Is it safe traveling to Mexico with a food allergy?

I don’t get it. You think they put nuts in the food down there without telling people? I didn’t have any food-related problems when I vacationed in Mexico.

You can ask your waiter. With all the Canadians and Americans going to resorts, they’ll know.

I don’t see why not, as long as yo avoid the food you are allergic to, just as you would at home.

I would be more concerned right now with the drug wars than with your food allergies. If you stick to the tourist areas they should be able to accomodate your food allergies. Just be sure to inform your waiter or waitress. If you feel language may be a barrier, print up some business cards with your allergies listed that you can give to your servers.

Some Mexicans are allergic to peanuts too so it isn’t a odd concept for people. The card idea is a good one. I would just ask a Spanish speaker that you trust to write something up in Spanish. I would ask Dr_C since he is a doctor and speaks fluent Spanish.

I wouldn’t go to Mexico if you paid for my trip. I went there 20 years ago and it was ok. Now they have drug cartels that have more money, manpower and ammunition than the police forces. The police and other government agencies are full of people that are paid off by the cartels, meaning nobody can be trusted. Food allergies would be the last thing I’d be worried about. I’d be more worried about getting kidnapped.

Cabo is a fairly safe area. There are Mexicans with the same allergies, but there will be a small language barrier so you should be fully prepared (I like the card idea with it written in spanish). I assume you already do a good job avoiding nuts by avoiding foods that could have nuts in them. I don’t remember nuts being in the food so it shouldn’t be too hard to avoid them.

I would say that your bigger problem would be safety in general if traveling to Mexico in the near future. Have you read the newspaper or listened to the news in the last week?

I would not recommend going there at all. But if you have your mind made up, I will point out that pipian sauce and most mole sauces contain nuts and so does some, if not all, Mexican chocolate (which could be used in hot drinks and desserts). There’s another dish called “chilies en nogada” that is made with a walnut sauce. Of course there are sweets that also use peanuts such as almendrados and turrones and cookies called polvorones de cacahuate and Mexican wedding cookies. I also just read on Chowhound (from a person who lives in Mexico) that even some salsas contain nuts. I never would have guessed that. This person also said, because of the culture (trying to please) even if you asked if a food had nuts in it, or was made with peanut oil, they would likely say no, even if it did contain nuts.