Sao Paulo - Post Report Question and Answers

What do people who suffer from environmental or food allergies need to know?

I don't have many insights on this. Some restaurants make an effort to list allergens, others don't. Knowing Portuguese will help navigate such issues as most restaurant staff won't speak English and most restaurants won't have English copies of menus. - Jun 2024


Epi-Pens/epinephrine shots are NOT AVAILABLE to the public in Brazil. If you need to have this for anaphylaxis be sure to bring a supply with you and stay on top of it as mail typically takes 3-6 weeks to arrive. Epinephrine injections are available only at hospitals. So even if an ambulance arrives to you in time they don't have it in their supplies. - May 2021


Pollution can cause irritation for those with asthma, etc. - Apr 2021


You can find most things for special diets here. Sunscreen is expensive. - Aug 2019


If you have allergies or sensitivity to varying air qualities, you will most likely have to medicate. Also, foods and restaurant menus in Brazil are not required to list all ingredients or possible allergens like nuts, gluten, etc. so you will need to be on guard if food allergies are an issue. - Nov 2017


Food is well-labeled here. If you are avoiding gluten, nearly everything is labeled. (Side note: they use gluten-free tapioca, or mandioca, flour in lots of things here, such as the famous pao de queijo. It's fantastic.) - Aug 2015


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