Traveling to Japan with peanut alergies

tamer · Apr 21, 2003, 14:54

Hi,
I have very serious allergies to nuts and peanuts (EXcluding sesame). If the food I eat is in contact with traces of nuts or peanuts, I will probably react, my throat will swell and I will choke to death if not taken to the hospital very quickly. In Canada and the US, this type of allergic reaction is relatively well known and it's often possible to eat at restaurants and get food in stores. All foods that could contain traces or nuts or peanuts are labelled (it's in the ingredients list). I went to Europe recently and most people where not aware of such allergies... most of them were saying to me: "Well, try it and you'll see" :-(

I would really like to visit Japan, and I might also have to live there at some point for business and I'm worried that I will not be able to find food.

How much are people aware of such allergies in Japan?
Are food labels in English to (I guess not)?
Do Japanese have those kinds of allergies?

Thanks a lot for your answers.

mdchachi · Apr 22, 2003, 10:28

I'm sure nut allergies exist but they are not well known at all. The good news is that Japanese food generally doesn't contain nuts or nut extracts. Now, if you're allergic to soy products you may as well give it up now.

So there's no litmus test to test food for nut extracts? If not, I say we make and market one and make a million dollars! Seems like it shouldn't be that hard (compared to mapping the human genome for example).

momo · Apr 23, 2003, 10:27

hi, tamer-san!
I've never heard of that allergy in Japan, maybe because we don't use nuts in foods.. I'm not sure.. I saw nuts in Chinese fried vegitables and some Thaifoods, but I can't think of any Japanese foods contain nuts, though..

I just searched about the allergy in Yahoo JAPAN,
and I found a good news for you.
If the product contains peanuts,
you can find this sentence in Japanese on the box: "この商品は、ピーナッツを使用した設備で製造しています."
If you cannot remember this sentence, just remember ピーナッツ(=peanuts)!! Japanese have those kinds of allergies, but it's still uncommon.

Apr 21, 2003, 14:54	#1
tamer Junior Member Join Date: Apr 21, 2003 Posts: 1	Traveling to Japan with peanut alergies Hi, I have very serious allergies to nuts and peanuts (EXcluding sesame). If the food I eat is in contact with traces of nuts or peanuts, I will probably react, my throat will swell and I will choke to death if not taken to the hospital very quickly. In Canada and the US, this type of allergic reaction is relatively well known and it's often possible to eat at restaurants and get food in stores. All foods that could contain traces or nuts or peanuts are labelled (it's in the ingredients list). I went to Europe recently and most people where not aware of such allergies... most of them were saying to me: "Well, try it and you'll see" :-( I would really like to visit Japan, and I might also have to live there at some point for business and I'm worried that I will not be able to find food. How much are people aware of such allergies in Japan? Are food labels in English to (I guess not)? Do Japanese have those kinds of allergies? Thanks a lot for your answers. __________________ Tamer

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Apr 22, 2003, 10:28	#2
mdchachi Taicho Join Date: Mar 6, 2003 Location: USA (Detroit area) Posts: 687	I'm sure nut allergies exist but they are not well known at all. The good news is that Japanese food generally doesn't contain nuts or nut extracts. Now, if you're allergic to soy products you may as well give it up now. So there's no litmus test to test food for nut extracts? If not, I say we make and market one and make a million dollars! Seems like it shouldn't be that hard (compared to mapping the human genome for example).

Apr 23, 2003, 10:27	#3
momo Regular Member Join Date: Apr 12, 2003 Location: AZ, USA & Tokyo area, Japan Posts: 43	hi, tamer-san! I've never heard of that allergy in Japan, maybe because we don't use nuts in foods.. I'm not sure.. I saw nuts in Chinese fried vegitables and some Thaifoods, but I can't think of any Japanese foods contain nuts, though.. I just searched about the allergy in Yahoo JAPAN, and I found a good news for you. If the product contains peanuts, you can find this sentence in Japanese on the box: "この商品は、ピーナッツを使用した設備で製造しています." If you cannot remember this sentence, just remember ピーナッツ(=peanuts)!! Japanese have those kinds of allergies, but it's still uncommon.