Fish allergy and the Legion

[Australien]

Hi everyone, I've search online and found similar answers to my question but nothing specific.

Bit of background - I've been knocked back by the Australian army due to my allergy to fish as I went into too much detail about a reaction I had when I was 3 years old. I've never had another reaction in my life (I'm now nearly 29) and never had to carry an epipen. I recently got an allergy test and it came up negative for red fish and shellfish however it looks like I still have a mild allergy when it comes to white fish. My question is - would I be able to survive in the legion if I avoided eating fish or is fish a very common food served by the legion/MRE's/having to survive off the land?

Does anyone know of other legionaries that have had food allergies?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Surfguy]

I`d keep it quiet and obviously dont eat fish , I cant imagine the Legion is any more likely to accept you than the Aussie Army if they find out.

 

[Australien]

I`d keep it quiet and obviously dont eat fish , I cant imagine the Legion is any more likely to accept you than the Aussie Army if they find out.

Thanks, yeah I understand that and won't bring it up. However I was curious if fish was a regular meal served - like could it be avoided easily?

 

[keegan mactavish]

The legion accepts Muslims who are religious and don't eat a certain food or drink beverages. I think not eating one type of food is ok but the greens will help you out

 

[dusaboss]

Thanks, yeah I understand that and won't bring it up. However I was curious if fish was a regular meal served - like could it be avoided easily?

Man, do you feel (see) some symptoms while eating white fish? Most allergies today are just a propaganda. Also main cause of them aren't substance that provokes allergic reactions. It's more about something else in our modern way of living which in combination with certain substances (food or something) make body react in that way. What is it? Who knows, probably food we eat treated with enormous amounts of poisons in various forms and applications.

If this is case I can guarantee that we will not know anything about the possible harmfulness of chemicals that are used in food production. You have pharmaceutical mafia, then Monsanto, Bayer etc. investing enormous sums of money so eventual study in that direction would stay secret.

And yes there is small percentage of people having real allergies on certain substances, but that is like 0,001 %., but if we have researches which shows that in some parts of world more than half population have allergy of some kind, we need to ask ourselves what is wrong with our why of living and doing things?!?

I heard that guys have allergies on shellfish, but never heard about white fish.
I actually get allergic reactions on beer. From time to time while drinking lot of them I get skin rush and airflow obstruction in lungs, but symptoms are mild and very rare (I drink beer 4-5 time a week ). If I say that to some "good" doctor he would with no doubt give me diagnosis like allergy on some regular food (beer are something ) ( for sure he he would not mentioned poisons which we inhale and eat every day). He would also put me on some expensive medicament.

Ok, now to answer your question. . I think you can manage without eating fish when it's on menu. Maybe you will trade it with your comrade for something else, maybe you will stay hungry from time to time, but as I understand fish is not so big in FFL diet. Unless your base is on seashore.( btw said from someone who didn't eat one meal in FFL. Best would be answer from someone who currently serving but they are in shortage on this forum so next best thing would be answer from someone who served 10 to 15 yrs ago).

Welcome to the forum and good luck!

 

[Le petit caporal]

Almost evry friday, fish (usually white) is served for lunch

 

[Australien]

Almost evry friday, fish (usually white) is served for lunch

Thank you for your reply. Even if this is the case it is still not a deterrent for me. I've managed to survive this long without eating fish/having an allergy reaction.

 

[dusaboss]

Thank you for your reply. Even if this is the case it is still not a deterrent for me. I've managed to survive this long without eatingMan, did you had some serious issues after eating fish are doctor just told you that you are allergic and you don't eat fish ever since? fish/having an allergy reaction.

Man, did you had some serious issues after eating fish or doctor just told you after your first (and only) reaction that you are allergic and you don't eat fish ever since?

Try to eat fish, small amounts. Have EpiPen with you while eating it (just in case). Consult doctor. Most allergies vanish during puberty.

 

[Le petit caporal]

Often, we are fed, Saint Jacques,(minced clams),fish fingers, calamar rings (squid in batter) In ration boxes, sardines and tuna (am addicted to sardines (naturel)
Why Friday? Catholic tradition !

 

[Australien]

Man, did you had some serious issues after eating fish or doctor just told you after your first (and only) reaction that you are allergic and you don't eat fish ever since?

Try to eat fish, small amounts. Have EpiPen with you while eating it (just in case). Consult doctor. Most allergies vanish during puberty.

This is what my parents told me "Your lips went blue and your throat started to close up", I was given a shot of adrenaline by a doctor.

I never tried to eat fish after this.

I had the allergy test done last week and it came back positive to white fish. The doctor said to not even try eating it - but that's what doctors have to say.

 

[Australien]

Often, we are fed, Saint Jacques,(minced clams),fish fingers, calamar rings (squid in batter) In ration boxes, sardines and tuna (am addicted to sardines (naturel)
Why Friday? Catholic tradition !

I've never eaten any of these, the only time I've eaten fish and not had a reaction was when I have eaten anchovies on a pizza and didn't even know it. I've also worked with crayfish and fish in kitchens before - eaten food that has touched these animals, tasted them on the food I was eating and had no reaction.

 

[Le petit caporal]

By boredom, i ate more than my fair share of pain guerre,in our ration boxes (war bread. .actually,dried biscuits ) And i would shite once a fort night, if lucky!
Post Shitum : pain guerre/ war biscuits. ..bis /twice and cuit /cooked = twice cooked

 

[Le petit caporal]

Might be, your condition is psycological. ..you never know till you try to find out. ..even then ?

 

[Chas]

Our rations were very basic. Not like modern 'Ratpacks' which are very good. We had tinned butter, cheese, tinned sardines or pilchards tinned meat, hard tack biscuits best softened in packet soups and masses of boiled sweets. Some of the tins were dated 1945 and this was in 1956 ! My original Green Beret was a Kangol dated 1945. The worst food I endured was Machonnies' tinned sausages. So old they were grey with the texture of putty ! Absolutely revolting.

I can understand our esteemed Petit Caporal's problem of being constipated. Better than the squits tho' ! I suffered as well.

Finally Australien , welcome to the forum. However with an allergy, don't mention it if you go for selection. However remain circumspect about what you eat. Good luck.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

In your regiment it won't matter so much as you will probably have some food in your room even if it is only a soupe chinoise Chinese noodle soup. And your company club will have food on offer.
However, during basic training, you will suffer. I remember always being hungry and looking forward to every meal to the point where I even ate tripe which I hate and sheep's brains. Yes sheep's brains. All that to say that when it's fish for lunch, as Andy says, usually on Fridays you will suffer. There is no alternative, if you are Muslim and don't eat pork, you go hungry, if you can't eat fish, you go hungry.

 

[keegan mactavish]

Often, we are fed, Saint Jacques,(minced clams),fish fingers, calamar rings (squid in batter) In ration boxes, sardines and tuna (am addicted to sardines (naturel)
Why Friday? Catholic tradition !

Sounds like the legion offers better food than what I eat at home the calamar rings are very expensive we only eat them here on occassions as they cost a fortune

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

Sounds like the legion offers better food than what I eat at home the calamar rings are very expensive we only eat them here on occassions as they cost a fortune

Hi Keegan, you will have a chance to try all (or most of) the French delicacies at one time or another, snails, foie gras, frogs legs and my all time favorite Cassoulet. Not the canned legion stuff, but the real McCoy. Cassoulet is a Castelnaudary specialty which I would highly recommend you get on your first quartier libre.. 24 CChs from the REP went back to Castel to do an exam, CAT 4. After the exams most of us went out to get a cassoulet on town. Excellent.

Now some of you may be wondering what my point is? None really ! It's just that during instruction we had cassoulet from a can, I could have eaten 5 times the amount we were given.

So what is cassoulet? Broad beans in a kind of tomato sauces, with sausages from from Toulouse, duck legs belly pork etc cooked with goose dripping. Sprinkle a bit of bread crumbs on top and into the oven until nearly burnt. It's a long story but it's origins date back to the 100 year war with the English. A kind of French Sandwich type story where they are all under attack and you have to make do with what you have at the moment.

There is said to be 3 true types of cassoulet, from Castel, Carcassone and Toulouse.

Hey we're allowed to take a trip down memory lane from time to time

 

[jonny]

Our rations were very basic. Not like modern 'Ratpacks' which are very good. We had tinned butter, cheese, tinned sardines or pilchards tinned meat, hard tack biscuits best softened in packet soups and masses of boiled sweets. Some of the tins were dated 1945 and this was in 1956 ! My original Green Beret was a Kangol dated 1945. The worst food I endured was Machonnies' tinned sausages. So old they were grey with the texture of putty ! Absolutely revolting.

I can understand our esteemed Petit Caporal's problem of being constipated. Better than the squits tho' ! I suffered as well.

Finally Australien , welcome to the forum. However with an allergy, don't mention it if you go for selection. However remain circumspect about what you eat. Good luck.

Chas, in Algeria we often speculated what kind of meat was in those little round tins in the ration packs, like looking like something collected off the floor of an abattoir. The most common guess was monkey, but I suppose old horse would have been closer. And the small tin of sardines could be quite deadly, boiling in the sun. Yeah, quite a gourmet pack. Then a small piece of nougat, a sachel of instant coffee, a couple of troupe cigarettes and a miniature bottle of brandy to make us happy. Quite a party pack, really, come to think of it.

 

[jonny]

A legionnaire enjoying the main meal of his field ration. Monkey? Old horse? Who knows? Who cares? Tastes ok.

 

[Papillon]

For 26 years looks like you have managed to avoid white fish their must have been times when you had to make do with an alternative, quite often in life we have to make some adjustments to get bye that could be carrying and injury or just not feeling to good but the job and task need done. If you want to make the legion their will be odd days you are hungry not the end of the world !