Mexico's World Cup: A Chance for Allergy-Safe Travel

When the Peoria Chiefs baseball team in Illinois launched its allergy-friendly zone at Dozer Park this July, the move earned headlines — not for a flashy celebrity or corporate sponsor, but for something far more impactful: consideration. For millions living with food allergies or medical dietary needs, this gesture meant they could attend a game and feel safe. It’s a model every global event should adopt, especially as the world gears up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

As a co-host of this mega-event, Mexico has committed — not just in spirit but in contract — to uphold FIFA’s Human Rights Policy. Among its key pillars: access, inclusion, and non-discrimination. And yet, when food inclusion is left out of the equation, these values fall flat at the dinner table.

Beyond Hospitality: Inclusion as a Right

We must ask ourselves: Can an event truly be inclusive if it excludes people from eating safely?

The World Allergy Organization estimates that anaphylaxis is a growing but preventable threat. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has also urged countries to improve food labelling, allergen management, and restaurant practices to protect consumers with medical dietary needs.

What this means is simple: food inclusion is no longer a “nice to have.” It is a public health imperative, a human rights issue, and a branding opportunity rolled into one.

A Global Moment Demands Global Leadership

While countries like the United States and Canada have long adopted protocols around food allergen labelling, mandatory training for food handlers, and access to emergency epinephrine, the same cannot be said for Mexico, where the management of food allergies and medically indicated diets remains largely overlooked. This gap creates a serious challenge when encouraging decision-makers to recognize food inclusion as a matter of health, rights, and international responsibility.

This isn’t about blame, it’s about a missed opportunity.

At Allergen Free Mexico, we are committed to changing this reality.

Our roadmap includes an inclusive certification initiative grounded in global best practices, international cooperation, and verifiable technical standards. We are working to bring this to the attention of FIFA’s Mexico 2026 Commission, as well as federal and local stakeholders in the health, food & beverage, and tourism sectors.

Encouragingly, the state of Aguascalientes is already leading by example, actively engaging in building a local Safe Tourism Corridor. And now, Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Mexico City — the primary World Cup host cities — have a golden opportunity to lead as global references in inclusive, allergy-safe hospitality.

But they must act now. Time is running out.

Building Allergen-Free Momentum

The good news is that momentum is building. Businesses, innovators, and governments are stepping up to fill the void where policy lags behind.

One such leader is Julianne Ponan, MBE, recently named global ambassador for Allergen Free Mexico. A trailblazing British entrepreneur and founder of Creative Nature, Ponan is globally recognized for her work creating foods free from the 14 major allergens. She’s helped transform not just the way products are made, but how the world understands food inclusion as a matter of dignity and equality.

Julianne's mission is both professional and personal. She herself has life-threatening allergies, including to all nuts, which she has dealt with from childhood. She also has anaphylaxis, which means should she consume an allergen, she can stop breathing in minutes. Every day she faces challenges around food inclusion. 

Julianne’s leadership will help shape the Safe Tourism Corridors that Allergen Free Mexico is building across the country — destinations where restaurants, hotels, clinics, and food vendors are trained, certified, and verified to serve travelers with dietary restrictions safely.

“Travel should be about joy, not fear,” she says. “Mexico has a chance to show the world that safety, inclusivity, and world-class tourism can go hand in hand.”

And she’s right. If food is culture, hospitality is how we deliver it. And if the World Cup is the most watched event on the planet, it’s also our biggest chance to show that inclusion isn’t a niche, it’s a norm.

A National Standard in the Making

To support this mission, Allergen Free Mexico, in collaboration with a leading certification body, is developing a Technical Guide for Certification to verify whether a product or service is free from gluten, allergens, and animal origin, filling the urgent gap while we await broader political policies and legislation to catch up.

This isn’t just for boutique vegan restaurants or allergy-friendly cafés. It’s for hotels, resorts, stadium vendors, tour companies, hospitals, embassies, and airlines — any touchpoint where a traveler with dietary restrictions might need safe and trustworthy options.

We are now inviting domestic and international companies to take part in this process. Participation isn’t just about visibility, it’s a real opportunity to help shape the future of inclusive gastronomy across borders and industries.

Incentives and Global Best Practices

To encourage adoption, Allergen Free Mexico is offering grants, scholarships, and reduced-cost training programs to restaurants, chefs, hotel managers, and caterers. These are not symbolic. They’re functional pathways for businesses to train their teams, verify their products, and connect with a growing, loyal consumer base.

Several global initiatives inspire our approach:

• Kitt Medical, a British startup, installs emergency allergy kits in schools and public spaces, an innovation that’s now protecting children across Europe.
• No Nut Traveller, an advocacy platform for safer airline travel for allergy sufferers, continues to push major carriers toward better onboard protocols.

In the UK, Creative Nature and Julianne Ponan have worked with airlines like Virgin Atlantic, Iberia, Norwegian Airlines and Vueling to provide safe inflight snacks — something as simple as this can make or break a traveler’s experience.

These are not just services, they are lifelines. And they reflect what Mexico can and should become: a country where no visitor, fan, or family feels left out because of what’s on their plate.

Trust Ahead of the Games

As we’ve seen in recent FIFA 2026 planning developments, including travel policy frictions and infrastructure concerns reported by outlets like The Guardian, the road to hosting a successful World Cup is rarely smooth. But food inclusion is one area where Mexico can shine.

With visionary support from its ministries of tourism, health, and economy — and strong alliances with organizations like GS1 and NORMEX — Mexico is laying the groundwork for certified, inclusive, and safe hospitality.

But that groundwork needs champions.

We urge decision-makers, especially those involved in logistics, public health, and tourism planning, to engage with this initiative not as a checkbox, but as a legacy opportunity.

What Comes Next?

Mexico can be the first World Cup host country to deliver a national, verified standard for inclusive food safety. The tools are ready. The partnerships are in place. What we need now is the political will and institutional support to act.

As Julianne Ponan says, "Food isn’t just about nourishment. It’s about trust."

And trust is what brings fans back, fuels tourism, and defines how the world remembers us.

Let’s make that memory a safe one.

Let’s serve inclusion — on every plate.