation and this way you'll be able to determine everything that your allergic family member will eat.

Make the most of allergy resources. For example, Allergy Eats and Allerdine are websites that have a list of restaurants and allergy ratings from consumers. Don't forget to add your own restaurant information to this website, whether good or bad.

Don't forget the safe treats from home. I usually bring along some home-baked cookies or several packaged treats that I know my daughter can eat, especially when driving to our destination. This saves a ton of time, money and worry. Who wants to scour a truck stop for a safe packaged treat when your kid is starving?

Make sure that you emphasize summer fun over food. One of the hardest things with our daughter's nut allergy is that we have to pass up the ice cream shops and sweets shops when we reach our destinations--they're not safe. Because of this, we really try to emphasize a special activity and the safe "summery" foods she can enjoy like certain candies, hot dogs and grilled foods.

Get the medical info in order. No one likes to think about it, but know where the hospital is and make sure it's not too far away. Also, bring an emergency action plan, several epinephrine auto-injectors and other meds (like antihistamine and asthma inhalers, if necessary), plus have your allergist's phone number at hand.

Most importantly, have fun! No, a food allergy doesn't take a vacation but it's important to get out and do things with your family. Make your plans, be cautious and then go out and enjoy.

Readers, any other tips? Let us know.