10 Tips for Traveling to Vietnam with Food Allergies
Do you want to travel more but suffering from peanut, gluten, soy, lactose, or other food allergies is holding you back? Setting foot into Southeast Asia such as Vietnam, where peanuts and wheat are served and you don’t speak the language, can bring it a full set of challenges. The best weapon in the fight against the fear of food allergies is knowledge. Therefore, as a result of our own research and local experience in Vietnam, here are 10 ways or tips to mitigate risks and enjoy the journey. The article covers not only such general tips and advice, but also foods to eat, and avoid.
Contents
Be well-prepared before traveling
Here are the most important pieces of advice before you plan to visit Vietnam.
- Notify your doctor about traveling with your particular food allergy in Vietnam. Your doctor may give you some advice about the foods in the areas you are going to, and write you a letter explaining your conditions. You may use it later to show the flight agency, and restaurants’ staff.
- Don’t forget to buy a travel insurance that covers your food allergy.
- Always pack your medications. Extra Epi-pens are always needed!
Peanuts at 10,000 meters
Peanut allergy is one of the most severe food allergies, yet peanuts are always served as in-flight snacks. Many airlines no longer serve peanuts; however, it is still essential to notify the flight agents of your peanut allergies and request for peanut-free snacks instead. Even if you want to make sure all the peanut dust and particles are removed in your seat, just speak to a gate agent before your flight and ask to pre-board in order to cleanse immediate seating area.
Pack your snacks more than you need
It is important and easy to bring your own food just in case you there is a lack of restaurants that accommodate special diets and other hiccups.
Create a translated card
If you are not fluent in Vietnamese, you should create a translated card beforehand so that you can present at restaurants or food vendors. The card should cover the list of ingredients you need to avoid, together with a brief explanation of your allergy. Translated cards are useful to avoid cross-contact, too. Since we are fluent in both Vietnamese and English, please feel free to reach out for help with translation. Contact us on Facebook here.
Cook your Own Food
When all the snacks you pack run out, cooking your own food is another solution. If it is too difficult to find safe food at restaurants, you better cook your own food. Lots of marts or supermarkets are scattered in Vietnam, so it’s not hard to collect the food then cook on your own at the homestay, hotel or hostel. Just deal an access to their kitchens and there is no big deal!
Ask the Right Questions
When you go eating out with a severe food allergy, your question doesn’t end up with only “Does this food contain any peanuts, gluten, etc.?” Your questions should be very specific and detailed as much as possible. For instance, if you are allergic to peanuts, you have to ask such questions: “What kind of oil is used to fry this food?” or “Are you sure there is no peanut in my bowl?” Sometimes the oil that was used to cook something is peanut-based.
Stick with Western Restaurants
Vietnam is the biggest threat for travelers with food allergies, especially gluten and peanut allergies. The Vietnamese people have peanuts as snacks in all gatherings, put lots of peanuts onto the top of noodle dishes, have Banh My made of wheat every single morning, and some even have no idea what gluten is. Therefore, to stay and to feel safe at the highest level, you can stick with Western-style restaurants such as McDonald’s, KFC’s, Burger King’s, Starbuck’s, 4P Pizza, Mediterraneo, and lots of Argentinan and American steakhouses on the way that all have excellent services. They have staff that can speak English and they have comprehensive knowledge about the nature of food allergy’s threats.
Book a Tour
If you Google “The Best Countries in The World for Food”, Vietnam never fails to appear on the list. Vietnam’s cuisine is famous for its simplicity of fresh but great ingredients in every single dish that can capture the essence of Vietnamese gastronomy. If you are interested in Vietnamese food adventure to have some good dishes in the food stalls on the sidewalks or taste some perfectly crafted dishes in century-old restaurants, but you are still afraid of your food allergy, booking a tour is the best solution now. The tour companies have staff who speak English fluently, and they fully understand the implications of traveling with food allergies. You can put trust in them in order to try the Vietnamese foods safely without any worries.
We offer excellent tours in Vietnam, and keeping you healthy and safe is always our first priority. It is a must. You can check out our tours offered here.
Foods to Eat/Avoid
For Gluten-free Eaters:
What you can eat: Fish sauce, Banh Xeo – Vietnamese crepes, Banh Khot, Goi Cuon, Mi Quang, Mien, Goi Cuon, Pho, Bun, Banh Canh, Com Tam, Com Hen, Banh Trang, Banh Trang Nuong, and Banh Trang Cuon.
What you cannot eat: Nui, Mi – yellow noodles, Banh Mi, and Cha Ca La Vong.
For People allergic to peanuts:
What you cannot eat: Peanuts, My Quang, Bun Bo Nam Bo, etc. Peanuts are usually used as some garnish on top of foods and easy to detect. Oil peanuts are used here but not much. It’s best to carry a translated notes in all cases though.
For People allergic to soy:
What you cannot eat: Soya, Soybean (curd, granules), Soy sauce, Tofu, etc.
For Lactose-free Eaters:
What you cannot eat: Pastries, Cookies, Caramel, etc. Lactose-free eaters have not so many challenges while traveling in Vietnam since the signature local dishes here are naturally lactose-free already.
If you are a food expert who already has lots of experience in finding the good foods with cautious alerts of the food allergy, please feel free to share your advice or tips in the Comment! Or submit an article here.
Find the Local Hospitals
You should spend some time finding local hospitals in the destinations that you are going to visit in Vietnam, then note down all the hospitals’ address and telephone number, and keep them in your pocket. You could ask your travel insurance provider to recommend some hospitals on the way. Also, feel free to contact us for help with finding the closest hospitals nearby. We have personal assistants always willing to help you out 24/7, too.
Hopefully, you now learn that it is possible to travel well with food allergies! If you follow our tips and advice and speak to your tour operator and airline, we are sure that there would be no problem while you are traveling in Vietnam. Nothing can hold you back!
Contact us for instant help: mazevietnam.info@gmail.com or facebook.com/mazevietnam
Happy Travel!
Very helpful information even for those without allergies. Thanks
What a great post! This is super handy for those with allergies! Traveling with allergies is tough but doing these 10 tips seem so reasonable!
This is a great guide, I’ll be sure to share it with anyone I know traveling to Vietnam 🙂
This post is very informative. I know a lot of persons would really appreciate this information. In fact i have friends travelling soon, so I will share this with them.
Think this is such a great post with food allergies to be prepared when traveling. Thank goodness we have never had any allergies to food that our family knows of.
It’s better to be safe than sorry, especially when traveling with food allergies. I imagine language barriers could get tricky though. Great tips and reminders here!
These sound like excellent tips, no matter where you’re traveling. Even going on a trip around your own state or country, I think all these things are worth remembering and following.
The idea of traveling with serious food allergies is scary! There are so many different obsticles even besides considering the language barrier.
Such great ideas! I’m allergic to dairy so traveling and eating can always be tricky. Especially in other countries! Such a good guide to follow.
I don’t have allergies, so I’m not too worried about what I eat when I travel. But for anyone going to Vietnam with allergies, this is a super helpful list! x
These are great tips for those with allergies. Luckily for me I can eat whatever. lol
It must be really uncomfortable to have food allergies when travelling to a country famous for its cuisine. There’re always solutions fortunately. Thanks for your advice!
This is such an important read! I’ve recently been diagnosed with some allergies and as an avid traveller, these are all things I’m going to have to keep in mind!
This is very informative and helpful.
Seems like you got it all covered it someone is traveling with allergies. I would be so worried.
This is really informative post. It would really be uncomfortable to travel with food allergies. Thanks for all your advice.
All good things to think about while traveling abroad.
I don’t have allergies, but I am vegetarian – so this is helpful in a differnet way. Thanks for sharing!
Hello, I found your info. helpful. What if you have a fish and shellfish allergy? Any tips on that?
You can eat pork, beef, chicken, etc. other than fish and stuff that you’re allergic to. There are a lot of choices for fish and shellfish allergy people in Vietnam. So no worries. To make sure all of your foods aren’t linked/touched/cooked with or by seafood, just carry a note/card as one of the examples we got above, or book tours in Vietnam and the operator would take care of you from A-Z. If you need any help with translation card or tour booking, pls feel free to contact us at fb.com/mazevietnam. Cheers!