Jo

Why Australia and New Zealand’s Food Labelling Laws Are Some of the Strictest in the World

Posted on by Jo

A practical guide for travellers managing coeliac disease, food allergies, intolerances, or any combination, across Australia and New Zealand.

Good news, both Australia and New Zealand have one of the most detailed allergen labelling systems in the world, substances that must be declared, a strict format for how they’re written, and separate, stricter standards for the words “gluten free.” Once you know how it works it’s honestly one of the easier places to eat safely, but its different enough from other places that it’s worth a proper explanation.

I’m a kiwi and I’ve eaten my way through Auckland, Coromandel, Rotorua, Queenstown, Adelaide and Melbourne since going gluten and dairy free, and while my own experience is with those two restrictions specifically, the labelling system underneath applies whatever you’re avoiding. Read on to learn how it works so you can travel and eat with confidence.

The Allergens That Must Be Declared

Under Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), packaged food must clearly declare a specific list of allergens whenever they’re present, regardless of how much or how little is used. The list includes:

  • Peanuts
  • Tree nuts, and each one has to be named individually, almond, Brazil nut, cashew, hazelnut, macadamia, pecan, pine nut, pistachio and walnut all have to be spelled out rather than grouped under “tree nuts”
  • Milk
  • Eggs
  • Fish
  • Crustaceans, such as prawns, crab and lobster
  • Molluscs, such as oysters, mussels, squid and scallops
  • Soy
  • Sesame
  • Lupin, a legume used in some flours and baked goods that isn’t widely known outside the region but is cross-reactive with peanut allergy for some people
  • Sulphites, when added at 10 milligrams per kilogram or more, common in dried fruit, wine and some processed foods
  • Wheat, along with barley, oats and rye specifically when they contain gluten

Source: Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) Allergen Labelling

That’s a wider net than many countries so if you’re managing a nut, egg allergy, or something like lupin or sulphites, Australian and New Zealand labels might be some of the easiest to navigate.

Plain English Labelling: What “Bold” and “Contains” Actually Mean

Packaging in New Zealand showing how the allergens appear

Here, allergens have to be written in specific, plain English terms, no hiding milk behind “casein” or “whey,” no grouping nuts together as one word. Each allergen appears in bold, every time it shows up in the ingredient list, including if it’s inside something like a stock or a sauce.

As well as this most products carry a separate bolded summary statement starting with the word “Contains,” for example “Contains: milk, soy, sulphites.” You can see this on the Tom & Luke’s packaging to the left. It sits near the ingredient list, it’s designed to be easy to check.

Gluten Free Zero Tolerance

Gluten sits inside the same regulations but “gluten free” as a claim on a label has much stricter rules than you might be used to. Under Australian and New Zealand food law, a product can only be labelled “gluten free” if it contains no detectable gluten whatsoever. There’s no allowable trace threshold the way there is in Europe or the US, where gluten free typically means under 20 parts per million. Here, if a lab can detect it, the product can’t wear the label.

In practice this means a “gluten free” sticker on a supermarket shelf or a menu is doing more work than the same words might overseas. It’s one of the reasons both countries are considered easier than average for coeliac travellers, once you’re looking at that specific claim.

What About the Oats?

Internationally, the gluten free status of oats can be controversial. Some countries allow oats to be labelled gluten free provided they’re grown, harvested and processed to avoid contamination with wheat. Others treat oats as a contamination risk by default, since oat crops are very often grown alongside or rotated with wheat.

Australia and New Zealand fall into the second camp. Neither country currently allows oats to be labelled gluten free, full stop, regardless of how the oats were grown or processed. Coeliac Australia has more details on the reasoning which is worth a read.

What this means in practice: oat milk in your coffee isn’t a gluten free swap here the way it might be at home. If you’re coeliac or highly sensitive, ask for cow, soy, almond, or especially in Australia a lactose-free option instead. It’s a small adjustment, but it’s the one detail that catches out even experienced travellers who’ve done this in a dozen other countries.

A delicious and safe bagel in Melbourne

What does “May Contain” really mean?

You’ll also see “may contain traces of,” or “may be present,” on packaging for any of the allergens on the list above, not just gluten. This is a voluntary statement, also called precautionary allergen labelling, and it exists because manufacturers have identified a genuine cross-contact risk they couldn’t fully eliminate through cleaning or scheduling.

The important part to consider though, it is voluntary so its absence doesn’t mean the product is safer. A manufacturer might not have added the statement, but the risk is still there. Treat it as one input, not the whole picture, and if you’re highly sensitive to a particular allergen, the product’s own website or customer service line can be a valuable source of advice regarding the manufacturing process. For example Whittaker’s Chocolate FAQ contains some valuable information you wont find on the packaging.

Menus, Restaurants, and Where the Packaging Rules Stop

All of the above applies to packaged retail food. It doesn’t extend to what comes out of a restaurant kitchen. Once you’re eating out, you’re back to asking the same questions you’d ask anywhere in the world, regardless of what you’re managing, how is this prepared, is there a dedicated fryer or board, what’s in the sauce.

Menu in Australia showing allergen labels

Menus increasingly use shorthand like GF, DF, V, VG, or a specific allergy icon, and halal and kosher options are marked at some venues, but none of that shorthand carries the same legal weight as the packaging declarations above. It’s a helpful pointer, not a guarantee, and staff knowledge does vary from one venue to the next.

Whether a restaurant has labels or not always ask the staff, some restaurants will say they don’t cater to allergens but, most do even when its not labelled. I’ve often found some of the most accomodating places to be ones without labelling on the menu. Like many places your favourite review webistes or apps can be great places to find recommended spots.

Don’t forget to ask questions just like you would at home, so you know that the risk of cross contamination is acceptable to you. On a snowboarding trip to Queenstown, a couple of restaurants said they had gluten free items, however when I enquired further the fryer was shared. One lunch break in Auckland I enquired about a noodle place that had rice gluten free noodles, when I asked questions the water was shared and the broth had soy sauce containing wheat. On both occasions if I hadn’t asked more questions I could have been affected by gluten.

Where to Put This Into Practice

If you’re planning a trip across the region, I’ve put the practical, restaurant-by-restaurant version of all this into three dedicated guides. They’re written from my own experience as a gluten free and dairy free traveller, but the labelling logic above applies underneath whatever you’re managing:

If your combination includes allergies beyond gluten and dairy, the Essentials Travel Pack builds a personalised guide including naturally safe dishes and an allergy card for your restrictions wherever you’re headed.

The Takeaway

Australia and New Zealand’s labelling laws are detailed because they’re built around certainty rather than guesswork. A specific list of allergens has to be declared in plain English, gluten free carries its own stricter zero tolerance standard again, oats sit outside that claim entirely, and none of it extends past the supermarket shelf into the kitchen. Once you know the categories, whatever your combination of restrictions, the region becomes one of the more straightforward places in the world to eat safely.

Jo

Why I use a specialised AI tool for gluten free and travel planning

Posted on by Jo

There’s a moment most restriction travellers know well. You’re standing in front of the breakfast buffet at a hotel in Queenstown, plate in hand, and you genuinely don’t know what’s safe. Or you’re at home planning that trip through the Loire Valley and three hours of Googling later you’re less certain than when you started. AI tools promised to fix that. And they do help, just not always in the way you need.

Think of it this way. A generalist AI, like ChatGPT or Claude, is like a knowledgeable librarian, they can point you in the right direction, give you solid general information, and they’re genuinely useful. A specialised tool built around your specific restrictions is more like a travel consultant who’s actually travelled your way, they don’t just brief you, they send you off with everything you need in your hand. Personally I use both, and I’ll show you exactly where the difference shows up, because for some trips, the librarian is all you need.

What standard AI actually does well

Ask ChatGPT about travelling to Paris with an egg allergy and it’ll tell you about French food law, flag that eggs turn up in places you wouldn’t expect like béarnaise and brioche, give you phrases to use, and suggest some smart cultural workarounds like leaning into North African and Vietnamese restaurants. That’s genuinely useful. It even thought to ask about severity. Google’s AI overview, powered by Gemini, goes further in some areas, it names specific supermarkets like Monoprix and Naturalia, flags the EpiPen and doctor’s letter angle for severe allergies, and even catches that steak-frites ordered à cheval comes with a fried egg on top. If you’re heading somewhere well documented, travelling with a single common restriction, and you’re comfortable doing a bit of your own follow up research, a generalist AI will get you a long way.

And if you didn’t open ChatGPT, but instead Googled it and read the AI overview at the top of the results, and yes we all do this, that’s not a bad starting point.

There’s one catch with the Google AI overview in particular. It’s only as good as what ranks well in search, and most of what ranks well is written for single restriction travellers. If you’re managing more than one restriction, and a lot of us are, the results start to get complicated fast. Something flagged as a safe egg free option might be full of gluten. A vegan restaurant recommended for egg allergy might use oat milk in everything. The overview doesn’t know your combination, it knows the most common question. This isn’t just an AI problem by the way. Anyone who’s followed a gluten free recommendation to a crêperie and then discovered the dairy free part wasn’t even considered will know exactly what I mean.

Example one: At the breakfast buffet

So where does it get complicated? Not in what these tools know, but in what they do with it once you’re actually there, standing in front of a decision that needs a practical answer, not a briefing.

Breakfast one morning at Toyoko Inn

Take this plate. I was staying at a Toyoko Inn in Japan and asked ChatGPT whether this breakfast was safe for someone who is gluten free and dairy free. The staff were busy and I wasn’t sure if it was ok to ask.

The response was reasonable. It flagged the right risks, the possible soy glaze on the fish, the eggs potentially cooked with butter or milk, the mystery sauce. It gave me a confidence rating of 7-8 out of 10 for gluten free and 5-6 out of 10 for dairy free. Then it asked me three follow-up questions before it would go further.

A confidence rating is not much use when you’re hungry and the buffet is closing in twenty minutes.

I asked my own tool, the product sutability checker the same question. It also flagged the right risks, and it also asked a follow up question to confirm my restrictions. But then it gave me the specific Japanese phrases to ask about each dish on the plate, a ready to show card for staff, and safer default choices if I couldn’t get a clear answer. It’s built to err on the side of caution, which means it won’t give you a green light until it has enough information to be confident. For coeliac level restrictions that’s not a limitation, it’s the point.

One response you read, the other you take to the buffet, this time with the confidence to know what to ask the staff.

  • Output from a Chat GPT conversation whether breakfast is GF DF
    Output from a Chat GPT conversation whether breakfast is GF DF
  • The output from a conversation if a meal is GF DF in Japan
    The output from a conversation if a meal is GF DF in Japan

Example two: Planning at home

Now take a different moment, not standing at a buffet, but at home planning a trip. I asked ChatGPT and Gemini the same question: “I’m allergic to eggs and travelling to Paris for a city break, what do I need to know?”

Both did well. ChatGPT flagged the right foods, gave useful phrases, and suggested leaning into North African and Vietnamese restaurants as a smart workaround. Gemini named specific supermarkets, caught the à cheval steak frites detail, and covered emergency preparation more thoroughly than ChatGPT did. Between them you’d have a solid understanding of the landscape.

But here’s what you wouldn’t have. You wouldn’t have the specific French labelling words to scan a menu yourself. You wouldn’t have named restaurants with neighbourhoods. You wouldn’t have a bilingual allergy card ready to show staff. You wouldn’t have links to French government labelling resources or the local allergy association. And you wouldn’t have a fallback plan for when things go wrong mid trip, because things do go wrong mid trip.

My tool returned all of that from a single clarifying question about whether I had any other restrictions.

ChatGPT to its credit ended with three more questions before it would go deeper. Gemini ended with “tell me your neighbourhood and favourite foods.” Both are useful but if you close the tab at that point, which most people do, what you’re left with is a briefing, what you need is a kit.

  • Chat GPT output for a traveller allergic to eggs going to Paris
    Chat GPT output for a traveller allergic to eggs going to Paris
  • Gemini output for a traveller allergic to eggs going to Paris
    Gemini output for a traveller allergic to eggs going to Paris
  • Globally Sauced Essentials output for a traveller allergic to eggs going to Paris
    Globally Sauced Essentials output for a traveller allergic to eggs going to Paris

If you need to go deeper on specific restaurant recommendations for a destination, I’ve built a separate tool entirely, a dining guide built just for that, it even checks if a restaurant is still operating. While the menu checker i perfect for deciphering a menu to understand what’s in a meal. The essentials pack is designed to give you a detailed overview across every category, while the dining guide or menu checker is where I go when I want to drill down further.

Why this happens

So why does this happen? It’s not that ChatGPT or Gemini are getting it wrong. It’s that they’re built to be helpful to everyone, which means they’re optimised for nobody in particular. They don’t know your specific combination of restrictions, your risk tolerance, or that you’re standing at a Toyoko Inn buffet at 7am trying to figure out if the eggs are safe. They give you the most useful answer they can for the most common version of your question.

A tool built specifically for restriction travel starts from a different place. The cultural context, the safety-first mindset, the multi-restriction framing, the “here’s what to actually do right now” output, that’s all baked in before you ask your first question. You don’t need to know what to ask, which matters more than it sounds. If you knew exactly what to ask, you probably wouldn’t need the tool.

There’s one more thing worth being upfront about. If you asked ChatGPT or Gemini the same question twice, you might get a different answer. Generalist AI is designed to be conversational and varied, which is great for a lot of things but less reassuring when you’re trying to make a safety call. I ran the same meal check twice for this post and got noticeably different responses. A tool with a fixed prompt structure covers the same categories every time, the wording might shift slightly but the framework doesn’t.

The other difference is that my tool is deliberately cautious. It won’t give you a green light until it has enough information to be confident. For some people that feels slow. For anyone who’s been glutened by a “probably fine” call, it feels exactly right.

That moment at the breakfast buffet in Queenstown, or the three hours of planning for the Loire Valley that left you less certain than when you started, that’s what this is all about. Not replacing the research, but making sure that when you close the tab you’re holding something useful. A kit, not just a briefing. If a generalist AI gets you there, brilliant. If you’ve ever closed a tab and still felt unsure or that it was still too much work, it might be worth trying something built specifically for your needs and how you travel.

Jo

How to Travel Off the Beaten Path with Dietary Restrictions (Without Surviving on Snacks)

Posted on by Jo

Most dietary restriction travel advice is written for people staying in big cities. Book a hotel somewhere with suitable food and a good location, sort a dedicated gluten-free restaurant, use an allergy card, perhaps check the menu online. Done.

That advice is fine, until you decide you actually want to go somewhere. A ski village in the mountains, the thatched roof post town on a scenic railway, a powder-hunting resort an hour from the nearest supermarket. Or even that dream beach holiday somewhere warm. That’s where the standard advice falls apart, and where a bit of extra planning pays off properly.

I’ve been working through the itinerary for my next Japan trip, a twenty-five day northbound snowboarding and sightseeing route through Tohoku and Hokkaido, hitting places like Zao Onsen, the Morioka ski resorts, and Aomori — and the food planning for somewhere like Geto Kogen (a remote powder resort with, frankly, no reliable GF/DF options on mountain) is a completely different conversation to Sapporo, where I’ll be able to eat kaisendon for breakfast and have gluten free ramen and tempura for dinner.

Powder day at Akakura Onsen

I didn’t want to share an abstract list with you, here’s what actually works, in places where lists don’t exist and Google Maps has three options. Heads up, the examples through here are related to my upcoming and previous trips, but they work just as well whether your going on an idyllic beach holiday, a surf trip, or just want to base yourself in some smaller towns for a while. And if you’re reading this and thinking that trip sounds like me, contact me on social media, I’m happy to share the full plan.

Your accommodation is your safety net

In a city, a bad restaurant is a ten-minute walk from a better one, and yes, even with dietary restrictions there is likely to be more than one option. In a ski village, your accommodation might be the only safe meal going.

The self-catering baseline is lower than you might think. Most hotel rooms anywhere in the world have a fridge. Microwaves are increasingly standard in many places, often in a shared lobby space. A kettle is almost universal. That’s all you need, enough to store food from a supermarket run, heat a backup meal, or rehydrate something you’ve brought. You don’t need a full kitchen, just pack a bowl and some camping cutlery so you’re not looking for something when you’re hangry.

Contact hotels through the booking platform before you are committed to staying. If they offer breakfast or dinner, even for an additional fee, send them a message through the secure messaging system asking whether they can accommodate your restrictions. I did this for every accommodation when I was planning a ski trip to Nagano & Niigata last year, most replied, the ones that didn’t? I used the free cancellation and went elsewhere.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Japanese breakfast at Hotel Senke in Akakura Onsen

Hotel Senke in Akakura Onsen was one that came through; a lot of places did to be honest but knowing that they could do breakfast, and had an option for dinner was a real lifesaver. A reply telling you they can help is useful information. No reply is also useful information.

Book flexible cancellation where you can, If research tells you there’s genuinely nothing safe within range of a particular lodge, you want the option to move your base. Remote resort areas or rural villages rarely improve once you’re there.

Learn the food landscape before you arrive

Every destination has its own logic, and understanding it in advance means you can make confident calls in the moment rather than stressing at the menu.

What’s naturally safe, and where

In places with strong regional food cultures, and Japan is full of them, some dishes are naturally low-risk for your restrictions if you can ask the right questions. For gluten-free and dairy-free travel in Japan I look for the following (The Essentials Travel Pack is fantastic for generating these options and more)

  • Sashimi-focused izakayas are usually your best anchor
  • Yakitori ordered shio (salt, not tare) is a reliable option
  • 100% buckwheat soba (十割そば, jūwari) where you can find it
  • Onigiri with simple fillings — avoid anything with mayo or soy-seasoned fillings
  • Yakiniku or grilled meat ask for plain meats and salt

In regional areas, local specialities are often worth researching. Ouchi-juku, a beautifully preserved Edo-period post town on the Yagan Railway, has negi-soba (a regional buckwheat noodle dish) at places serving jūwari soba, plus grilled char on a stick (salted, roasted over charcoal) and tochi-mochi (horse chestnut rice cakes), which are naturally gluten and dairy free, just check the topping. None of these would turn up on a typical GF Japan guide. Finding these was tricky. I ended up looking for jūwari soba (十割そば) on the menu then putting the menu through Google Translate to check.

Gluten free, dairy free local speciality Gohei-mochi in Narai-juku

Hidden ingredients

In Japan, dashi (usually bonito-based fish stock) and soy sauce (which nearly always contains wheat) are the two things that catch people out the most. Both are foundational to Japanese cooking in a way that’s easy to underestimate, they turn up in broths, sauces, marinades, dressings, and things that look like plain vegetables. A dish that reads as naturally simple often isn’t.

Many countries have ingredients that feature heavily in the cuisine, this isn’t isolated to Japan, but knowing this in advance means you know what to ask about, not just what to avoid.

What is the service culture like?

Japan’s service culture is one of the most careful I’ve encountered. Restaurants will often say no if they can’t guarantee safety, which is actually a good thing, even when it’s inconvenient. Two places said no on a night in Kanazawa, and the third, where they said yes, I trusted completely. You learn to read a careful no as more useful than a breezy yes. If you’re headed to Japan read up on Why Japan Handles Food Allergies Differently to the West.

Meanwhile other countries will go out of their way to help, if like me cross contamination is a concern this isn’t ideal if they don’t understand the steps needed to minimise the risk of cross contamination.

That said, remote areas do have fewer options, so “knowing which battles to pick” matters more when you only have a handful of restaurants within reach.

Use the right tools

Translation

For Japan specifically, Papago handles food terminology and cultural nuance better than most general-purpose translators like Google Translate, but something will be better than nothing. It’s worth downloading and learing to use before you go, not after.

They are essential to ask follow up questions to confirm cooking practises or cross contamination risks as well as scanning ingredient labels at convenience stores and supermarkets. Which let’s face it you will be doing when you can’t speak the language fluently, both Papago and Google Translate’s image scanner are great at this.

Learn to use the image scan mode, download the languages you need and create and save some key phrases, before you travel not when you’re standing in a 7-Eleven in a ski village trying to work out if the onigiri has soy in the seasoning. I’ve been known to practise in my local asian grocery store much to the amusement of staff. I do into this more in this post: The Best Translation Apps for Dietary Restrictions and How to use Them.

A physical allergy card

This is non-negotiable for sit-down restaurants, and more so in areas where English is limited. A card you can hand to staff, which they can take to the kitchen, is more reliable than a phone screen in a busy environment and more accurate than spoken communication when nuance matters.

Allergy card and traditional dessert in Kanazawa, Japan

The key things your card needs to cover:

  • Your specific restrictions (all of them, don’t just list one)
  • Cross-contamination, not just ingredients
  • Both what to avoid and what you can eat

If you’re using an AI-generated card, which you can generate here: Free Allergy Card, review it before you travel, I recommended translating it into a third unrelated language, then back into your native language (Thanks for the tip Harry). A native speaker is ideal but often there’s not one of those handy. AI translation is good and getting better, but treating it as a draft to verify rather than a finished product is the right approach.

Structure your itinerary to give yourself easy wins

One of the most useful things you can do when planning a trip that includes genuinely remote areas is to sandwich them between cities where eating is easier.

On a Tohoku run, Sendai and Sapporo are both excellent food cities with plenty of safe options. Sendai in particular earns its place: winter is oyster season at Matsushima, and fresh grilled oysters (seasoned with seawater, nothing added) are naturally GF and DF. Sapporo in January means kaisendon at Nijo Market, soup curry (check the base, but often safe), and Hokkaido crab.

These easy stretches matter because they reduce the cumulative stress of the harder ones. If you know Sapporo is coming up and you trust it, the days at Geto Kogen where you’re living off onigiri feels more manageable rather than grim.

For my upcoming trip my easier locations are: Nikko, Sendai and Sapporo, the harder locations will be Zao Onsen while Aomori, Morioka and Aizuwakamatsu could go either way, I’ve found naturally safe options, the occasional reviewed gluten free offering (most don’t mention dairy free though) and there are convenience stores in all those places. Asking the right questions and using my allergy card will be key.

Consider basing yourself in hubs, For my upcoming trip I’ve also chosen to do more day trips and stay in hubs, for me this looks like staying in Morioka near to the train station and planning day trips to Hachimantai Shimokura, Appi Kogen and Tazawako Kogen as well as some backup ski resorts including Geto Kogen depending on conditions and how I’m feeling. Recently when I was in Adelaide with mum we did the same, stayed for longer somewhere central and did day trips to McLaren Vale and Victor Harbor. For me that approach takes the stress off finding suitable meal options, reduces travel days and in the case of Morioka significantly reduces the cost of the accomodation as the resorts are more costly but in most cases have no suitable food options at least listed online.

Build in a reliable chain backup. In Japan, CoCo Ichibanya (Japanese curry restaurant) often has allergen-specific menus and is worth knowing the location of in each city. I also do a quick check to see what supermarkets and convenience stores are handy, in small ski towns there may only be one, if any. It’s not exciting, but it’s useful to have in your back pocket.

For more detail on planning a trip with dietary restrictions check out the Step-by-Step Travel Planning Guide

Prepare for travel days and mountain days specifically

Mountain days and travel days are the ones that catch people out. You’re moving, food timing is unpredictable, and remote resorts especially can have very limited safe options at the cafeteria.

Pack a day bag for mountain days. For a remote resort like Geto Kogen, I’m planning onigiri from the night before in Morioka, plus backup snacks. Appi Kogen, the most food-equipped of the Morioka-area resorts has a Nepali-Indian restaurant in the base lodge, and Indian curries with rice are often a genuinely safe GF/DF option, but I will need to ask about butter / ghee in the curry, however not every resort will have that.

Backup food for the trip overall. Commercially packaged dehydrated meals or safe snacks travel well, and they’re there for the moments where timing doesn’t work out. This is especially true for ryokan or hotel dinners where you’ve pre-arranged something but the onsen village itself has nothing else. If you’re bringing food from home into Japan, check customs requirements, you’ll need to declare it.

Convenience stores are more useful than they look. Japanese convenience stores, think 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Lawson all stock boiled eggs, plain onigiri (shio is the safest filling to look for but salmon or adzuki bean is also usually safe), and plain nuts in most locations. They’re not glamorous, but they’re usually there even in small towns, and knowing how to read the labels (or scan them) means you can use them confidently.

Onigiri from the convenience store 7-11 in Japan

The honest version

Off the beaten path travel with dietary restrictions is not seamless. Some places will have one safe option and it’ll be fine. Some places will have no reliable options and you’ll be glad you packed backup food. Some ryokan will go genuinely out of their way for you when you ask in advance and the dinner will be one of the best of the trip.

The framework above doesn’t make it perfectly smooth. It makes it manageable and worth doing, which is the point.

The places worth going to aren’t always the places with the longest lists of safe restaurants. Sometimes the thatched-roof post town with one soba shop that happens to do jūwari noodles is exactly right.

Jo

How to Eat Safely at the Airport with Dietary Restrictions

Posted on by Jo

The last place you want to get sick is on a plane. Airport food can feel like a game of chance when you have dietary restrictions, but with a bit of preparation, it becomes manageable. Whether you’re gluten free, dairy free, nut-free, or managing a combination, the process is largely the same. The options might look different, but the approach holds.

A quick note on expectations before we get into it: airports vary enormously. A large international hub like Singapore Changi or Hong Kong International will have genuine options across multiple terminals. A small regional airport might have a convenience store and a kiosk. Knowing which you’re dealing with, and planning accordingly, is half the battle.

Research before you get there

Don’t leave this to chance at the departure gate. A few minutes of research before you leave the house can save a lot of stress, especially if you’re travelling early morning, late at night, or through a smaller airport where options are limited.

Useful places to look:

  • Find Me Gluten Free lists airports specifically, making it easy to search by terminal. It’s one of the better tools for this.
  • Facebook groups and Reddit communities for your specific restriction often have recent, real-world reports from travellers who’ve been through that airport recently.
  • Google Maps reviews can flag allergy-friendly cafes, though quality varies.
  • The airport’s own website sometimes lists dining options by terminal, which at minimum tells you what’s there even if it doesn’t confirm what’s safe.

I learned this the hard way leaving Calgary a couple of years ago. I’d come from Banff and hadn’t thought to check in advance. When I got to the airport there was nothing suitable open. The bookshop sold snacks, which kept me going while I waited, but it wasn’t exactly a great start to a long-haul flight. A small amount of planning would have fixed it entirely.

One thing worth checking, especially at larger airports: whether the options you’ve found are actually in your terminal, look for a terminal map before you fly on the airport website or similar. Flying out of Japan for the first time, I got excited about a 7-Eleven that came up in my research. It was in a completely different terminal. By the time I’d worked that out, time was tight and I opted for vending machine onigiri that I had to throw away becuase it contained gluten.

What to look for on the day

Once you’re through security, a quick scan of what’s available is worth doing before you commit to anything. Here’s how I think about it;

Naturally safe options

Gluten Free, Dairy Free and Vegan options at Adelaide Airport

Depending on your restrictions, there are often safer bets hiding in plain sight. Nigiri sushi (check for soy sauce), fresh fruit, plain salads, and sealed pre-packaged snacks can all be worth a look. Not glamorous, but reliable

Transiting Hong Kong on a trip earlier this year, there were a couple of options that might have worked for me as someone who’s gluten and dairy free, but I was at the start of a long trip and really wasn’t confident. Fruit and chips at a kiosk to the rescue. Not exciting, but I landed feeling fine, which was all that mattered.

Fast food

Most major fast food chains publish allergen information online and operate with standardised processes, which makes them a reasonable option when you’re stuck. It’s worth a look before you rule them out entirely. Just keep in mind that practices can vary between countries, even within the same chain.

T traveller headed towards a fast food outlet at the airport

Sit-down restaurants

Airport restaurants can work, but they need more caution than you might apply at a dedicated restaurant at home. Cross-contamination is common in high-volume kitchens. If you do eat at one, be specific with staff: name your allergens clearly (say cashews, not tree nuts; say wheat, not just gluten), confirm what the dish contains, and check that safe prep can actually be guaranteed. If you’re coeliac or have a severe allergy, apply the same level of scrutiny you would anywhere else.

Before you eat

A couple of small habits that are worth building into your airport routine;

  • Carry disinfecting wipes and use them before you eat. Wipe down your hands, the tray or table surface, and anything your food is going to come into contact with. It takes thirty seconds and it matters, especially if you’re managing a contact-sensitive allergy.
  • If you’re eating at a food court or grab-and-go counter, keep your food away from shared surfaces where possible and watch for cross-contamination from neighbouring trays or tables.

Bring backup snacks

This is non-negotiable. You should already have snacks for the flight itself (see our guide to special meals and flying for full details on that), but the airport is a separate problem. The last thing you want is to eat your flight snacks before you’ve even boarded because there was nothing suitable in the terminal.

Small airports can have almost nothing for restricted travellers. And even if you’re departing a well-stocked international hub, things happen. Flights get delayed. Weather forces emergency stops. Connections go wrong.

My mum experienced this on a trip back from Fiji. The plane made an unscheduled stop in Tonga due to a mechanical issue. The airport was tiny, options were minimal even for regular travellers, and because of flight changes her special meal request hadn’t transferred. Without snacks, it was a very long few hours in the blazing heat waiting for the situation to resolve. Pack enough to cover unexpected delays, not just the flight itself.

One final note: if you’re carrying snacks through customs, know what you can and can’t declare at your destination. Australia and New Zealand in particular have strict biosecurity rules, and getting caught with undeclared food is not the kind of stress or cost you want at the end of a long trip. When in doubt, eat it before you land, throw it away before security or check the rules in advance.

The airport can surprise you too

It’s worth saying, because airport eating with dietary restrictions isn’t always a story of compromise and contingency plans. On a stopover in Vancouver flying back from Calgary to Auckland, I ended up in the Air Canada lounge as someone’s plus one after a random act of kindness from a fellow passenger. Four hours of waiting turned into wine and a gluten free, dairy free curry with rice. Sometimes the airport genuinely delivers. Plan for the worst, but stay open to the unexpected.

The short version

  • Research your airport and terminal before you leave. Find Me Gluten Free, Facebook groups, and Google Maps are all useful.
  • Check terminal maps carefully. Options in another terminal might as well not exist if you’re short on time.
  • Look for naturally safe options first: fruit, pre-packaged snacks, nigiri, plain salads.
  • Fast food chains publish allergens and can work in a pinch.
  • Apply full restaurant caution if you’re eating at a sit-down place: be specific, name your allergens clearly.
  • Wipe down surfaces before you eat.
  • Pack backup snacks that cover delays, not just the flight.
  • Know what you can carry through customs at your destination.

For everything about the flight itself, including special meal codes, what to do if your meal doesn’t make it on board, and what to pack in your carry-on, head to our guide to special meals and flying.

Jo

You Don’t Need a Luxury Budget to Eat Safely with Dietary Restrictions

Posted on by Jo

Here’s something that happens to travellers with dietary restrictions at least once. You search for safe places to eat somewhere new, and a list or instagram posts comes back that actually looks promising. You click through, you get excited, and then you see the prices. And then, the real tell; those reviewers list the hotels they recommend, and it all makes sense. High end international brands, concierge, someone else to help with the hard parts.

I’m not against this approach, if it helps you travel safely and have a great time with less stress do it. But eating safely with dietary restrictions, whether that’s gluten free, dairy free, nut free, halal, vegan, or any combination, doesn’t require a luxury budget. But it requires a different approach.

Ideally plan your trip around a destination that works for your budget and dietary restrictions. I’m going snowboarding again after Christmas and was hoping to go to Italy, had a few options planned. With what’s happening in the Middle East (key transit hub from New Zealand) and the higher costs in Europe, I’m now going back to Japan but heading north and will go to Europe at a later date. Lets face it, that’s not always an option though. Sometimes our destination isn’t as flexible.

These tips work whether you’re managing one restriction or several. They draw on my experience as a backpacker around Europe and North America a few years back but tailored to our needs. They do rely on a level of comfort with reading labels, using allergy cards and translation apps as well as advocating for yourself. If you’d like to build confidence in those areas first, start here: Allergy Cards vs. Translation Apps, what to use and when to switch and also check out How to build food advocacy skills

Eat where the locals eat

Tourist-facing restaurants charge tourist prices, and they’re often the places most likely to rely on pre-made sauces, shared fryers, and vague “gluten-friendly” claims. Local spots tend to be cheaper, fresher, and often more transparent about what’s actually in the food; especially if you can ask.

If the language or menu feels daunting, timing helps. Go slightly off-peak: after the lunch rush, before dinner service kicks in. Staff have more time, the kitchen is less chaotic, and you’re more likely to get a real answer to a real question. When I was in Nagano, going after the lunch rush meant the staff actually had time to walk me through how the soba was prepared and to answer questions I hadn’t even thought to ask. Such as how to drink the left over dipping sauce.

Soba in Nagano

Think naturally safe, not dedicated safe

Dedicated gluten free or allergy-friendly restaurants exist on a spectrum, some are excellent, some charge a premium for mediocre food, and many aren’t in the budget bracket anyway. But naturally safe food exists everywhere, often cheaply.

Think meat, seafood, tofu, vegetables, rice, potatoes; Dishes built around whole ingredients rather than sauces and coatings. This is where multi-restriction travellers often have an advantage over people looking for western-style alternatives, you’re already scanning for ingredients rather than labels.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Afghani food in Adelaide, Australia

My mum and I found this worked brilliantly in Adelaide. We weren’t hunting for dedicated gluten free venues. We were eating Afghani kebabs, Greek pita, Mexican fajitas; dishes that were naturally safe for both of us, often cheaper than the “safe” spots recommended online, and genuinely great food.

Make lunch your main meal

Dinner prices at many restaurants, particularly in tourist areas can be significantly higher than the exact same food served at lunch. Where lunch specials exist, they’re worth seeking out. You eat well, spend less, and often have more flexibility because it’s quieter.

Cook some of your own meals

Even partial self-catering makes a real difference, both financially and in terms of reducing the daily mental load of navigating restrictions.

Book accommodation with at least a fridge and kettle if you can, even hotels often have this. A microwave opens up more options. Full kitchens in apartments, guesthouses, and hostels are even better.

GF DF Breakfast from WW in Adelaide recently

Before you travel, look up the major local supermarkets online so you know what products and brands to look for when you arrive. I almost always do this, a quick google search usually brings up the online shop and the dietary filters helps me recognise potentially safe options ahead of time. Hint: Take some screenshots and save in a google drive (or similar) folder.

Bring a reusable water bottle, a set of utensils, a container or bowl, and a few zip-lock bags. If crumbs in shared toasters are a problem for you, toaster bags are worth packing. Having breakfast in your room, or at minimum, a snack in your bag takes pressure off finding every single meal of the day.

Keep drinking to a minimum

Alcohol in bars and restaurants is often one of the biggest budget drains when travelling. It’s also worth noting from a restriction perspective: the decisions you make after a few drinks are rarely the ones you’d make sober. Sneaky sources of cross-contamination tend to slip through more easily when you’re not reading ingredients as carefully as you normally would.

Always have a backup

This matters more than people realise. In Japan, many local restaurants are very small, a wait is common, may be booked out, or simply can’t accommodate your combination of restrictions. In Hong Kong, some of the places that look incredible on paper are Michelin starred and often outside my budget. In Paris or Roma, that gluten free bakery you’ve been looking forward to might also be full of dairy.

Know what your backup is before you need it. A nearby convenience store, a supermarket, a dish you’ve already scoped out. Having a plan B is not being pessimistic, it’s just good travel with restrictions.

A note on upcharges

A gluten free or allergy-modified meal should carry a small upcharge when there’s a genuine cost involved, a different base, extra care in preparation. That’s fair. But a large premium just for existing as a multi-restriction traveller is not something you should feel obligated to pay, and the good news is: with the right approach, you usually don’t have to.

Take the guesswork out of communicating your restrictions

One of the most practical things you can do before any trip is have a clear, accurate card explaining your restrictions in the local language, something you can hand over at a restaurant, market, or convenience store without the pressure of trying to explain it on the fly.

If you found this post useful check out the Start Here guide (link below), all the key posts are organised by stage so that food isn’t the hardest part of your trip.

Jo

Why Japan Handles Food Allergies Differently to the West

Posted on by Jo

A practical guide for travellers managing multiple dietary restrictions; from gluten-free and dairy-free to allergies such as nut or egg, vegetarian, halal, kosher, and beyond.

Japan is one of the most fascinating places to travel with dietary restrictions, not because it’s “easy” in the Western sense, but because the entire system works differently. If you’ve ever wondered why a café in Tokyo will confidently tell you no, while a restaurant in the US or Europe might guess, improvise, or over-promise, this post breaks down the cultural, legal, and practical reasons behind Japan’s unique approach.

I’m coming at this as someone who has travelled Japan gluten-free and dairy-free, and the patterns I’m describing are ones I encountered repeatedly across different cities, budgets, and restaurant types. But the underlying logic applies whether you’re gluten-free, managing a nut allergy, eating halal, or juggling a combination of restrictions. The system is what it is, regardless of which specific things you can’t eat.

If you’re travelling Japan gluten-free and/or dairy-free, I’ve got two dedicated guides worth bookmarking: Gluten and Dairy Free Travel in Japan and Gluten Free Skiing and Snowboarding in Nagano & Niigata.

Japan’s Food Labelling Laws Are Clear, But Not Built for Western Allergies

Japan has one of the most structured allergen labelling systems in the world. But it’s built around Japanese dietary risks, not Western ones.

CategoryAllergens
Mandatory (8)Crab, Egg, Milk, Shrimp, Peanuts, Buckwheat, Walnut, Wheat
Recommended (20)Almonds, Abalone (Paua), Apple, Banana, Beef, Cashews, Chicken, Kiwifruit, Gelatin, Macadamia, Mackerel, Oranges, Peaches, Pork, Salmon, Salmon Roe, Sesame, Squid, Soybean, Wild Yam

Source: Japan moves to bolster food allergen controls after nut cases spike and Japan’s Food Labelling System

A few things worth knowing before you arrive:

  • Gluten isn’t a category. Only wheat must be labelled. This means barley, rye, oats, and malt are not labelled, for example anything with soy sauce, miso, or seasoning blends needs a closer look.
  • Buckwheat appears in the mandatory list because it’s a significant allergen in Japan, not because it contains gluten. Pure buckwheat soba is naturally gluten-free, but much of the soba you will encounter is a combination of buckwheat and wheat.
  • Dairy often hides under umbrella terms in processed foods, sauces, and curries, particularly in convenience store products. If you’re dairy-free, “milk” will usually be labelled, but butter, cream, and casein are worth checking for explicitly.
  • Soy sauce almost always contains wheat, even when the dish it’s in looks naturally safe. This catches a lot of gluten-free travellers off guard.
  • If you have a nut allergy, the recommended list includes almonds, walnuts, cashews, macadamia, and others but these are voluntary to label, not mandatory. Check carefully, and your allergy card becomes even more important.

This is why travellers can find Japan both reassuring and confusing at the same time. The system is consistent, it’s just not aligned with how we are used to categorising food safety.

How to identify your allergens on the packaging

Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency has published a handy guide to the Japanese Food Labelling System that I highly recommend reading. It explains how to read the nutrition and allergen information and how to read the expiry dates.

The back of a packet of lollies from Japan showing where the key allergen information is located

How this information translates into reality took me some time to adjust. On the left is the back of the packaging in Japan. This product has Individual Labeling the top orange box with the nutritional information, and I underlined the ingredients. It also has Collective Labeling, the second orange box containing which of the 28 allergens the product contains in a handy easy to find box.

Note the reference box is commonly listed for convenience but its not a legal requirement.

Restaurants Prioritise Accuracy Over Accommodation

One of the biggest cultural differences is this: if a Japanese restaurant isn’t confident they can serve you safely, they will say no. And that’s a good thing.

Multiple times I had staff read my allergy card, check with the kitchen, and decline politely. No guessing, no “we’ll try our best,” no improvising. If they couldn’t guarantee it, they wouldn’t risk it. This does mean you need a backup plan, a list of a few safe options nearby, rather than one restaurant on a given night, but the trade-off is worth it.

Allergy card and traditional dessert in Kanazawa, Japan

In the West, restaurants often feel pressure to accommodate even when they shouldn’t. In Japan, the priority is avoiding harm, not avoiding disappointment. For anyone managing a serious allergy or multiple restrictions, that cultural clarity removes a huge layer of stress.

Traditional Japanese Cuisine Isn’t Built Around Substitutions

In many Western countries, restaurants are used to modifying dishes: swapping sauces, removing ingredients, building a custom plate. Japan’s food culture works differently.

  • Dishes are built around balance, technique, and tradition.
  • Sauces are integral, not optional add-ons.
  • Kitchens are often small, with shared fryers, shared noodle water, and limited prep space.
  • “Gluten-free” as a concept isn’t widely used in traditional dining settings.

So instead of modifying dishes, Japanese restaurants tend to give a clear yes or no based on whether the dish as designed is safe. This is exactly why an allergy card with specific ingredients listed works so well here, it gives staff a binary decision, not a negotiation.

One practical note: using the word “allergy”, even if what you have is an intolerance, coeliac disease, or another autoimmune condition, it tends to get taken more seriously than “I can’t eat” or “I prefer not to.” If staff say no on that basis, accept it and try somewhere else. The system works because people respect it.

Japan Excels at Naturally Safe, Simple Food

Where Japan really shines for restricted travellers isn’t free-from menus or dedicated allergen-friendly restaurants it’s the sheer number of dishes that are naturally safe when you know what to look for and how to order them.

Soba in Nagano
  • Sashimi (plain, no soy sauce or with tamari if available)
  • Salt-only yakitori
  • Plain tofu dishes
  • Shabu-shabu cooked in plain water
  • Rice bowls with clearly listed toppings
  • Rice flour cakes and biscuits
  • Juwari soba 100% buckwheat noodles, with a safe dipping sauce (check the tsuyu, as it often contains wheat-based soy sauce)

More than once I ate somewhere I’m fairly sure the staff had never heard the phrase “gluten-free”, but because I’d listed the actual grains I couldn’t eat, they understood the restriction perfectly and made me something safe from scratch, they even showed me they were using a clean board and knife without me asking.

The principle holds regardless of your restriction. If you can name the specific ingredients you need to avoid, clearly and in writing, Japan’s food culture is remarkably good at working with that.

Tip: Whatever your combination of restrictions, the Essentials Travel Pack builds you a personalised list of naturally safe dishes for Japan — including the swaps that make them work for your specific restrictions.

Convenience Stores Are Designed for Everyday Eating, Not Just Snacks

One of the biggest surprises for Western travellers is how genuinely useful convenience stores (konbini) are. In Japan, these aren’t junk food stops. They’re part of daily life, and they’re stocked accordingly. For me, the konbini was a lifeline on more than one occasion:

  • Onigiri with salt, salmon, or plum fillings (do check labels some fillings contain soy sauce)
  • Boiled eggs
  • Plain fruit and salads without dressing
  • Soy milk
  • Some mochi and packaged snacks (always check, but options exist)
Onigiri from the convenience store

The labelling in konbini is consistent and detailed, which makes it genuinely easier to check ingredients than in many Western supermarkets. If you have a dairy, egg nut or similar allergy rather than gluten sensitivity, the mandatory and recommended allergen lists are printed on packaging, look for the allergen summary section, usually in a bordered box near the ingredients.

This is a significant cultural difference. In the West, convenience stores are often the hardest place to eat safely. In Japan, they’re one of the most reliable.

Japan Values Process, Precision, and Predictability

This is the cultural thread that ties everything together. Japan’s approach to food safety, and allergies specifically is shaped by a broader set of values: respect for process, clarity, and avoiding risk rather than improvising around it. In practice, this means:

  • Staff will check ingredients thoroughly rather than guessing
  • They’ll decline if they’re not certain
  • They won’t improvise a modification they can’t guarantee
  • They’ll take your allergy card seriously and give you a definitive answer

For travellers with dietary restrictions, whatever those restrictions are this creates a sense of trust that’s genuinely rare. Even when the answer is no.

In Japan, No Is a Form of Care

This is the part that Western travellers often misunderstand. When a Japanese restaurant says no, they’re not rejecting you. They’re protecting you. It’s a cultural expression of responsibility, and once you understand that, the whole experience shifts.

I came home from both my trips to Japan wishing more countries worked this way. The clarity, the precision, the willingness to say we can’t do this safely rather than wing it, for someone managing multiple restrictions, it’s the opposite of what you might expect, and exactly what you actually need.

The Takeaway

Japan handles allergies differently because the entire system, from labelling laws to kitchen culture to social norms, is built around clarity, precision, and avoiding harm rather than substitution or flexibility.

For restricted-diet travellers, whatever your combination of restrictions, this means:

  • You’ll get clear answers
  • You’ll avoid guesswork
  • You’ll rely more on naturally safe foods than on modified dishes
  • Your allergy card will be your most useful tool
  • You’ll eat incredibly well with the right preparation

The key is arriving with the right tools: a well-written allergy card that names your specific restrictions clearly, some knowledge of naturally safe dishes, and a backup plan for evenings when the first restaurant says no.

Japan rewards prepared travellers. The good news is that preparation doesn’t require a big budget or a luxury itinerary, it just requires knowing how the system works.

Jo

New to travelling with dietary restrictions? Start here.

Posted on by Jo

Travelling with dietary restrictions is one of those things that sounds manageable until you’re actually doing it. You’ve booked the trip, you’re excited, and then somewhere between googling “gluten free restaurants in [destination]” and falling down a Reddit rabbit hole at midnight, the excitement quietly turns into dread.

If that’s where you are right now, this is the right place to start.

A quick note before we get into it: this site is built for people managing more than one restriction at once, gluten free and dairy free, halal and nut allergy, coeliac and lactose intolerant, and every other combination in between. If that’s you, you’ve probably already noticed that most travel advice out there covers one restriction and quietly ignores the rest. We don’t do that here, however the advice and tools still works for people managing one restriction.

The thing nobody tells you

A delicious gluten free dairy free meal in Hong Kong

Travelling with dietary restrictions isn’t harder than travelling without them. It’s just different. It requires a bit more preparation upfront, a bit more communication on the ground, and a slightly different approach to research. Once you’ve got those sorted, and they’re not complicated, the actual travelling part gets a lot easier.

The mistake most people make is trying to research everything from scratch for every trip. You don’t need to. You need a process, a handful of reliable tools, and the confidence to ask a few simple questions. That’s genuinely it.

Where to start

I recommend starting with How to Travel Safely with Food Allergies, Gluten free or other Dietary Restrictions. It is organised by level, so whether;

  • You want to travel, you’re just not sure how to eat safely. Start here with safe travel planning.
  • You travel, but you’ve been burnt before, and want to level up your travel skills so you can eat safely.
  • You know the basics, you want less time researching, more time going further and not missing out.

You’ll find a section with guides and advice to help you achieve your travel goals.

The Complete Travel Planning Guide is a seven step process that walks you through everything, how to build a food-friendly itinerary, how to advocate for yourself in restaurants, what to pack, how to handle flights, and how to stay organised once you’re actually on the ground. It’s free, it works for any combination of restrictions, and it was built from years of travelling this way.

Once you’ve got the planning side sorted, the next thing worth having is an allergy card in the local language for wherever you’re headed. Not a vague translation, a card that names your specific restrictions, flags the hidden ingredients to watch for, and is actually usable in a restaurant when you hand it over. You can generate one for free here.

Allergy Card being used in Hong Kong by a Gluten Free Traveller

If you want to go deeper, destination-specific safety ratings, hidden risks, local food vocabulary, safe dishes to look for, and a personalised allergy card all in one place, that’s what the Essentials Travel Pack is for. It’s the tool I wish I’d had when I started travelling this way.

Once you’re ready to everything you’ve learnt into action where do you go? Where should you start with? Personally to me its about building confidence, so I recommend taking things slowly and in stages. Ask yourself these questions in order and when you can answer yes! I am, I reckon you’re ready to try the next stage:

  1. Are you confident eating out in a local restaurant? I’m thinking the kind of place where you can do a little research find a couple of suitable options and ask some questions and safely eat out
  2. Are you confident travelling to and eating out in a neighbouring city or town, one where you don’t know all the safe options? I recommend picking somewhere within your ocuntry but a couple of hours away, where you can do some research, ask your questions and start to put some of the learnings from the Complete Travel Planning Guide into practice. For me this was first Rotorua and then Queenstown.
  3. Are you confident travelling to and eating out eating out in a large city overseas? I recommend picking somewhere thats a city break destination for people from your part of the world where you can find information on safe places to eat and that is large enough to have variety. Perhaps even something you can’t get at home. For me this was Melbourne, I got to have dumplings and a kebab with pita bread!
  4. Are you confident travelling to and eating out eating out overseas for a week or so? For me this was my first trip to Japan where I went to Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka and took day trips from these places and a great place to practice asking questions, using my allergy card and get used to ordering special meals.
  5. Are you confident travelling to and eating out eating out overseas and sandwiching some harder locations between your safe places? This is where you really build confidence and will be looking for naturally safe options as well as all the skills you learnt in previous steps, but its also a real confidence booster, just pack a backup backpacker meal for emergencies. For me this was my last trip to Japan where I stayed in Tokyo, Matsumoto, Nagano, Akakura Onsen and Kanazawa with day trips from each place.

From here you might have no desire to go further off the beaten path and thats great. If you are good luck and have fun exploring. If you need some advice or someone to chat to about it get in contact, I love talking travel.

One more thing

The anxiety does ease. Not because the restrictions change, but because you get better at navigating them, and because knowing what to look for and what to ask makes an enormous difference to how a trip actually feels. The first trip is the hardest, after that, it starts to feel like just part of how you travel.

You’ve already done the hardest bit, which is deciding you’re not going to let it stop you. Now let’s get you somewhere worth eating.

Ready to plan your first trip? Start with our start here page, we’ve organised everything by level in one place, ready to bookmark and return to

Jo

Flying Gluten Free or with Food Allergies: How to Travel Safely

Posted on by Jo

Flying with food allergies or dietary restrictions can be stressful, especially when you’re not sure what’s in your in-flight meal. The last thing you want is to be sick or worse either on the flight or at the destination. Many airlines offer “special meals,” but what does that really mean? Are they safe for people with coeliac disease, allergies, or severe intolerance’s?

With the right preparation, flying with dietary restrictions is very manageable, here’s everything you need to know.

Before you fly make sure you read How to Eat Safely at the Airport with Dietary Restrictions – Learn how to research your terminal, find naturally safe options, and why backup snacks are your ultimate travel insurance. So you don’t eat your backup snacks before you’ve left the ground.

What Are Airline “Special Meals”?

Airlines provide in-flight meals to suit various needs, including food tailored to religious requirements, health issues, preferences, and dietary restrictions. So that as travellers we don’t have to compromise our health or beliefs when flying.

Like the three-lettered airport codes, the International Air Transport Association also assigns codes to special airline meals, below is the list of options you will commonly find although some airlines also have additional options and not all airlines offer the complete list so you may want to check what your potential airline offers before paying for the flight.

In-flight gluten-free meal tray including a sealed container with GFML label, summerfruit cheesecake dessert, packaged roll labeled allergen-free, and a side dish.

What Do Airline Special Meal Codes Mean?

Special meals for health concerns

  • LSML: Low Sodium Meals
  • LFML: Low Fat meals / Low cholesterol meals
  • LPML: Low protein Meal
  • LCML: Low Calorie Meal
  • DBML: Diabetic Meal
  • PFML: Peanut Free Meal
  • GFML: Gluten Free Meal
  • NLML: Non-Lactose Meal
  • BLML: Bland / Soft Meal
  • HFML: High Fiber Meal
  • PRML: Low purine meal
  • ALML: Allergen Meal
  • MAMLA: Minimal Allergen Meal

Plant-based and religious options

  • VGML: Standard Vegetarian Meals
  • VVML: Vegetarian Vegan Meal Same to VGML
  • VOML: Vegetarian Oriental Meal
  • VLML: Vegetarian Lacto – OVO Meals
  • AVML: Asian Vegetarian Meals
  • FPML: Fruit Platter meals
  • RVML: Raw Vegetable Meal
  • KSML: Kosher Meal
  • KSMLS: Kosher Meal Snack
  • MOML: Muslim Meal
  • HNML: Hindu Non-vegetarian Meal
  • VJML: Vegetable Jain Meal

How to Order Special Meals When Flying with Allergies

Special meal policies can vary widely by airline, fare class, and flight. They are caterer dependant so even if you fly with them regularly the mela might be different depending on where you depart from. Many airlines offer meals in economy class for international or longer domestic flights, while others may only offer them for premium passengers, so it pays to check ahead.

  1. Pre-order Special Meals: Most airlines offer special meal options, including gluten-free and lactose-free/dairy-free meals. Most carriers require at least 48 hours notice for special meal requests, so be mindful of your airline’s deadline to ensure the availability of your chosen meal. The instructions for doing this will be on the airlines website under special meals, often if you have booked online its in the Manage my Booking section or similar
  2. Contact the Airline: Check your booking or confirm with the airline by phone or email to ensure that your meal preferences are set. This is will help you avoid misunderstandings or mistakes.
  3. Check the Menu: Some airlines provide their in-flight menu online. Look for allergen information or consult their customer service regarding meal ingredients.

Travelling with multiple restrictions

If you have multiple restrictions, when you order you may need to pick one, airlines often can’t accommodate combinations on a single meal code. However, all is not lost.

Most airlines carry a card or list with the full allergen breakdown for every meal on board, heads up it is caterer dependant. Ask the crew when it’s not too busy and they should be able to help you work out what’s safe across your restrictions, even if the meal wasn’t specifically ordered for you.

Gluten Free meal where bananas were given instead of part of the meal as it contained dairy as well

From personal experience, most special meals I’ve received have been made with as many allergy-friendly ingredients as possible, but it doesn’t always go to plan.

On a recent trip the ingredient list hadn’t made it on to the plane at all. The crew were brilliant though, they went through each meal option with me to check if anything might work for someone gluten and dairy free. The breakfast turned out to be scrambled eggs, so probably not safe, but rather than leaving me hungry they swapped it out for bananas and told me to come back after the meal service to see what snacks might suit me.

The point of the story? Advocate for yourself clearly and calmly, and more often than not the crew will go out of their way to help.

Managing the Risks around Flying with Food Allergies

Airline kitchens aren’t allergen-free environments, so cross-contamination is a possibility. This means you may need to check on the airline’s website or ask your travel agent if you can take your own food if this is a concern for you. For example on the Air New Zealand website they say you can bring your own food if the categories don’t fit and then they list some things to remember.

If you have a severe allergy, ask the airline if you can pre-board early so you have time to wipe down your seat, tray table, and seatbelt. It’s also worth asking whether they’ll make an announcement to nearby passengers, some airlines will, though it’s not guaranteed. If you’re travelling both with children and another adult, split up and send one person ahead to pre-board; they can wipe down the surfaces, put bags away and talk to the crew. It makes it easier when the rest of your group boards.

Finding options at the Airport

boarding aircraft with gluten-free snacks

Use resources like our dining guide, Find Me Gluten Free or similar specific websites or local Facebook groups to locate airport restaurants and cafes offering suitable options but also bring snacks for the airport if your unsure.

What to do on the day of your flight

  • If your travelling internationally carry an allergy card, especially if it’s likely that the cabin crew wont be able to understand you. Have a card in the local language explaining your dietary restrictions to ensure clear communication.
  • Confirm your meal at check-in and again with cabin crew, they will usually walk the plane and confirm this upon boarding but if they don’t, mention it to the cabin crew so they know where you are sitting. This will help you ensure you get your meal.
  • If your special meal didn’t make it on board ask the cabin crew if they have any suitable snacks or parts of other meals. For example if your gluten free they may have fruit or yoghurt. If you are vegan or have a nut allergy there may be bread, cheese, noodles etc on board.
  • If you have multiple restrictions ask the crew to check the ingredients, they usually have a card with all the ingredients for all the meals so should be able to help you identify if something is safe.

What to Pack in Your Carry-On as a Backup

Always pack some non-perishable options items like nuts, gluten-free cereal bars, and dried fruits are good options. another great tip is a sandwich or backpacker style meal that you add boiling water to. But check security regulations, make sure that the snacks you bring comply with airline security regulations, especially concerning liquids and gels. Also know in advance what you need to declare when going through customs or biosecurity at the destination in some countries (Australia and New Zealand especially) bio-security is strict.

If you need anything like antihistamines, epinephrine, etc make sure you pack it in your carry on and if required have a doctor’s letter for it to help you get through security or customs.

Best Airlines for Gluten‑Free & Allergy‑Safe In‑Flight Meals

Some airlines are better than others, either in their special meal offerings or in the quality of the food served. If you have a choice of who you fly below are the airlines that people regularly rate for handling allergies and dietary restrictions. Click the links below to go through to specific special meal information for each airline.

  1. Singapore Airlines: Known for excellent service, Singapore Airlines provides a variety of special meals including gluten free (GFML), lactose free (NLML), minimal allergen meal (MAMLA) and vegan (VGML) options. They have a reputation for accommodating dietary needs with care and precision.
  2. Emirates: Offers a wide selection of special meals, including gluten free (GFML), vegetarian jain (VJML) and lactose free (NLML). They are recognized for their attention to detail and high-quality meal service.
  3. Qatar Airways: Provides numerous special dietary options and is praised for catering to passengers with specific dietary requirements, including gluten free (GFML), lactose free (NLML) and kosher (KSML) needs.
  4. Cathay Pacific: Cathay Pacific offer a range of special meal codes including low fat/low cholesterol (LFML) and gluten free (GFML), and are known for accommodating passengers with multiple restrictions (see the banana photo and story above).
  5. Delta Air Lines: Offers gluten free (GFML) and vegan (VGML) options on many international flights. They are one of the U.S. airlines known for better catering to special dietary needs.
  6. Air New Zealand: Offers a wide variety of special meals on long-haul flights, including vegetarian (VLML), vegan (VGML), gluten free (GFML),lactose free (NLML), and Diabetic (DBML) options, among others
  7. China Southern: A popular choice from Australia and New Zealand for their competitive fares. Offers a range of options including vegetarian (VLML), lactose free (NLML), and religious meals such as kosher (KSML) and halal (MOML). Worth checking your specific route as meal quality and availability can vary.”
  8. Qantas: Australia’s flagship carrier offers a comprehensive special meals offering on long-haul flights includes gluten free (GFML), lactose free (NLML), vegan (VGML) and diabetic (DBML) options among others. Their documentation is thorough and staff are generally well briefed on dietary requirements.
  9. Lufthansa: Lufthansa has a well-regarded special meals offering covering gluten free (GFML), lactose free (NLML), vegan (VGML) and low sodium (LSML) options. Their allergen documentation is detailed and easy to find on their website, making pre-flight research straightforward.
  10. British Airways: A major long-haul carrier with a thorough special meals offering includes gluten free (GFML), lactose free (NLML) and vegan (VGML) meals. British Airways are generally well regarded for dietary accommodation and their special meals page clearly outlines what’s available by route and fare class — worth checking before you book as availability can vary.

Additional Tips

  • Frequent Flyers: If you often fly with one airline, consider joining their frequent flyer program to facilitate meal preferences and get personalized service.
  • Advance Notification: While these airlines are reputed for their service, it’s crucial to notify them of your dietary restrictions at least 48 hours before your flight.
  • Check Specific Routes: Meal options can sometimes vary based on the route and duration of the flight, so it’s wise to double-check with the airline.

Final Tips Before You Fly

Flying with allergies or dietary restrictions can feel like a lot, especially multiple, but with the right prep, it becomes manageable, predictable, and even calm. A few last things to keep in mind:

  • Prep early, then let it go. Confirm your special meal, pack your safe snacks, and know your backup plan. After that, you’ve done your part.
  • Keep your tools handy. Your allergy card, key phrases, and snacks should be easy to grab when you need them.
  • Advocate for yourself. If something feels off, ask. You’re not being difficult — you’re keeping yourself safe.
  • Give yourself margin. Extra time, extra snacks, extra patience. Travel days are smoother when you’re not rushing.
  • Remember: you’re allowed to feel confident. You’ve prepared. You’ve got options. You can do this.

If you want everything in one place, from planning steps to communication tools to destination guides; our start here guide below, organises it all by level. It’s a great one to bookmark and come back to as you build confidence.

FAQ

How far in advance should I order a special meal?

At least 48 hours before departure to allow airlines to accommodate your needs. Then reconfirm at check-in.

What if airline meal doesn’t arrive on board
What if I have multiple restrictions?
Which airlines are best for dietary restrictions
Can I bring my own food on the plane?
Jo

How Much of a Language Do You Need to Travel Safely with Dietary Restrictions?

Posted on by Jo

If you’re travelling to a new country and wondering how fluent you need to be, don’t stress. You probably don’t need as much as you might think, especially with the tools we have available, yes it all does help, but is it essential? It really depends, not only on how long you’re staying, but where your going, what you’ll be doing, and whether your trip involves specific needs (like allergies, medical issues, or solo travel).

But here’s the good news: you don’t need to be fluent to stay safe, polite, and confident. Locals really do appreciate the effort, even if your pronunciation is far from perfect. Think about the tourists you meet where you live and how much or little they seem to understand of your native tongue, a little really does go a long way.

So, how much do you really need?

Here’s a cheat sheet of how much you really should try an learn depending on your trip length, but as we mentioned initially it really depends on where, and how you’re travelling. Here’s some basic guidelines though:

Trip TypeMinimum Language Goal
Weekend city breakPolite phrases + allergy card
Two week holidayKey phrases + food words
One month+ stayEveryday language + local customs
Moving abroadOngoing learning & immersion

What about allergies or dietary restrictions?

If you’re like us, this means you can’t wing it. Knowing a few words or as a minimum a translated card saying what your food requirements are can literally be a lifesaver. You need to be able to explain your food needs clearly and often, in writing so the staff can go ask the chef. That’s where an allergy card in the local language can be a total lifesaver as well as having a good translation app to use as required.

Allergy card in cantonese for a gluten and dairy free traveller

Sometimes what you need may differ by country. For example if you’re travelling to Italy or Spain a well a well-pronounced phrase often does the job and you may not often pull out your allergy card.

However travel to somewhere like Japan or China a written card is essential and something you use on a daily basis. I was in Japan and Hong Kong recently and my allergy card got used daily, often in conjunction with a translation app to clarify questions

And yes, we’ve made that part easy, create your Free Allergy Card customised to your restrictions, read up on translation apps and learn when its best to use each.

If you’re on a short trip…

A few well practised words can go a long way. Try to learn the following words.

  • Hello / Goodbye
  • Please / Thank you
  • Excuse me / Sorry
  • Yes / No
  • “Do you speak English?”
German Allergy card saying the person is gluten and dairy free

These cover most polite interactions and help you make a great impression. If you have the time or motivation learning a few more key phrases really can help but these are a fantastic foundation.

If you’re staying a bit longer or living abroad

If you’re away for more than a few days, knowing that little bit more really can help improve your experience, if this is you, it’s worth learning:

  • Numbers and basic directions
  • Common food phrases
  • Cultural etiquette (e.g., when to bow, when to tip, what not to say)
  • Apps like Duolingo, Memrise or our Travel Phrase Guide can help you pick up just enough to feel confident navigating menus, transport, and everyday interactions. Check out our recent blog post on How to Actually Learn a Language for Travel for advice on how to easily learn the basic phrases without paying for an app.

Final thoughts

You don’t need to speak perfectly. You just need the right words for your trip, and a bit of confidence. If you’re gluten-free, dairy-free, or navigating another restriction, your best first step is this: Create your free allergy card now

Because food shouldn’t be the hardest part of your trip.

Jo

How to Eat Safely Abroad: Building Your Food Advocacy Skills Before You Go

Posted on by Jo

Ever found yourself jet-lagged, starving, and staring down a menu you can’t read? And worse, not a clue whether anything’s safe for you to eat? When you’ve got dietary restrictions, travel can be a bit of a minefield. But it doesn’t have to be. Learning how to advocate for yourself is a total game-changer, and just like any skill, it gets easier with practice.

Whether you’re gluten free, have food allergies, or follow a special diet, there’s one thing that can make or break your trip: confidence. The good news? You can start building it right now, from home. Grab a cuppa and have a read and don’t forget to review the practical examples later in the article.

Why Food Advocacy Matters When Travelling

Travelling should be about experiencing the world, not stressing over your next meal. But if you’re managing food allergies or intolerances, even a simple lunch abroad can feel overwhelming.

That’s why building advocacy skills at home is so powerful. The more you practise asking questions, checking ingredients, and speaking up, the easier it becomes to do it when it really counts — like at a tiny café in rural Italy or a market stall in Thailand.

This isn’t just about avoiding risk, it’s about reclaiming the joy of eating while you travel.

Practical Steps to Start Today

Practise with Your Travel Companions

Before your trip, go out to eat somewhere you know is safe. Use it as a rehearsal, ask your usual questions, double-check ingredients, and notice how your friends react. It’s a chance for them to see what dining out looks like from your perspective.

The more familiar they are with your process, the better they can support you on the road

Get Comfortable with Menus and Asking Questions

woman sitting in armchair and reviewing how to ask questions on a menu

Pull up menus from restaurants on Google Maps or TripAdvisor, local and international — and practise reading them aloud. Rehearse how you’d ask about cross-contact or cooking methods.

You’re not aiming for perfection. You’re training your brain to stay calm, even when you’re hangry and jet-lagged in a foreign country.

Our menu review assistant can help you identify what might be suitable for you based on your restrictions, fantastic when ‘Gluten Free’ or ‘Vegan’ may not mean the same thing everywhere but remember it isn’t a replacement for asking questions.

Use positive, open-ended questions

The way you frame your questions matters. Instead of asking, “Do you have anything I can eat?” try:

“I’m gluten and dairy free — what would you recommend for me?”

This approach invites conversation, not a quick no. I asked this at a restaurant in Banff and ended up with a delicious off-menu lunch that even my gluten-loving family ordered. Win-win.

Roleplay Real Situations

Grab a mate and run through some mock scenarios, ordering, asking about allergens, using an allergy card. It feels awkward at first, but it builds fluency and reduces panic when you’re actually abroad. Later in this article we’ve got some examples to get you started.

Don’t forget to ask questions of your accommodation!

Food advocacy isn’t just for restaurants. If your hotel or Airbnb includes breakfast, reach out in advance and ask if they can accommodate your needs.

A brilliant example? A traveller staying at W New York – Union Square was told breakfast was just “coffee and pastries”. They asked about gluten free options — and the hotel sent an Uber to pick up warm cinnamon bun sticks from Modern Bread and Bagel. Magic.

Moral of the story: if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

Tools That Make Advocacy Easier

Food advocacy doesn’t mean doing it all in your head. Use your tech and tools:

  • Translation apps for menus or explaining allergens
  • Customised allergy cards in the local languages
  • Pre-written notes with knowledge gained from your research or our Essentials Travel Pack saved in your phone (especially handy in noisy spots)
  • Custom Google Maps lists with saved safe places

Need help deciding between a card or app? Check out our guide: Allergy Cards vs Translation Apps.

a woman using her mobile phone to translate a menu item

Learn key phrases in the local language

Even a few words like “I have a food allergy” or “gluten free” can go a long way. Locals appreciate the effort, and it shows you take your needs seriously.

How much of a language do you need to know? It depends on the trip. Our Travel Phrase Guide creates a personalised list based on your destination and dietary needs. You can even turn them into digital flashcards with Anki — here’s how you can create it for your next trip.

Know Your Rights

In many countries, restaurants are legally required to provide allergen info or accommodate requests. Don’t be afraid to be polite but assertive. And if something doesn’t feel right? You’re always allowed to walk away.

Your health isn’t negotiable.

Quick Tips to Improve Your Advocacy Skills

  • Watch videos or tutorials on communicating allergies at restaurants
  • Join online communities or follow people on Instagram to find out how other people handle ordering safely abroad
  • Keep a journal of your questions and responses, note what worked or didn’t
  • Celebrate small wins — each successful order abroad builds your confidence for next time!

With practice, advocacy becomes second nature, turning stressful meal moments into enjoyable experiences — wherever your adventures take you.

Practical Examples

We’ve included a few scenario’s to help you practice your advocacy skills, they get more challenging as you work your way through them.

Scenario 1: The Classic Order

  • You: “Hi, I’m gluten and dairy free. What dishes would you recommend for me?”
  • Staff: “We have the grilled chicken and a salad — no cheese or bread.”
  • You: “Thanks! Could you confirm the dressing doesn’t have dairy?”

Scenario 2: Allergy Card Power

  • You: Shows allergy card “Hi, this card explains my dietary needs. Could you please check with the chef?”
  • Staff: “Of course, let me check with the kitchen.”

Scenario 3: Cross-Contact Clarity

  • You: “Can you tell me if this dish is prepared separately to avoid gluten contamination?”
  • Staff: “Yes, we use separate utensils for gluten-free orders.”
  • You: “Great, thank you”

Scenario 4: When Staff Seem Uncertain

  • You: “Hi, I have a severe gluten and dairy allergy. Can someone confirm safe options?”
  • Staff: “I’m not sure, we don’t usually get these requests.”
  • You: “No worries, could you ask the chef or manager?”

Tip: Stay calm, polite, and emphasize the seriousness of your allergy. Offering to wait shows you respect their process but also signals it’s important.

Scenario 5: When the Fryers Are Shared

  • You: “Can you please tell me if the fries are cooked in a shared fryer with gluten-containing foods?”
  • Staff: “Yes, they are.”
  • You: “Thanks — is there another side that’s safe?”

Tip: If the risk is unavoidable, pivot quickly to alternatives rather than insisting on something risky. Being flexible while firm helps you stay safe and maintain good rapport.

Final Thoughts: It Gets Easier

Speaking up about your food needs can feel uncomfortable at first. But every time you practise, you build confidence, that travels with you. The goal isn’t just to stay safe — it’s to enjoy food again, even when you’re thousands of miles from home.

FAQ

What if I feel awkward asking questions at home, won’t it be easier when I’m on holiday?

Honestly? Probably not. If you’re not comfortable speaking up in your own language, it gets even harder with the pressure of travel, unfamiliar menus, or language barriers. Start small, one clear question at your local café can build confidence for the big stuff later.

I don’t want to be seen as “difficult” — how do I advocate without causing a fuss?
What if the staff don’t understand me, or dismiss my needs?
Do I really need to practise? I’ve got an allergy card — isn’t that enough?
What if I get emotional or freeze in the moment?