Travelling with Allergies – Australia

Travel with allergies adds an extra level of stress, and worry, that maybe isn’t appreciated by those without food allergies. We always do a lot of research before going anywhere new, so hopefully this post will help others who may be considering travelling to Australia.

Little S is off on a huge adventure, travelling to Australia in her gap year! This is huge for us; travels so far away are a big thing for any family, but to go to the other side of the world with multiple food allergies to contend with is even bigger. As a reminder, Little S is allergic to milk, eggs, peanuts and sesame.

To help ease some anxiety we have been doing a lot of pre-prep! She’s going to take a fair few things with her, but as she’s away for nearly 4 weeks, she can’t possibly take everything, so we’ve also been doing a lot of research. I reached out to my social media readers for advice and have receive so many kind and thorough recommendations, that it is only fair to share with others who may find it useful.

Thank you so very much to everyone who has offered advice, the allergy community is so kind and caring. I guess we all just get it, the additional stresses and difficulties that anyone with allergies faces when travelling. The will we be able to find safe food, will it be easy or difficult?

I should start by saying that whilst I am so worried about this trip, and in a way cannot wait until she’s home, and will miss her so very much; I am also so incredibly proud that she is brave enough to follow her dreams and not let having allergies hold her back. Whilst we will be on tenterhooks whilst she is away, we also know that she is very sensible, will not take any risks and hopefully she will have the most incredible time. She has promised to write up about it when she gets home and will hopefully post along the way on her Instagram account @theallergyteen. I hope her bravery can help and inspire others too.

 

As everyone has been so generous with their advice, here is a summary of what we’ve learnt so far from readers who are Australian or visited the country:

(Disclaimer: this is mainly information passed on from fellow allergy families, all products and establishments should be checked by yourselves to ensure they are safe for your own requirements).

Labels

Labelling is excellent, on a par with European allergen labelling, however it seems there may be an additional enthusiasm to use may contain labels. This is likely to get in the way for Little S as she doesn’t eat may contains and certainly won’t risk it whilst so far from home.

It has even been mentioned that allergists in Australia recommend eating may contains, but only if they are made in Australia, due to the strict labelling laws, but I know she will feel more comfortable avoiding all the risk she can, especially when she is so far from home.

Self-Catering

Little S is intending on mainly catering for herself, she will stay with friends in Airbnb’s and backpacker hostels that have catering facilities. This is both to keep control over what she eats, adding to her sense of safety, but also to keep costs down. Generally, she feels more comfortable eating in and then perhaps going out for a nice drink instead. We hope she will find somewhere suitable to eat out on occasion, but she’s planning on not taking any chances.

Shop recommendations:

Coles, Woolworths, and Aldi have been recommended as good places to buy food – they all have free-from/health aisles and are equivalent to supermarkets like Tesco and Asda here. We’ve been advised to check out the websites and download the apps to do some research over what she may be able to buy (although she will obviously always double check the packaging too).

Harris Farm Foods has also been recommended for more healthy foodie items.

There’s also been a recommendation to use Charlie’s Safe Treat Box http://www.charliessafetreatbox.com.au which makes snack boxes of prepackaged treats that are completely free from the top 10 and no ‘may contain’ and they deliver all over Australia. I’m thinking this will be a welcome surprise to get delivered to a precooked Airbnb!

Products

Readily available

Oatly and other plant milks

Nuttalex – dairy-free butter

Dairy-free cheeses – Sheese and other European vegan cheese brands

Yoghurts – Cocobella, Coyo, Vitasoy

Chocolate – Nomo and Sweet William are available in Woolworths and Cole’s. But only the more basic Nomo bars rather than the variety available in the UK.

Crisps, crisp breads (the gluten free ones often don’t carry may contain warnings) and quinoa wafer crackers.

Kooeee – allergen free beef sticks

Koja brand – muesli and protein bars but probably not safe for Little S.

Woolworths gluten free chocolate chip cookies ( but these might be may contain sesame, need to check)

Shapes biscuits – some flavours may be ok but probably not for Little S.

Vege chips are free from the top allergens

Bits off biscuits are available (yippee!)

Mission bread wraps have are available and reliable.

Biscuits – Parker’s Pretzel Minis

Snacks that are probably suitable for Little S (again always check the label)- Sakata plain rice crackers, Smiths original crisps, Red Rock Deli original crisps, Woolworths sweet and salty popcorn. Organ sweet potato and pumpkin crisp breads. We’re also hoping she can buy Organic Outback Animals because she loved them as a small child.

Difficulties

Bread – lost of people have suggested bread will be tricky to find that is sesame free, but Mission wraps should be available. Precinct gluten-free market is loaf is apparently very tasty with no may contains. Abbots gluten-free bread is widely available but contains egg, so will not be suitable for Little S.

Biscuits – Lotus biscuits but few others that don’t have may contain warnings

I’ve been told that even burgers and sausages may have may contain warnings, so there’s a lot of searching required to find safe items.

 

Eating out

Grill’d – highly recommended as good with allergies, but some have commented that they use sesame seed buns so it may not be such a good option for Little S.

Guzman Y Gomez (GYG) – highly recommended Mexican chain where you can adapt to suit your own requirements

 Pub meals have been recommended – especially things like fish and chips if the batter is made with water

Pizza places – generally have vegan cheese options

Bakers Delight – all ingredients can be checked online

Yu Sushi – widely found in shopping centres – some options uch as plain avocado sushi roll may be fine

Boost Juice – all ingredients online and made vegan smoothies ( for us this would depend on whether they use dairy milk and/or nut butters in the same blenders)

The Merivale Group – I’ve been told they are great and take allergies very seriously

There are the well known chains such as McDonalds, KFC, Dominos, Subway, Hungry Jacks and Oporto.

It’s been mentioned that some restaurants don’t seem to note eggs and sesame as allergens, so that is definitely something to be aware of.

Health/Insurance

Insulated packs needed to keep Epipens at the right temperature such as Allerpack

We’ve been told to check there is insurance ambulance cover

Accounts to follow for advice

Allergy life with Grace on Instagram

Horribly Healthy on Instagram

Mummy and me eat dairy free on Instagram

Allergy life Australia

Allergic Australia

 

Anyway, as I say this is pre-departure advice from the generous and caring allergy community, I will report back post travels to say how backpacking in Oz with allergies is. (Gulp!)

Do follow my Instagram and The Allergy Teen for updates along the way too.