Hello,
I would love to hear some insights on managing multiple food allergies, namely peanut allergy, in Taiwan. We have yet to make the move from the US, but we are seriously contemplating a move. My young son’s peanut allergy is epipen level in terms of severity. We will most likely send him to an american school (Bethany or TAS). Any allergist, medication or general observations? I would love to connect with other allergy comrades.
Miffy
I am epically allergic to tree nuts – cashews, walnuts, almonds, etc. but not peanuts – to the point where even an epipen wasn’t enough and had to be admitted to the emergency room for anip… aneph… anapa… … however that’s spelled shock. That was back home, though, and in five years in Taiwan, I’ve only had trouble once and it was very minor.
There are peanuts in some Taiwanese dishes, but they’re not common and are easy to spot as they are almost always left whole. I recommend learning enough Chinese to know 花生 (peanut) and 過敏 (allergy) and how to string them together into a sentence. When I first got here, I had a friend write it out for me in Chinese on an index card which I showed every time I ordered something.Basically stay away from kung-pao anything and the ice cream scoops they put in peanut brittle at night markets and you’ll be fine.
I think crushed peanut appears in lots of seasonings and sauces used for night market snacks.
Peanuts are also used in desserts and bread products.
Also, some types of traditional Taiwanese candies have peanuts in them.
Peanuts are prevalent in MANY Taiwanese foods. You should especially look out for night market snacks such as zhu xie gao (pig blood rice) and spring rolls (chun bing) as well as anything with satay (sha cha). Satay is prevalent in dozens of foods. Even when you least expect it (ie beef noodle soup), so ask first. If you think having a nut allergy is bad, try having a nut AND a fish AND a squid allergy on this island. You cannot buy epipens in Taiwan. BUT, you can buy the equivalent (epinephrine and a syringe). Taiwanese people are (very slowly) becoming aware of allergies. Although most laugh it off, or think it’s a foreigner problem. Basically you have to be extremely careful here with foods. Learn the words/characters for nuts, tree nuts etc. BTW, peanuts have two different names in Chinese-huasheng （花生)or tudou/toydao (土豆）。 if you need anymore help, msg me.
I developed it in Taiwan and it’s since subsided since leaving. Each ‘attack’ was more serious and it was one of the factors in my leaving Taiwan. I put it down to stress-related auto-immune overload and a constant low level of peanut in my diet that led to allergic reaction level sensitivity.
It’s very difficult because people don’t understand and don’t really care that much either because most food shops are staffed by teenagers. Nervous laughter while you show them the angry hives and wheezing after having explained before ordering. The issue is also that peanut oil is used to cook most foods.
They only was to manage it is to cook everything yourself, which is easy enough, but excludes your son from any of the social eating that is the primary way of socialising in Taiwan.
Epipens weren’t available, but I left in 2008 so things might have changed. In Xinyi ( centre of Taipei), you’re always close to a clinic where you can get a shot, though. I remember flying into the clinic opposite my building croaking ‘allergy’ to the receptionist after eating some of a ham sandwich which had crushed peanuts inside at Starbucks, and they injected me. Went back to complain but short of calling Seattle, there was nothing to be done. Kind of funny, but only in hindsight.
Taiwansteve: Actually, I’m allergic to tree nuts and pretty much anything that comes out of the ocean, especially shellfish. My girlfriend always complains I’m a picky eater and a lot of my friends just have no real understanding of what “seriously allergic” means. My girlfriend’s asked me before why it is that Westerners (in particular Americans) seem to have so many allergies… I couldn’t come up with any convincing answer.
Biggest problem: peanut oil, used to fry many dishes.
Yes, people here have no common knowledge of what “allergic… extreme allergic… anaphilaptic shock” means. Even teachers and peopel who you would take for granted would.
Find a way to smuggle as many Epi pens as humanly possible. Lots of allergy medication.
Isn’t this the big thing to worry about? Basically anything stir-fried or deep-fried could easily have come into contact with peanut oil. And I would never trust anyone in a restaurant who said there were no peanuts, or peanut oil, involved.
EDIT: I see Icon got there first!
Isn’t this the big thing to worry about? Basically anything stir-fried or deep-fried could easily have come into contact with peanut oil. And I would never trust anyone in a restaurant who said there were no peanuts, or peanut oil, involved.
EDIT: I see Icon got there first![/quote]
Less so, for me. It depends on the individual, I guess. It didn’t bother me as much as actual peanuts. It was uncomfortable and I avoided it, but didn’t cause the same kind of dangerous swelling. However, it’s more dangerous in that you can’t always taste it.
I am the original poster. Thanks for all the information! Keep them coming! I am actually quite anxious about my 3-year old’s transition to Taiwan so I am trying to gather all the information that I can get. I will definitely reach out again once we move to Taipei in September. We plan to try out Chinese medicine (very promising in US clinical trials) hardcore.
To correct some of the posters here. Peanut oil is RARELY used in Taiwan, the reason being is that it’s so bloody expensive compared to most other oils. Most of the oils here are either veggie oil, soybean oil, or lard. Occasionally you do find olive oil being used in Western restaurants here. Most waiters are fairly compliant if asked. Remember if you don’t trust, then just walk out. Losing face is nothing compared to losing a life.
That being said, peanuts (or cashews) are used from time to time in many Taiwanese dishes. I would basically stay away from Cantonese food or Thai/Yunnan food.
By the way. I NEVER use pure Chinese medicine. Because many kinds of nuts (especially almonds) have medicinal properties. If you’re planning to visit a Traditional Chinese doctor here, watch how they do their stuff. They gather a whole bunch of herbs, then grind them in a supergrinder. And you are supposed to use that powder like a tea. If you’re not afraid of cross-contamination, then fine. I damn well wouldn’t risk my life unless i could buy the ingredients myself and grind them myself (which would cost a small fortune). Stick to Western medicine (I would).
BTW, if you’re planning to visit HK, do realize one thing, 95% of restaurants in HK use peanut oil to cook. My whole year there I found only 4 restaurants (out of a 10000) that didn’t use it.
If you’re coming here, stock up on epipens, but an equivalent is available here too. If you come here, contact me, and I’ll introduce you to my doctor who can prescribe one for you.
GL
It’s a good question, anecdotally it does seen to be Americans that complain about this more than most.
It’s no joke I’m sure , I’m just wondering why I didn’t encounter people with food allergies when I was growing up in Europe? Maybe we didn’t eat out so much or the range of foods wasn’t so broad? I’m aware of the theories around parasite loss and that may explain some of the difference here as to why Taiwanese don’t seem to get these types of allergies, at least to the same degree.d
I have to say that Epipen has been available in Taiwan for a while. I’ve seen it first at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (New Taipei City) 1-2 years ago. Right now I’ve been told that it is also available at Taichung Veterans General Hospital (Taichung City), Chang bing Show Chwan Memorial Hospital and Changhua Show Chwan Memorial Hospital (Changhua county). Since you can have Epipen in Taipei, where Linkou is located, Taichung and Changhua, I wonder if it would be so hard to find at other large hospitals on this island.
The only problem is whether Epipen can be prescribed under the coverage of health insurance here. I’m sure that the officials and representatives of the related medical associations are in discussion right now, but the decision is still unknown. Currently the patients in need might have to pay for it.
So there’s a small suggestion to the OP first. Welcome to Taiwan and please don’t worry too much about Epipen, because it’s not so hard to get one or two here. But be sure to prepare for the related medical records of your son as complete as you can, so the local docs can help you in a more efficient way. As for the doc, since you will reside in Taipei, I’ll recommend allergists at Linkou CGMH. Hope this helps.
It’s a good question, anecdotally it does seen to be Americans that complain about this more than most.
It’s no joke I’m sure , I’m just wondering why I didn’t encounter people with food allergies when I was growing up in Europe? Maybe we didn’t eat out so much or the range of foods wasn’t so broad? I’m aware of the theories around parasite loss and that may explain some of the difference here as to why Taiwanese don’t seem to get these types of allergies, at least to the same degree.d[/quote]
This only happened to me after 4-5 years in Taiwan and went away almost overnight when I got back to Britain. You’re right about the eating out, maybe? I put it down to high stress from my situation and constant restaurant food and lack of sleep. My body just started fighting everything. Peanuts were the major trigger, but I started getting hives and low level swelling when eating other stuff too.
Maybe a simpler diet is key? Maybe my experience is different from most allergy sufferers because its not been a lifelong thing, though.
Dunno about the US.
I am the original post. We arrived in Taiwan and are doing well. No peanut scares so far. We stay away from street foods for the kid. We also found a great Chinese medicine doctor and herbal store. Thanks for everyone’s help!
Are you still doing ok in Taiwan? And what are things we need to watch out of, my girlfriend and I are going in July.
It’s a good question, anecdotally it does seen to be Americans that complain about this more than most.
It’s no joke I’m sure , I’m just wondering why I didn’t encounter people with food allergies when I was growing up in Europe? Maybe we didn’t eat out so much or the range of foods wasn’t so broad? I’m aware of the theories around parasite loss and that may explain some of the difference here as to why Taiwanese don’t seem to get these types of allergies, at least to the same degree.d[/quote]
Well, I was allergic to cocoa when I was a kid, but after 8 years old, the allergy just vanished (thank god). I’ve always eaten very different kinds of food, and I never had any problems. I know of people with food allergies in Europe, my brother has a friend who’s allergic to all nuts, all green fruits and vegetables, onion, and a couple of other things, and that’s the most extreme case I’ve seen (except for a kid I met in a hospital who was allergic to his own skin).
As for the taiwanese and allergies, my sister-in-law’s kids both have food and pharmacologic allergies. My wife is also allergic to aspirin, acetaminophen and ibuprophen, which means when she gets the flu, there’s NOTHING we can give her to lower the fever. We had her tested back in Europe and the allergy specialist doctor told us he didn’t know what we could use, because my wife was allergic to all known febrifuges.
Be careful. Be very careful. I’ve been to the hospital so many times, they know me by name. Thank the lord I’m only allergic to seafood. Don’t trust anyone! I’ve had a famous turkey rice swear there is no shrimp or seafood in their rice and I bit into a dried shrimp. It was on the highway… route 3 and I had to drive quite far to get medical attention. Thank goodness I have a long delay before on set.
Don’t even think it is a language or communication problem. I’ve had orders sending me to the hospital given in Chinese, Taiwanese, English, even with clear written notes. Outside of McDonald who doesn’t who keeps the frying oils separate, I eat exclusively Vegetarian outside of my home area. Right now… the emergency allergy treatments are not working as well as they did. I require to visits to stabilize.
Fish is everywhere. Even if the dish, like baked chicken or steak, usually doesn’t have it at home. PM I will tell you what hidden things there are later. I will even resurrect some of my old threads of me cursing out places as I get out of the hospital…
Nut’s are everywhere too. For me that is good since that is what I eat when I’m stuck in the middle of nowhere. A bowl of white rice and a bag of peanuts.
I am the original post. We are doing well in Taiwan. We had a walnut scare(from pepperidge farm cookies - yes, I should have read more carefully) and a milk incident (where the store clerk informed us that the almond drink had no milk), but both were brought under control with Benadryl and an inhaler. I have an appointment later this week at 長庚醫院兒童過敏氣喘中心 hoping to get an Epipen prescription for my son. Otherwise, we will continue to get our Epipens from abroad (cash price in the US has gone up!).
Basically, we are able to eat out quite frequently. No shacks or those tiny eateries but pasta shops, noodle places, Japanese restaurants and places like Din Tai Fung. I am concerned about my son’s food allergy once he goes to school but that’s still a year or two away. It helps that he is a big fan of fish and everything else from the sea 
Check out www1.cgmh.org.tw/chldhos/intr/c … aper%20(73.htm
If epipens are available in Taiwan, please let me know!!!