Updated May 2025
Translated chef cards
When eating out in non-English speaking countries it may be difficult to tell staff about your food allergy and ask about the ingredients and preparation methods. Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia has developed translated Chef Cards in 21 languages to help with communicating the foods you must avoid.
When telling the wait staff or chef at a cafe or restaurant about your allergies, give them your chef card and ask for it to come back with your specially prepared meal.
Phrases for travelling
A few phrases that may be useful for travelling have been translated into 21 different languages.
These phrases include “I am having a severe allergic reaction” and “Please call an ambulance”. They do not cover all languages and are not helpful if the person you give it to cannot read. We recommend travellers also do their own research about emergency management before travelling.
How to make your Translated Chef Card
Care needs to be taken when making your Chef Card to make sure that it accurately lists each of your allergies.
- Download the chef card template.
- Copy and paste the allergens you are allergic to:
- you can do this on your computer by copying and pasting into the blue, editable section of the card, and then printing out;
- or you can print the Chef Card first, cut it out with scissors and glue or sticky tape the relevant words onto the card. If you use this method, ensure you laminate your Chef Card to prevent allergens you have glued or sticky taped on from falling off or being damaged.
- Make sure you copy the allergens in the same order on both the English and translated Chef Cards.
- Put a new allergen on each line of the card. If you have more than five allergies we suggest you leave space between the allergens.
- Fold your card in half.
- Tape or glue it together, and it’s best to laminate to make it last longer, and store in your wallet.
- Be sure to make several copies in case you forget to get it back from the restaurant.
REMEMBER: You cannot tell what ingredients foods contain by looking at them, smelling them or tasting them. When eating out, ALWAYS tell people preparing and serving food you have a food allergy. ASK about food content after you have told them about your food allergy.
Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia takes no responsibility for the assembly of the card by you and, to the maximum extent permitted by law, disclaims any liability for this.
As the A&AA translated chef cards do not cover all languages, the following website may be of use with translated food allergen cards for other languages: www.selectwisely.com. Please note this is not an endorsement by A&AA of this website.