Allergies & Restaurants

SAMIAM · 08-20-2008, 09:16 AM

I have posted in my kitchen a newspaper account of a woman who went for lunch with her daughter at an Italian restauant in Mass.She told the waitress that she was allergic to pine nuts and were there any in the sauce.She inquired with the cook,the answer was "no" so she ate the special and choked to death in front of her daughter.The cook was mistaken. I'm sure,by now,the lawyers are flying in lazy circles over that restaurant.
We often have people with allergies asking about the ingredients in certain items and in a busy restaurant it is almost impossible to track down a recipe and the person who made it (they may be part of the prep crew and already left) We frantically tried to accommodate a woman,the other day who was allergic to egg products and after checking,I thought....what if a cook used the same knife to cut something with eggs in it....or what if some egg product remained on a cutting board ....or the gloves of a line cook?
This all happened at a very busy time and was pretty disruptive,as well as risky for us.
What if you had a shellfish allergy and a cook happened to cook your french fries in the same fryer that had been used for clams? The possibilities are endless.The point of this post is this...if you have any serious allergies,don't put your health or your life at risk in a busy restaurant.My advice is to bring in a dish that that can be baked or microwaved in it's own container and you'll find that most restaurants will be glad to accommodate you.

08-20-2008, 09:16 AM	#1
SAMIAM Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Moultonborough Posts: 2,890 Thanks: 334 Thanked 1,672 Times in 583 Posts	Allergies & Restaurants I have posted in my kitchen a newspaper account of a woman who went for lunch with her daughter at an Italian restauant in Mass.She told the waitress that she was allergic to pine nuts and were there any in the sauce.She inquired with the cook,the answer was "no" so she ate the special and choked to death in front of her daughter.The cook was mistaken. I'm sure,by now,the lawyers are flying in lazy circles over that restaurant. We often have people with allergies asking about the ingredients in certain items and in a busy restaurant it is almost impossible to track down a recipe and the person who made it (they may be part of the prep crew and already left) We frantically tried to accommodate a woman,the other day who was allergic to egg products and after checking,I thought....what if a cook used the same knife to cut something with eggs in it....or what if some egg product remained on a cutting board ....or the gloves of a line cook? This all happened at a very busy time and was pretty disruptive,as well as risky for us. What if you had a shellfish allergy and a cook happened to cook your french fries in the same fryer that had been used for clams? The possibilities are endless.The point of this post is this...if you have any serious allergies,don't put your health or your life at risk in a busy restaurant.My advice is to bring in a dish that that can be baked or microwaved in it's own container and you'll find that most restaurants will be glad to accommodate you.