Quote:
Originally Posted by BeaverIslandGuy
Our son has a treenut allergy, and has been diagnosed for about 4 years. We eat out quite a bit and have not had any issues, but we are careful. My recommendations are as follows:
1) Stick to restaurants that are smaller and more in control (as vmartino suggested). You can generally feel better about their answers. That said, SIA is correct that kitchens are busy places and you cannot always be sure to get a correct answer.
2) Think about how what you are ordering is prepared. When out, we stick to more basic foods (pasta with butter, plain cheeseburgers, etc) to avoid the cross contamination issue that SAI is MOST CORRECTLY worried about.
3) for icecream, we warn the server about the nut allergy and ask that the scoop be washed before it is served. Stick to toppings that cannot be easily contaminated (whipcream, cherry, etc). No mix-ins Not foolproof, but an extra precaution. I like the pre-packaged suggestion.
4) Most importantly, we know how sensitive our child is to the various allergens and adjust our ordering accordingly based on what we see on the menu. We don't even allow treenuts on our foods (like walnuts on salads) to avoid cross-contamination.
5) Never introduce a new food at a restaurant to a child. for our daughter, even once she was three, we waited an extra 4 weeks until we returned home to try peanut butter in our controlled environment where we could observe for about 2 hours after the introduction.
6) We always carry an epi-pen and all adults we are know we have it (in case one of us is in a bathroom, etc). That pen can give us the time between incident and paramedics.
7) Finally, starting at about in his late threes, we taught out son about his allergy, what to watch for and tell us (severe itch and/or difficulty breathing) and not to eat foods that have not been checked or verified. He is really good about it.
knock on wood, we have not had an incident. That said, we owe a debt to SIA for bringing this up and noting that restaurants cannot be expected to be perfect. If allergies are severe, extra precautions need to be taken. I agree that most restaurants would be willing to heat up a dish or make a very basic dish (like pasta with butter, assuming pasta is on the menu).
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I too have food allergies. It always amazes me the number of people who claim to be allergic to a certain food or a certain category of food , when after listening to them ,I know they are 100 per cent completly clueless !
Many people claim to have allergic reactions to certain foods simply because they don't like them . I hate mayonaise...It doesn't mean I am allergic to it, but many people ,for different reasons claim to have have allergies to food they are not TRULY allergic to .
while I believe that the United States is overflowing with idiots, I wish these people would simply go to a doctor and get an allergy test. I know they won't and the rest of us will simply have to put up with " THEM " . I have found that most ,not all, but most of the people who claim to be allergic to certain foods also could not name one other food in the "Group of foods " that they are allergic to .Many use this "answer" as a crutch or for attention...
When you are taking allergy shots 3-4 or 5 days a week to treat your allergies please tell me about it . until then I wish you would get some education as you are an insult to the many people who truly do have food allergies and make it that much more difficult for those of us when we visit a restaurant and to be taken seriously. There are not many things that would upset the ebb and flow of a restaurant than for someone to have to pull out an EPI-PEN and stab it into your own leg or one of your childrens legs.If you've seen it done you will know what I am saying .
thanks for listening.
your mileage may vary
Mike
