A fast growing number of the population worldwide suffers from different kind of food allergies like Peanut, Tree nut, Sesame, Milk, Egg, Seafood, Shellfish, Soy, Wheat and Sulphites, but to add on this we have a yet more fast growing number of the population worldwide which due to different reasons have turned to special diets as, Celiac Disease, Halal diet, Kosher diet, Lacto-ovo-peche-vegetarian, Lacto-ovo-vegetarian, Lacto-vegetarian, Lactose intolerance, Ovo-vegetarian, Vegan, Vegetarian, Low calorie / Low fat, Low carb, Low fat diet and Low salted diets.

When summing up all of these we can only estimate, as no confirmed statistics exists for the world population. For example in the USA it is estimated that about 21 million (estimation made by FAAN & AAAAI) of the population suffers from some kind of food allergy. To add on to this is estimated that in the USA alone, more than 12 million people are vegetarians, and 19,000 more make the switch to a meat-free diet every week. Furthermore lactose intolerance is very common in the western countries and is estimated that more than 30 million Americans are affected. These are staggering numbers and a rough estimate is that soon about 25-35 % of the world population have some kind of dietary restrictions. Restrictions which are hard to communicate in a foreign language – a every day problem for frequent Business Travelers.

This issue haven’t been addressed in most companies travel policies, but it is a most important one – how the company and the Corporate Travel Manager can assist and help the Business Travelers to easier and safer be able to communicate the concerns about their food restrictions. Communicating these can sometimes be very difficult and uncomfortable and mistakes happen, and happen too often. Misunderstandings that may lead to discomfort, illness and/or even life-threatening situations. While doing business you want to feel relaxed and confident that you are eating food safe for you, even if the kitchen isn´t speaking the same language.

There are now different kinds of translation services both offline and now also online and “on-the-fly” translation services, which addresses this problem in a simple, but efficient way. These provide a way for Corporate Travel Managers to help their Business Travelers to stop worrying, be certain about their eating situation, feel good and keep on making the business more money. These providers have all quality translations done by autorized translators from and into many of the written languages of the world specializing in food allergies and other special dietary restrictions – its time to make food allergy and special diet translations part of the Company Travel Policy.