Severe peanut allergy...

Last activity 06 November 2012 by ChowBella

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ChowBellaMember04 November 2012 20:29:27

Hi everyone,

This question is about Ecuador in general although we are planning on Cuenca as a final destination.

My husband has several food allergies, a peanut allergy being the most pressing and threatening one. I've been reading about Ecuadorian food and peanuts do tend to be used although seemingly infrequently. Unfortunately, if he were to ingest even a small amount of the nut he would die pretty quickly.

We have traveled abroad had no issues in Cuba but did end up with a hospital trip after eating at a Mexican restaurant in Florence, Italy. (we figured it was due to an oil blend.)

What are your experiences with food allergies in Ecuador? Are peanuts all that common? Do you think that cross contamination is a huge issue? We live in Canada where peanut allergies are becoming more common and most restaurants take this into consideration but we still inform the server and pretty much avoid all Asian restaurants with the exception of a few Sushi places we trust.

Any help would be appreciated.

3lckrSerial expat06 November 2012 10:40:59

204

I have a peanut allergy too. The only time I got in trouble in Ecuador was after eating in a Lebanese restaurant in Quito where sauces were mixed on peanut powder. Other than that just watch out for bakery items like cakes that might contain peanuts, and do not ask a guy/girl at the counter, if it smells peanuts it most likely has a lot of them.
Good luck!

ChowBellaMember06 November 2012 10:51:40

Thanks for the reply! It sounds like we can treat his allergy the same way we do here. Hubs hasn't eaten anything from a bakery since he was a little boy, anyway.

An additional question: Are epipens easily available?

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