If you, or any of your family, require special diets, Jakarta offers more than you think.
Children that require special diets can sometimes be more easily dealt with in Jakarta as you can afford to train your own cook to cook food from scratch. Many imported special dietary items are now available in supermarkets or speciality stores.
It is advisable however to stock up on products when you see them, especially if they have good expiry dates as sometimes stock will sell out and not be re-stocked for months.
Indonesian labeling laws are not as strict as other countries and some imported products use different packaging for Indonesia so ingredients become vague e.g. ‘contains flavoring’. Check all labels and if in doubt avoid and find an alternative.
Check our Directory for speciality food shops
For those with severe allergies who require an epipen or epipen junior, you will need to stock up on these during your home trips. You may also want to stock up on medicines and creams while in your home country. A lot of medicines are available here for allergies but from experience, the locally produced medicines are not as effective. On the other hand a lot of medicines are available without a prescription e.g. Ventolin inhalers and Ventolin Nebules for nebulisers. You can buy a nebuliser machine at most pharmacies if you want to have your own. It is recommended to buy a good air purifier for the children’s bedroom.
Allergy testing can be done in Singapore at the Child and Allergy Clinic. It is quite expensive, though, so make sure you are covered with adequate health insurance.