Food Allergies (Egg) in Germany
 

I will be travelling to Germany with my 2.5-year-old child, who has a severe egg allergy. I have a hotel setup with a kitchen so that we will be able to better limit the possibility of consuming egg protein.

I understand the basic labelling laws in Europe, but I know that it is not required to write if a product "may contain" eggs. Are there any particular brands out there that have very clear allergy labelling policies? It is always easier to purchase a product if you know that they absolutely will write if it "may contain" eggs.

Also, I would love to hear any general comments about dealing with food allergies in Germany. We typically avoid restaurants as we tend to feel that it is our responsibility (not necessarily that of a restaurant's staff) to ensure he does not eat eggs, but I would prefer to eat out a couple of times as I do love Germany cooking.

My son had a severe egg allergy at that age (thankfully grew out of it by age 6) and this was before the mandatory restaurant menu labelling (early 2010s). Restaurants nowadays label (egg is marked with a C) but can't guarantee egg free. Normal products sold in grocery stores will highlight allergens in bold in the ingredient list and highlight traces too. Since egg based lecithin is more expensive than soy based you are mostly fine. ;)

Normally if you pick foods that normally don't require eggs you should be fine in restaurants. Egg is used quite a bit in breading schnitzel for example, so there is often cross contamination if you order french fries that were fried in the same fryer. Good restaurants will listen to your request and check with the kitchen, but often come back and say they can't be 100% sure.

The EU Regulation REGULATION (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers is pretty clear about allergen information.

In Annex II eggs and products thereof are listed as a product causing allergies or intolerance. So it is mandatory and required.

So any restaurant must be able to provide a list of allergy causing or intolerance causing ingredients. I goes so far that even traces of possible substances are put on the list in case such ingredients are handled in the same factory or kitchen even if for different products. So you should have no problem when informing the restaurant staff about the egg intolerance but of course you should just stay a bit ahead and have a basic understanding which German food has a high chance of being made with egg, for example the breading of a Schnitzel, the typical German Frikadellen (meatballs) or Kaiserschmarrn

Vegetarians dream;) A restaurant using the same fryer for frech fries and schnitzel should be avoided. In general using a fryer for a schnitzel is a bad sign.

Regarding eggs it´s indeed hard to get a 100% statement. Option could be to use vegan restaurants/ suppliers if it´s a strong allergy.

I have Celiac disease so for me a gluten free diet is a must
I found Germany very difficult. Many of the restaurants have an English (or some other language) menu but when you need to ask the server their English may be very limited.
Usually a salad has no gluten if I choose oil and lemon as dressing but explaining to please make sure it does not touch any bread crumbs was tricky. I ended up eating in a Spanish tapas place a few times just because it was a lot more predictable
I would bring lots of snacks - unless you speak german;
limit food to simple salads and simple meat/fish dishes with no sauce and just sautee
some of the "bio stores" were helpful for me.
I know there are pre printed cards for gluten free requests in several languages and there must be something for requesting egg free meals.

On the other hand in France I was literally asked to leave when I asked "too many questions" about gluten cross contamination. They said I will not be able to eat there anything. (and it was not a croissant shop.....)