Portuguese Allergy Card: How to Say Your
Food Allergy in Portuguese

The phrase structure to know

Portuguese allergy communication runs through one core pattern, with a small twist English doesn't have: the adjective agrees with the speaker's gender. A man says "Sou alérgico a ...", a woman says "Sou alérgica a ..." — both mean "I am allergic to ...". Either form, said clearly or written down, is understood everywhere.

For a severe allergy, two more sentences matter — these are the exact lines printed on the AllergyPass Portuguese card:

Every major allergen in Portuguese

These are the same terms the AllergyPass card prints — the words used on Portuguese and Brazilian food labels and menus, not dictionary translations:

One label trap worth knowing: on Portuguese menus, shellfish is usually grouped as marisco or mariscos rather than broken out by species, so a single word can be covering shrimp, crab, clams, and lobster at once. If shrimp or crab specifically is the risk, name it directly — camarão or caranguejo — rather than trusting that "no mariscos" was heard as covering everything.

How to say gluten-free in Portuguese

Gluten-free is sem glúten, and it's understood at most restaurants in Portugal. But it isn't a phrase to lean on alone. Portugal is an EU member state and follows the Food Information to Consumers (FIC) Regulation, which requires restaurants to disclose 14 mandatory allergens — including cereals containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats) — on request, though menus themselves aren't required to carry the label. That means "sem glúten" reflects what a kitchen believes, not a certified standard, and cross-contact isn't covered by the phrase at all.

The safer frame is naming the specific cereal: trigo (wheat), centeio (rye), or cevada (barley), paired with the direct-answer sentence above. For celiac disease specifically, be explicit that even trace amounts matter — the distinction Portuguese kitchens respond to differently than a general preference. Our Portugal food allergy guide covers the full EU allergen framework and where wheat hides in Portuguese pastry.

The same vocabulary carries over to Brazil. European and Brazilian Portuguese share essentially the same allergen words — sem glúten, amendoins, marisco — so a card built with these terms works whether you're ordering pastel de nata in Lisbon or pão de queijo in São Paulo. Everyday slang and pronunciation drift between the two countries, but the words that matter on an allergy card stay the same, which is what widens where a single Portuguese card is useful.

Why written Portuguese beats spoken English

Outside Lisbon and Porto's tourist-facing restaurants, English fluency drops off quickly, especially at family-run tascas where the person cooking may not be the person taking your order. A card in Portuguese removes the gender-agreement guesswork of speaking the phrase aloud and gets handed directly to the kitchen, where it can be checked ingredient by ingredient. That's the entire design principle behind the translation card approach, and it holds equally well in Brazil.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say food allergy in Portuguese?

Food allergy in Portuguese is alergia alimentar. The phrase kitchens recognize is "Sou alérgico a [allergen]" (masculine) or "Sou alérgica a [allergen]" (feminine) — "I am allergic to [allergen]." For example, a peanut allergy is "Sou alérgico a amendoins." For a severe allergy, put it in writing: a card removes any doubt about which form or word was used.

How do you say gluten-free in Portuguese?

Gluten-free is sem glúten. Portugal follows the EU's Food Information to Consumers Regulation, which requires restaurants to disclose gluten-containing cereals among its 14 mandatory allergens on request, though menus themselves aren't required to carry the label. Asking for a dish "sem glúten" is understood, but naming trigo (wheat) explicitly and confirming with the kitchen is safer than relying on the phrase alone, since it carries no separate legal certification in Portugal beyond the standard allergen-disclosure rule.

Does the same card work in Portugal and Brazil?

Yes. European and Brazilian Portuguese use essentially the same allergen vocabulary — amendoins for peanuts, glúten for gluten, marisco for shellfish — so a card built with these terms works in both countries. Pronunciation and some everyday words differ between the two, but the words that matter on an allergy card do not, which widens where a single Portuguese card is useful.