allergickid

I am planning a visit to Paris in June. My son has multiple food allergies including allergies to milk, egg, nuts, coconut. Any suggestions on restaurants that are allergy friendly? Hoe easy is it to find the ingredients of dishes in restaurants?

tailsock

don't know about "allergy friendly restaurants" but stay away from anything that says fromage for starters (cheese). Coconuts shouldn't be a problem as they're not found in many french dishes. alot of simple street food should be okay. Learn this phrase...write it down if you need to. "mon fils est allergique au lait, noix, noix de coco, et les oeufs" (my son is allergic to milk, nuts, coconut, and eggs)

MmePerdu

You might consider renting an apartment, if you aren't already planning it, and cooking for him yourself. I wouldn't be comfortable eating in restaurants in an unfamiliar country, possibly with a language barrier. If you shop for fresh ingredients yourself you know exactly what you're getting.

StCirq

You are really going to have to do your homework and get some command of French. Restaurant staff may or may not know exactly how the chef prepares a particular dish, and even if they convey your wishes (which must be conveyed in French) to the chef, they may be ignored, as the French don't tend to have food allergy problems to the extent they exist in the USA and may not appreciate the severity of it.

I would rent an apartment and monitor your own food intake.

michele_d

How many days are you in Paris? From a safety standpoint I would stay in a hotel and cook my own meals. That way you can be sure to know what your son is eating. Would hate for your son to end up in the hospital while away on vacation. Plus, with an apt it is nice to have more than a bed to return to at the end of the day, or for resting during the day.

michele_d

oops...stay in an apt...not hotel.

Christina

I don't think nuts and coconut will be a problem, but the milk and eggs will be. I don't think you will be able to find out all ingredients of a complex dish that well, especially if you don't know French. So I'd just suggest you stick to simple foods, like chicken and fish and potatoes, nothing with sauces.

Doppio

California is great for kids with "multiple food allergies". Paris, not so much.

kerouac

Frankly, I cannot imagine anyone crossing a city with 15,000 restaurants for a meal just because they have an "allergy friendly" sign in the window. Most food in France does not contain milk, nuts, coconut or eggs. Roasted chicken with fries, seafood, steaks, hamburgers, sandwiches, etc. are very easy to find.

Milk allergies are extremely variable -- does this mean just milk or all dairy products? Many people allergic to milk can eat cheese or crêpes, for example.

cathies

My daughter (aged 28) is leaving for Europe in a few weeks. She has an anaphylactic allergy to lamb and pork (including bacon) etc. she has done what tail sock suggested and has the explanation written down in each language she will need. Spain will probably be the most difficult, but she'll manage and she has every intention of eating in restaurants. She will also have her epipen with her just in case.

Allergickid I don't know how old your son is but if he can eat McDonald's then I'd go down that path sometimes for the sake of an easy life.

Ackislander

There was an extremely interesting article in the Ne York Times Magazine. - the cover story - about a doctor who has had great success treating children with these kinds of allergies. They are ultimately able to eat normally.

Your public library will have the issue if you don't find it online. It is clearly too late to do you any good for this trip, but it could change his life.

Christina

It really does depend on the severity about some of these things, because if it is so severe that a product made on the same machine or general vicinity of something that has touched nuts, for example, that could affect lots of baked goods.

I don't understand the McDonald's suggestion as there isn't anything there you couldn't buy normally, and most of their stuff has bread somewhere (sandwich or breaded). The sauce on a Big Mac has eggs, for example, and the fish fillet has a milk product ingredient. I know someone who doesn't eat milk (not sure if this is an official allergy, he thinks so), but eats all kinds of bread products, and some of that would likely have eggs and/or milk (like crepes). Of course some bread wouldn't, but I have several good bread recipes that have eggs in them, and milk isn't unheard of either in bread. But a traditional baguette shouldn't have milk or eggs, although richer breads and pastries will.

Michael

<i>I wonder why it is only kids from the US are such delicate little flowers.</i>

Apparently not, according to the yesterday's NY Times Magazine article on multiple allergies.

MaineGG

Here's a link to the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/ma...=magazine&_r=0

Although the article focuses on promising research by a very conscientious doctor, it's also very accurate in its depiction of the challenges dealt with on a day-to-day basis by the parents and their children who have these life-threatening allergies.

awicker

My daughter has the same allergens and we've yet to travel overseas. I would however recommend staying in either an American hotel chain or at the Marriott Vacation Club just outside of Paris. You don't have to be a member of the Marriott Vacation Club to stay in their units, most all of which come with kitchens. Here's a link to their website.

http://www.marriottvacationclub.com/...overview.shtml

If you would like, I can check with my sources at the Hyatt to find out whether they have any great chefs in Paris who can take care of you. I'm sure they do. From what I've heard from others traveling to Paris, it's a tough city to navigate with allergies, especially dairy. I've also had another friend travel there with her son and before they left, they identified every McDonald's in France and that's where they ate most of the time.
Hope this is helpful. Please let me know if you want me to contact my sources at the Hyatt. I would definitely stick with American hotel and/or restaurant chains.

Amy
AllergySafeTravel.com

PatrickLondon

Bear in mind that even McDonald's tends to adapt its offerings to local tastes. Whether that just means additional lines that you don't get in America, or that something that looks like what you're used to might be made rather differently, I don't know.

G_Hopper

Amy (awicker) may be trying to be helpful or just promoting her site - maybe even a little of both - but the suggestion of staying outside Paris in an "American" hotel and sticking with "American" chain restaurants is daft. Especially since she has "yet to travel overseas." This will unnecessarily diminish the Paris experience.

Americans don't have unique allergies that only Americans can deal with. Get an apartment with a kitchen in Paris - talk to locals about where to eat - keep a card describing what foods your son is allergic to - and you'll be fine.

laurie_ann

In case you haven't seen such things a number of companies make foreign language cards for food and other allergies. You might look at such a thing and also have it reviewed by your child's doctor. Especially in the case of allergies that are life threatening. Here's one. http://selectwisely.com/ You can have them printed, sent to you by email or smartphone.

Gretchen

I think staying at an American chain is sort of silly--it is an american chain IN France.
As has been said, there is roast chicken, fish, potatoes,meat, whatever.
Take the card and show it to the server if there is any doubt. What would you do in the US? The same thing I'd guess.

markpy

What sort of allergic reaction does your child have? If anaphylactic in nature, you must use extreme caution when eating out, particularly if you don't have a command of the language.
I'm sure you'll have antihistamine readily handy as well as an Epi-pen or similar device for emergency.