Useful French words for allergies and vegetarians/vegans
If you have a food allergy/intolerance or wish to avoid certain foods it can be difficult when shopping or eating out in a foreign country. In France many food related words are quite similar if not even identical to English eg végétarien/gluten but others are very different. You may therefore find this list useful.
Words on French Food Labels
Without/free from - Sans, so gluten free = sans gluten
Vegan - végétalien (although most people will also understand vegan and this is often used on packaging)
Nuts - fruits à coque or noix
Peanuts - cacahuètes/arachides
Peanut oil - huile d’arachide
Walnuts, Brazil nuts, almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, pine nut and pistachios - noix, noix du Brésil, amandes, noix de pécan, noisettes, pignon de pin et pistaches
Sesame - sésame
Shellfish - fruits de mer
Fish - poisson
Mussels - moules
Wheat - blé
Soya - soja
Salt - sel
Eggs - oeufs
Milk - lait
Dairy - produits laitiers
Alcohol - alcool
Organic - Agriculture biologique/AB and BIO
Without additives - sans additifs
Without flavourings - sans arômes
Palm oil - huile de palme
Nutritional Information:
Average Nutritional Information - Valeurs nutritionells moyennes
Energy - Energie
Fat - Matières grasses
Saturated fat - (dont acides) matières grasses
Carbohydrates - Glucides
Sugar - (dont) sucres
Fibre - Fibre
Protein - Protéines
In some supermarkets there are aisles specifically for certain foods such as organic, gluten-free but not all so you may have to do a lot of label reading.
Eating out with allergies/food choices
The following terms may be useful for you:
- I am totally allergic to all types of nut AND peanuts- “je suis totalement allergique aux noix de toutes sortes”/ aux fruits à coque ET aux arachides”
- I have a lethal allergy to ... “j’ai une allergie mortelle à…”
- I am allergic to ... “Je suis allergique à ... ”
- I am having an allergic reaction to - “Je fais une réaction allergique à ...”
- I am coeliac and cannot eat anything containing gluten - “Je suis cœliaque et ne peux pas manger d'aliments contenant du gluten.”
- I am vegetarian / vegan - “Je suis végétarien / végétalien (vegan)”
- I do not eat any meat or fish - “Je ne mange ni viande ni poisson ”
For those of you who are vegetarian do be aware that the idea of vegetarianism seems odd to many French who think that all vegetarians will happily eat fish or simply remove a bit of meat from their meal. Do carefully read all the ingredients if you want vegetarian food and in restaurants be very specific that you don't want meat or fish anywhere near your plate.
If you are staying at Eco-Gites of Lénault we are willing to help with food related queries you may have and can help locate places to eat that serves your needs. Do you have difficulties eating out in France or have you found some great places to eat that serve veggie/vegan or cater well for people with food allergies. Please do let us know in a comment.
