Class Trip to Spain with Food Allergies

By Kelley Lindberg

It’s finally here. My son’s class trip to Spain begins tomorrow.

I know, right? Ninth graders didn’t get class trips to Spain when I was in school! But here we are in the 21st century, with 41 ninth grade students (about half of his grade at his school) leaving for an amazing 11-day adventure. How I envy those kids. And how I DON’T envy those teachers who are going as chaperones! (Ha. Just kidding, honey.)

As you can imagine, I’m a little nervous. Not only do I get all the worries of a typical mom of a typical teen, but I also get to worry about his food allergies. With his allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, and lupin flour, he will be at risk from more than sunburn, blisters, or pickpockets. But I’ve prepared him, the teachers, and myself as much as I can, and I have to trust them all to play their roles well. I’m actually pretty confident in them.

While planning for this trip, we discovered that two additional students on the trip also have food allergies, and both will also be carrying EpiPens. That makes 3 kids out of 41 with severe food allergies. So our teacher/chaperones will have to stay on their toes to keep everyone safe.

Here’s how we’ve prepared:

1. At our last Spain Trip Planning Meeting, I gave all the teacher/chaperones and many of the kids a lesson on how to recognize food allergies and how to use an EpiPen. For many, it was just a refresher course, because I do this almost every year at school. For others, it was a new experience and several thanked me and said they had no idea how serious food allergies were. Even some parents stuck around to learn about it, even though they’re not going on the trip!
2. I got 3 pairs of EpiPens for him to take – 2 pair for him to keep with him, and 1 pair for his chaperone to keep with her. I put the pens in a case with antihistamine and his inhaler, along with copies of his insurance card, instructions on how to administer the medicine, and his photo and contact info.
3. I got a letter from his doctor saying he needs the EpiPens for peanut allergy, just in case any airlines question them as he carries them through the security line. They never have yet, because medicines are allowed and are exempt from the 3-oz rule, but I like to be prepared anyway.
4. For part of the trip, the kids will be staying with host families. The trip planners found a host family with food allergies of their own, so the Spanish family my son will be staying with is already familiar with allergies.
5. I ordered Spanish translation cards from SelectWisely.com that say things like “I have a severe allergy to peanuts, tree nuts, and lupin flour. Has this food been prepared with any of these ingredients? If I eat these foods, I will have to be taken to the hospital immediately.” I have used SelectWisely cards on many trips in the past, and they are gems! The waiter can take the card back to the cook, they can discuss options, and there is no misunderstanding! I highly recommend SelectWisely.com.
6. The administration has also preordered food for all the kids at some restaurants, and they’ve let the restaurants know about my son’s food allergies. So hopefully they will be prepared and safe when they get there.
7. Lately, whenever we’ve gone to restaurants here at home, I’ve made my son do the interrogation of the waiters about the food ingredients, so that he has become comfortable asking about the food. I think he’ll be comfortable asking the waiters in Spain the same questions now. Practice makes perfect!
8. I’ve packed a ridiculous amount of safe granola bars, jerky, fruit leather, crackers, and other snacks for him to take on the plane, and more for him to carry in his backpack throughout his trip, so that if there are no safe food options for lunch someday, he’ll at least have something to snack on until he can find something safe.
9. I know from my travels in other parts of Europe and from research that the labeling laws in Europe are very similar to labeling laws here, and the common allergens are required to be listed. My son is armed with those SelectWisely cards that show the Spanish word for many different tree nuts, so he should be able to read labels effectively.
10. Finally, and most importantly, I purchased an international texting plan for his phone (and insurance on his phone), so that he can text me every day and tell me he’s okay!

By the way, in case you’re wondering what lupin flour is, it’s a flour made from a lupin bean (sometimes called lupini) commonly used in Europe in breads and pastas. It is not yet approved for use in America, so it’s rare to find it here at all and then only in things like imported pastas at specialty stores (at least so far). If you are allergic to peanuts, you have a 50% chance of also being allergic to lupin flour. So if you are planning to travel to Europe with a peanut allergy, it’s worth testing to see if you’ll also react to lupin flour. (You can read about our last trip to Italy and our experiences with food here: "Who Eats Pasta or Bread in Italy, Anyway?")

Anyway, I think we’re about as ready for this trip as we can be. My son is a little nervous, but mostly excited. After all, he’s been traveling since he was a baby, and he’s on his 4th passport now. He’s got enough of a cautious streak to keep me happy, but enough of a sense of adventure to ensure this trip will be awesome. The next twelve days might be a little hard on me, but they’re going to make a world of a difference to him, and that’s worth all the extra planning (and worry).

So, to my son and all his good friends who are traveling with him:

¡Buen viaje!

Avoiding “Cacahuates” in Mexico

“Remember,” my dad explained to my son last week while we were all together on vacation in Mexico, “don’t eat anything that starts with ‘caca’.”

Good words to live by.

“Cacahuates” is the Spanish word for peanuts. “Nueces” means nuts. We practiced them a lot on our vacation, making sure we didn’t accidentally order or buy anything that contained them. We were having too much fun playing in the waves, lounging on the beach, and splashing in the pool – we sure didn’t want to cut any of that short by having to practice the Spanish word for hospital (which is, fortunately, “hospital”).

We did have one close call, however. At our resort, we ate dinner one night at the buffet. When we walked in, I told the hostess that my son was allergic to peanuts and nuts, using both the English and Spanish translations. She completely understood, and turned to tell another waiter beside her the same thing. I could pick out enough of her words to know what she was saying. They both nodded emphatically and explained to me, in English, that they understood, and that he would find many foods to choose from.

So far, so good.

When our real waiter arrived, I again explained to him that my son was allergic to “cacahuates y nueces,” tackling it in both Spanish and English, and he assured me, in very nice English, that he understood and he would talk to the chef.

Again, so far, so good.

At this buffet, you order a main entrée, then go to the buffet for salads, fruit, various Mexican specialties like fajitas and empanadas, and desserts. My son ordered the steak entrée, then we strolled the buffet looking for safe things for him to eat. The breads were out – no way to verify the baking ingredients. But the chicken fajitas were okay, the cheese empanada was tasty, and the watermelon was right up his alley. We avoided the dessert table completely – pecans and almonds were evident.

When his entrée arrived, there was the steak, a mini quesadilla, and a tiny rolled thing under sauce. “What is that?” I asked the waiter who delivered the food, who was not the same waiter we’d ordered from.

“Enchilada,” he said.

“What is the sauce on it?” I asked, eyeing it. It looked suspiciously like a mole sauce, which is often made with peanuts, almonds, or other nuts.

“No, no,” he assured me. “Nothing like that.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, “because he’s ‘alérgico’.”

He assured me again that it was nut-free. A little part of me still worried, but I’d told four different people now, all of whom assured me that they understood.

My son started in on the steak. Fortunately, he doesn’t care for sauces on much of anything, so he started on the side of the plate away from the mysterious sauce.

He was on his third or fourth bite when our original, main waiter suddenly appeared at my son’s side, and began whisking away the plate. “I need to take this away,” he said, breathless from having run across the whole restaurant.

“Stop eating!” I commanded my son, and he dropped his silverware and sat back, while the waiter scooped up the plate.

“I am so sorry,” the waiter was saying. “It was a mistake. It should not have happened. I will bring him a new plate with new food.” Within a minute or two, he was back with a new plate, new steak, and no sign of mole sauce.

The waiter was clearly embarrassed and upset, because he wouldn’t look me in the eye when he came back to refill our glasses with water. Finally, I called him over to me.

“Thank you for catching that. His allergies are scary, so I appreciate that you discovered the mistake and told us right away.” He still was embarrassed and contrite, but I could see the relief in his shoulders.

I’m a big fan of the “encourage good behavior with rewards” school of thought. I could have made a scene, chewed him out, or been angry. But that wouldn’t have helped anything. The close call and his embarrassment alone left a huge impression on him, and I know the next time an allergic person sits at his table, he’ll be extra vigilant about their food. I hope that by telling him how much I appreciated him being honest and fast in fixing the mistake, I left him with a good feeling about allergic people, and not a dread. Fear causes mistakes. I want him to care, not fear.

Also, I had made a mistake, too. I had a bad feeling about that sauce, and I didn’t act on my motherly instincts.

Next time, I’ll know better, too.

Fortunately, the whole story had a happy ending. My son loved the steak, I loved my mahi-mahi steamed in a banana leaf, and when we left the restaurant, the waiter purposefully caught my eye and said “thank you.”

And for the rest of the week, my son successfully avoided eating anything that started with “caca.”