Peanuts Allergy

Hello,


I am considering an expat assignment in Beijing, China. However, my daughter has severe allergic reaction to peanuts. This makes me concern about the food safety for her. Does any of you have the same challenge or heard of this in China/Beijing? Any advice to me?


Thank you very much in advance!

My daughter also has a severe (anaphylactic) peanut allergy. You do have to be more careful, because of both language difficulties and also a lower general understanding of allergies here. Using a high level of diligence, we eat out frequently and have never had a problem. First, peanut is used in Chinese cuisine, but it is not in every food. So, first you make sure the food you are ordering doesn't have any peanut, then you examine the food closely and also someone else tastes it first. Always exercise a high level of personal scrutiny over each dish that comes to the table, no matter what other precautions you may have taken. If there is any doubt at all, she must skip that dish. Of course, also use separate serving utensils for dishes that there may be doubt about, too! Second, you must have a note written in Mandarin (laminated is good) saying that your daughter is allergic. Not only this, the note should emphasize that she would have to go to the hospital immediately and could die if she ate even the tiniest trace, so that separate cooking pots and utensils need to be used for her food. Make sure the cook himself sees and reads this note and that he agrees to do it. The general culture here does not reward people for being presumptuous or "forward," so waitresses may simply nod and smile if they don't understand you or if they don't want to bother the chef, or make assumptions that they shouldn't make. So, make sure the cook sees it himself. On the other hand, communication difficulties aside, I think you will find people here will be very accomodating of your individual needs and interests. I live in southern China, but in my city it is usually acceptable for me to walk into the kitchen to talk with the cook, and cooks are almost always willing to accomodate any special needs or requests (from a five star hotel down to a noodle shop on the street). The third thing, though, is to think through what would you do if she did have a reaction. Transportation and medical care are not the same here as you may be used to in your home country, and presumably you don't speak the language.

Beijing is a big city and I'm sure excellent medical care is available, but you need to locate it ahead of time, and you need tools to access it very quickly, in a traffic - congested city where there are also hospitals that don't have English speakers. Plan in advance by having a list of hospitals as well as written instructions you could hand to a taxi driver abouit where to take you (do not wait for an ambulance, you will add precious time and they don't get deference from other drivers anyway). Since Beijing is such a large city, you should have a list of acceptable places rather than just one location.

Thanks for you two's great advice.


Do you have some ideas of how the daycares are taking care of this issue? My daughter is only 2, and if I move to Beijing, I may need to send her to a daycare center.

LOL not!

Thanks very much for your advise.

Seriously, on the issue of daycare, most people (including local Chinese) hire full time caregivers for young children. You can do this for about the same cost as full time daycare in the USA. Once your nanny is educated about the issue, her language skill will be of use -- she can read ingredient labels and even help you order in restaurants if you take her "in" to your home to that degree. Many housekeepers live in for all or part of the time, but that is a matter of personal preference.