How do I order food in China with a food allergy?

Do not rely on menu symbols or a missing warning. Tell the kitchen about your allergy before ordering, ask about ingredients and shared equipment, and carry the emergency medicines prescribed for you. If the kitchen cannot confirm the ingredients and preparation, choose somewhere else.

Packaged-food rules are not a restaurant menu system. GB 7718-2011 places allergen notices under recommended content. GB 7718-2025 takes effect on 16 March 2027: its eight listed ingredient groups generally require an allergen notice, with exemptions listed in Appendix D.4–D.5 (mainly highly refined ingredients such as refined soybean or peanut oil and glucose syrup, plus spirits); other allergens such as sesame remain voluntary. Cross-contact warnings are encouraged. Both standards exclude loose (unpackaged) food and food made and sold on site. We found no national rule requiring restaurants to label allergens: catering rules only encourage showing main ingredients, and delivery-app listings must name each dish's main ingredients, which is not an allergen check.

Peanut: ask about peanut pieces, peanut paste and the cooking oil, including oil used for fillings. Sichuan kung pao chicken uses fried peanuts in the standard recipe; Chongqing noodles usually include cooked peanuts. Lian Xiang Lou records peanut oil in its Cantonese lotus paste. Shanghai Siruchun cold noodles use peanut sauce. A request to omit the visible topping is not an ingredient or cross-contact check.

Tree nuts: name the nuts you must avoid; do not use peanut as a substitute word for walnut or cashew. Rose-brand Jiangjin rice candy contains walnuts alongside peanut and sesame. The documented Fuhai Wuchuan five-kernel mooncake includes walnut kernels. Shanghai shops sell ground black sesame with walnut. Ask about pastry fillings and ground toppings before they are mixed in.

Sesame: ask about seeds, sesame paste (芝麻酱 / 麻酱), sesame oil (芝麻油 / 香油), cold-dish dressings and dipping bowls. The Sichuan garlic-pork standard uses sesame oil, while Lai tangyuan has sesame fillings and a sesame-paste dip. Fuhai five-kernel mooncake includes sesame; Shanghai black-sesame tangyuan contains sesame paste. NHS allergy guidance notes that sesame oil can cause reactions.

Shellfish / fish: use separate words for shrimp and crab, other shellfish and molluscs (including squid and octopus), and fish; list your actual allergies rather than saying “seafood” alone. Sichuan sour-pickled fish uses fish, and the standard also coats it with egg white. Guangzhou shrimp wonton noodles put shrimp in the filling, and the traditional stock is simmered with dried fish and shrimp roe. Shanghai savoury soy milk includes dried shrimp. Ask about stock and sauce ingredients as well as the main piece of meat.

Wheat / gluten avoidance: sauce matters as much as noodles. SAMR describes soy sauce made from soybeans and wheat ingredients, so ask to read the actual sauce label; do not assume a rice-based dish is suitable. Chongqing noodles use flour, and the recorded Lai tangyuan filling also adds flour despite its rice-flour wrapper. Pixian chilli bean paste (doubanjiang), used in mapo tofu and many other Sichuan dishes, is made with flour as well as chillies and broad beans. Guangzhou egg noodles use flour; Shanghai savoury soy milk adds fried dough and soy sauce. Coeliac disease is an immune condition requiring gluten avoidance, not merely a mild intolerance; wheat allergy and coeliac disease need different wording and a clinician’s plan.

Egg: ask about batter, noodle dough, coatings and dessert mixtures. Sichuan dan hong gao batter uses flour and egg; the sour-pickled fish standard uses egg white as a coating. Guangzhou wonton filling and whole-egg noodles contain egg, and Renxin double-skin milk uses egg. In Suzhou, spring toon-and-egg is explicitly an egg dish. Leaving off a fried egg does not answer whether egg went into the dough or coating.

Milk / dairy: check desserts, milk drinks and added butter rather than guessing from the cuisine. A Chongqing market-regulator home recipe for milk tea uses milk, and the same article notes some shops use non-dairy creamer instead, so read the actual ingredient list. Guangdong Renxin double-skin milk uses milk and egg. Shanghai Lao Da Chang binggao is a milk custard ice with caramelised walnuts; the nearby Jinchen Hotel's binggao is made from cream and milk with walnuts and rum. Ask to see the actual ingredient list for a drink or dessert; a product name is not a full recipe.

Soy: ask about tofu, soy milk and soy sauce, including marinades and cold-dish dressings. The mapo-tofu standard includes tofu, fermented beans and soy sauce. Guangdong Guanghe fermented tofu starts with soybeans. Shanghai savoury soy milk uses yellow soybeans and soy sauce, and also dried shrimp. Do not treat “vegetarian” as an allergen-free promise.

Show the relevant card before ordering. These are prepared Chinese messages, not a promise that a kitchen can meet the request. Keep only the allergens that match your diagnosed condition, then show the shared preparation message too. For coeliac disease, use the gluten-avoidance card instead of claiming a severe wheat allergy.

Peanut card — 我对花生严重过敏，菜里不能有花生、花生酱或花生油，也不能与含这些原料的食物共用锅具、餐具和油。 English: I have a severe peanut allergy. Do not use peanuts, peanut paste or peanut oil. Do not share cookware, utensils or oil with foods containing these ingredients.

Tree nuts card — 我对核桃、腰果、巴旦木（扁桃仁）、杏仁、开心果、榛子等坚果严重过敏，菜里不能有这些坚果或它们的酱、油和碎末，也不能与含这些原料的食物共用锅具、餐具和油。 English: I have a severe allergy to tree nuts such as walnuts, cashews, almonds, apricot kernels, pistachios and hazelnuts. Do not use these nuts or their pastes, oils or ground pieces. Do not share cookware, utensils or oil with foods containing these ingredients.

Sesame card — 我对芝麻严重过敏，菜里不能有芝麻、芝麻酱或芝麻油（香油），也不能与含这些原料的食物共用锅具、餐具和油。 English: I have a severe sesame allergy. Do not use sesame seeds, sesame paste or sesame oil. Do not share cookware, utensils or oil with foods containing these ingredients.

Shellfish and molluscs card — 我对虾、蟹、贝类，以及鱿鱼、章鱼严重过敏，菜里不能有它们，也不能用虾皮、虾米、虾子、虾酱、蚝油或用它们熬的汤，也不能与含这些原料的食物共用锅具、餐具和油。 English: I have a severe allergy to shellfish and molluscs (squid, octopus), including shrimp, crab, lobster, clams, oysters, scallops and sea snails. Do not use them, dried shrimp, shrimp roe, shrimp paste, oyster sauce or stock made from them. Do not share cookware, utensils or oil with foods containing these ingredients.

Fish card — 我对鱼严重过敏，菜里不能有鱼或鱼制品（包括鱼干，如大地鱼），也不能用鱼汤或鱼露，也不能与含这些原料的食物共用锅具、餐具和油。 English: I have a severe fish allergy. Do not use fish, fish products (including dried fish), fish stock or fish sauce. Do not share cookware, utensils or oil with foods containing these ingredients.

Wheat allergy card — 我对小麦严重过敏，菜里不能有小麦面粉、面筋，也不能用酱油、豆瓣酱、甜面酱等含小麦的酱料，也不能与含这些原料的食物共用锅具、餐具和油。 English: I have a severe wheat allergy. Do not use wheat flour or wheat gluten, or soy sauce, chilli bean paste (doubanjiang), sweet bean sauce or other wheat-containing sauces. Do not share cookware, utensils or oil with foods containing these ingredients.

Egg card — 我对鸡蛋严重过敏，菜里不能有鸡蛋、蛋清或蛋黄，面糊和上浆也不能加蛋，也不能与含这些原料的食物共用锅具、餐具和油。 English: I have a severe egg allergy. Do not use whole egg, egg white or yolk, including in batter or coatings. Do not share cookware, utensils or oil with foods containing these ingredients.

Milk / dairy card — 我对牛奶和乳制品严重过敏，菜里不能有牛奶、奶粉、奶油、黄油或奶酪，也不能与含这些原料的食物共用锅具、餐具和油。 English: I have a severe milk and dairy allergy. Do not use milk, milk powder, cream, butter or cheese. Do not share cookware, utensils or oil with foods containing these ingredients.

Soy card — 我对大豆严重过敏，菜里不能有黄豆、毛豆、豆腐、豆腐皮、腐竹、腐乳、豆浆、豆豉或含大豆的酱油和酱料，也不能与含这些原料的食物共用锅具、餐具和油。 English: I have a severe soy allergy. Do not use soybeans, edamame, tofu, tofu skin, fermented bean curd, soy milk, fermented soybeans or soy-containing sauces. Do not share cookware, utensils or oil with foods containing these ingredients.

Gluten avoidance / coeliac disease card — 我必须严格避免麸质，菜里不能有小麦、大麦、黑麦及其制品，也不能用酱油、豆瓣酱、甜面酱等含这些原料的酱料，或啤酒、麦芽制品，也不能与含这些原料的食物共用锅具、餐具和油。 English: I must strictly avoid gluten. Do not use wheat, barley, rye or their products, including soy sauce, chilli bean paste (doubanjiang), sweet bean sauce and other sauces containing them, or beer and malt. Do not share cookware, utensils or oil with foods containing these ingredients.

Shared preparation message card — 请用单独的干净锅具、餐具和油，不要和含有上述原料的食物共用；不能只挑掉撒料。如果做不到，请直接告诉我，这道菜我就不点了。 English: Please use separate clean cookware, utensils and oil, without sharing them with foods containing the ingredients above. Removing toppings is not enough. If this cannot be done, please tell me and I won't order it.

General card — 我对________严重过敏，过敏反应可能危及生命，请先向厨房确认所有配料和制作方式。 English: I have a severe allergy to ________. An allergic reaction may be life-threatening. Please confirm all ingredients and preparation with the kitchen first.

If breathing becomes difficult, the tongue or throat swells, or someone becomes faint or collapses after exposure, treat it as an emergency. Use the prescribed adrenaline (epinephrine) auto-injector according to its instructions and your clinician’s action plan; call 120 in mainland China. Say “严重过敏，需要急救” and give the exact address. Lie down; if breathing is difficult, raise the shoulders or sit up slowly. Do not stand or walk. NHS guidance says to use a second injector after five minutes if symptoms have not improved; follow the plan for your prescribed device. Hospital assessment is still needed even after improvement.

Arrange prescribed pens before departure. A prescription adrenaline nasal spray was approved in mainland China at the end of 2025, but adrenaline auto-injectors are still not on sale there: the pens some Greater Bay Area hospitals import are for in-hospital use only. Do not count on buying one after you arrive; bring the full supply agreed with your clinician. Keep your medicine with you rather than posting it: a January 2026 news report described pens bought abroad and posted in being confiscated as an unapproved prescription drug. NHS advises people at risk of anaphylaxis to carry two injectors and check their expiry dates.

For entry, Article 39 (paragraph 3) of the Drug Import Administration Measures, co-issued by the drug regulator and Customs, limits personally carried medicines to small, reasonable quantities for personal use under Customs supervision; it gives no universal number of pens. Keep your prescription and original packaging available for inspection; a customs reply to a traveller recommends carrying the prescription, medical record or diagnosis and declaring the medicine to customs on arrival. Check your intended quantity with Customs before departure. CAAC allows necessary liquid medicines during the flight after security inspection. That is not a blanket approval of every needle or device: confirm your auto-injector and documents with the airline and departure airport, and keep emergency medicine accessible during travel.

The Chengdu must-eat page and Chongqing must-eat page now label some documented typical ingredients. Tap a label for the recipe note. Recipes change and shared cookware is not covered by those labels; an unmarked dish is not an allergy-safe dish.