Allergy cards

If you have food sensitivities and are traveling abroad, bringing a food allergy card in the local language can go a long way to ease the mind. A number of companies offer these portable cards. A few are available for free with a suggested donation, the rest start at around $8. Laminated cards hold up to more wear and tear than plain paper stock, but it is easy to laminate printed cards yourself.

Common sense dictates that it is advisable to verify that the translation on your card is correct, particularly if you have not dealt with a company before. I cannot vouch for the reliability of any company or translation.

Here are a few of the companies and health programs producing allergy translation cards:

Select Wisely
* Translation into 48 languages
* Strongly worded cards for people with life threatening sensitivities.
* Cards for nuts and shellfish, and multiple food allergies.
* Gluten intolerance cards.
* Lactose intolerance cards.
* Diabetic emergency and pharmacy cards.
* Latex and Penicillin allergy cards
* Vegetarian and Vegan cards.
* Special order customized cards.

Dietary Card out of the UK offers a similar range of service s as Select Wisely.

Allergy Translation
* Allergy translation cards for 175 foods in 27 languages. Costs $8.
These are not laminated cards. You print them directly from your computer.

Gluten Free restaurant Cards
* Celiac / gluten-free restaurant cards in 48 languages, to print out on your computer. Free with $5 suggested donation.

Diabetes Health Record (DHR) Card
* These cards created by the California Diabetes Program are a great self management tool, with space for recording tests and results. Available for free in English and 18 other languages.

Lactofree Translation Card
Lactose intolerance cards available from Lactofree as a free pdf file in French, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Russian, German, and Norwegian.