Food Allergy? Pack a Plan.

Q My husband has severe food allergies. We want to travel to Europe but need to prepare our own food. Where can I find rentals with kitchens?

Carol Foley

Ashburn

AThere is no shortage of agencies ready to help you locate week-long apartment rentals in most every European country, and we'll get to those in a moment. But when it comes to travelers with food allergies, having one's own kitchen might not be enough.

According to Anne Muñoz-Furlong, chief executive of the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN), a Fairfax-based nonprofit group, European food labels can be dangerously deceptive, and that's even if you're a fluent reader of the language in question. "The first rule is to not assume anything," she says. Europeans "have a 5 percent rule, which means that if allergens are present as less than 5 percent of the volume of the product, they don't have to be [on the label.] In the U.S., it's zero."

Muñoz-Furlong strongly recommends packing canned goods from the United States in your suitcase, and when abroad to shop for fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as plain meats. (For more suggestions, see the FAAN Web site, http://www.foodallergy.org.) You might also want to consider ordering preprinted translation cards that clearly state your husband's dietary restrictions, such as those available from SelectWisely (888-396-9260, http://www.selectwisely.com). These strongly worded pocket-size laminates -- "Keine Erdnüsse!" screams one in German ("No peanuts!") -- are sure to get the attention of even the surliest shop clerk.

But you asked about kitchen-friendly accommodations, and there are a multitude. Barclay International Group (800-845-6636, http://www.barclayweb.com) offers apartments, cottages and villas all over Europe, as do Interhome (800-882-6864, http://www.interhome.us) and Rentalo.com (305-558-5577, http://www.rentalo.com). And don't rule out Craigslist for short-term rentals; the popular online classifieds site now has Web pages for several European cities and more than a dozen countries ( http://www.craigslist.org).

The bottom line? "Lots of people with food allergies go to Europe and they have a wonderful time," Muñoz-Furlong says. "But it's all about being very careful and conservative with regard to what you eat."

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