Eating Middle Eastern food with allergies

Middle Eastern and Levantine menus are strong for vegan and dairy-free eating and difficult for sesame, since tahini underlies much of the mezze table — nuts and wheat are also common in both savoury and sweet dishes.

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Middle Eastern guides by allergen

Each guide covers typical dishes, what to ask, and where the allergen hides.

  • Middle Eastern food with a sesame allergy — Tahini is the backbone of a Levantine mezze table, so a sesame allergy rules out more of a Middle Eastern menu than any other single allergen — hummus, baba ganoush, halva and most dressings all start from it.
  • Middle Eastern food with coeliac disease — A Middle Eastern menu splits cleanly for gluten: the grilled, pulse and rice half is largely safe, and the bread, bulgur and pastry half is not — with the shared fryer and the bread that arrives automatically as the practical hazards.
  • Middle Eastern food with a tree nut allergy — Nuts run through Middle Eastern cooking in both directions: pistachio and walnut define the pastry section, and pine nuts, almonds and dukkah appear scattered over rice, meat and dips in the savoury one.
  • Middle Eastern food with a milk allergy — Much of a Middle Eastern menu is naturally dairy-free because olive oil rather than butter does the work — the dairy is concentrated in yoghurt sauces, labneh and cheese pastries, which are easy to identify and leave out.
  • Middle Eastern food with an egg allergy — Egg is uncommon in Levantine savoury cooking, which makes this one of the easier cuisines for an egg allergy — the exceptions are brunch dishes such as shakshuka, some pastry glazes, and mayonnaise-based garlic sauces on modern menus.

Advisory, not medical advice

MealSafe is a planning aid, not medical advice. AI-generated assessments can be incomplete or wrong, and ingredients and kitchen routines change without notice. Always confirm with the kitchen, the producer or the label before you eat, and follow the advice of your own clinician.