2idocs

Saw an earliier thread about shellfish allergies and didn't want to divert it.

My severe penicillin allergy makes it risky to eat cheeses fermented with the pen. bacteria (blue cheese family: eg. gorgonzolla). What would be the easiest way to discover the ingredients to suspect dishes? Do I carry a card with my concern in Italian?

travelgourmet

The penicillium fungus produces penicillin only under certain conditions of inhibited growth of the fungus. These conditions are not met in the normal production of blue cheese. In other words blue cheese doesn't contain penicillin and there is little reason to avoid blue cheese due to a penicillin allergy.

2idocs

My 10+ episodes of getting violently ill over the years and confirmation by a couple allergist contradicts this (I'm a doctor as well).
Often the compounds used in prep are just antigenically similar.
A PCN allergy doesn't mean a cheese allergy for all, but for some it's an awful experience I'd like to avoid while traveling.

But since this is a travel site and not a medical site, I go back to my original question: How do I best determine what cheeses will be in my dish?

november_moon

I would carry a card with the information in English and Italian. That's what friends of ours do who have serious allergies.

ira

Hi 2,

Ditto NM.

I suggest that your card carry the information that if a dish contains (...list of whatevers....) that you could become sick enough to die, right there.

That will guarantee that they don't blow you off.