Online Tool Store
· 4 min read
How to Make an Allergy Card for Eating Out
Heshan Fernando
Co-founder & COO
You explain the allergy to a waiter in a noisy restaurant. They nod, relay it to the kitchen through a service hatch, and somewhere in that chain “no peanuts” becomes “no nuts on top” and the sauce still contains peanut oil.
A written card removes three of the four places that goes wrong. It survives noise, it reaches the kitchen unchanged, and it can be read in a language you don’t speak.
What the card has to say
The allergens, by their common names. Plus the foods they commonly hide in — a card saying “sesame” is better if it also mentions tahini, and one saying “wheat” is better if it mentions soy sauce.
The severity, plainly. A kitchen treats an intolerance and an anaphylaxis risk very differently, and it should. Being explicit isn’t dramatic; it’s the information they need to decide whether to refuse to serve you, which is sometimes the right answer.
Cross-contamination. The single most important line on the card, and the one most often missing.
A kitchen can honestly say a dish contains no peanuts while it was fried in oil shared with peanut-containing food, prepared on a board used for satay, or plated with tongs that touched something else. For an anaphylaxis risk, preparation matters as much as ingredients, and a card that only lists allergens invites a truthful answer that’s still dangerous.
State it directly: prepared with clean equipment, separate oil, no shared surfaces.
What to do if unsure. “If you cannot be certain, please tell me and I will order something else.” That sentence gives the kitchen a safe way out, which makes an honest answer far more likely than a reassuring one.
Emergency information. What medication you carry and where, and an emergency contact.
Translation needs a human
Machine translation of allergen names is risky in a specific way: the words are technical, often borrowed, and a subtly wrong translation reads as fluent to the reader while naming the wrong food.
For travel, get the card checked by a fluent speaker — ideally someone familiar with the local cuisine, who will also know which local dishes commonly contain your allergen. That local knowledge is frequently more valuable than the translation itself.
| Card element | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Allergens plus hidden sources | Kitchens don’t know every product’s contents |
| Severity stated | Determines how the kitchen treats it |
| Cross-contamination | Ingredient lists don’t cover preparation |
| Permission to refuse | Makes an honest answer easier |
| Emergency details | For the worst case |
The card supports the conversation
It doesn’t replace it. Hand the card over and speak to someone who can talk to the kitchen — a card handed to a busy server and never passed on has achieved nothing.
Asking the server to bring the card back after showing the kitchen is a reasonable way to confirm it got there.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Listing allergens without mentioning cross-contamination.
- Machine-translating without a fluent check.
- Making the card long — a kitchen reads the first three lines.
- Understating severity to avoid seeming difficult.
- Relying on the card alone in a language-barrier situation, without also confirming verbally.
How to do it with Allergy Card Generator
The Allergy Card Generator produces a printable card with the sections that matter.
- List every allergen by common name, plus foods it hides in.
- State the severity plainly.
- Include the cross-contamination line — this is the one to get right.
- Have any translation checked by a fluent speaker before you travel.
Allergy charities in most countries publish translated cards and travel guidance — worth checking alongside a custom card. Other health tools are in the tools directory.
Frequently asked questions
Why mention cross-contamination explicitly?
Because a kitchen can honestly say a dish contains no peanuts while it was cooked in shared oil. For an anaphylaxis risk, preparation matters as much as ingredients.
Should the card be translated?
For travel, yes — and checked by a fluent speaker rather than machine-translated alone. Getting an allergen name subtly wrong in a language you can’t read is a serious risk.
Does a card replace speaking to staff?
No. It supports the conversation, gives the kitchen something accurate to read, and survives a noisy room. Serious allergies still need a direct conversation with someone who can speak to the kitchen.
Final thought
Put the cross-contamination sentence on the card and give the kitchen permission to say no. Both make a truthful answer more likely, which is the only outcome that keeps you safe.