Food Allergies

What steps do your staff take when a customer advises a server that s/he has a food allergy?

[Nick.Shu]

my first response would be to find out what the allergy was, then to:

boil a large pt of water and then use that to wash all implements that with the boiled water after it has been washed in water.

Also it is quite important to read the labels on all of the ingredients used in the dish.

as an example, sometimes chocolate products contain residues of nut products. Also vinegars, especially balsamic vinegar can also contain residues.

[lynne]

It can be vitally important to keep an eye out on these allergies; unfortunately too many people do not take enough care in watching out for other people, reasoning that they are making a big deal out of nothing, etc.

My best friend in high school (and college roommate's sister had a severe peanut allergy. The waitstaff or kitchen would promise there was no peanut anything and bang we'd end up with the epi-pen or on the way to the ER several times a year! Over issues such as salad w/oil and vinegar (some yahoo had filled the oil cruet w/peanut oil); (blanched frozen french fries that had had first fry in peanut oil (no one read the box), etc.

I have a problem with peppers; and let's face it - they have a strong enough flavour, you can tell when they have been cooked with what your eating and then taken out. I have ordered items being told peppers were not in the recipe or asked them to be omitted to find them on my plate anyhow! Go figure-- I don't think people realize their potential liability.

Now, in educational food service we had a student who couldn't handle gluten and had to be very careful. We had to have plates, cooking utensils, etc just for her--her condition was that sensitive. For those of you who run into someone asking for special conditions ie gluten, make sure you check out any cooking sprays used--most of them have gluten present as do a lot of spice mixes!

You have to take your guest, customer, diner and follow through on their specifications no matter how wild it may sound! When in doubt about something. Ask them! It is definitely preferable to an allergic reaction!

Our biggest problem has been with servers. Too many of them assume the customer is trying to avoid food he doesn't like or that a food allergy means a few sneezes and a drippy nose. Once after a visit to the ER we called the restaurant and learned that the server hadn't bothered to tell the kitchen about my mother's egg allergy. On another occasion we had to tell the waitress three times before she decided it was important enough to write down and ask the chef about. (The chef was excellent, but apparently he only came out because the waitress told him somebody was "whining about how they don't like eggs" and he had a hunch. If he hadn't....)

Is it the restaurateurs who fail to drill it into the heads of servers that a) yes, allergies are real, and b) people can die or be seriously injured after ingesting an allergen? Or do waitstaff simply not listen and not care, and not understand that they may be held liable for thousands if not millions in medical and other expenses?

I agree that restaurants could reduce the allergy problem is to avoid using soy, nut, and peanut products except where these ingredients are clearly marked on the menu. I also suggest that restaurants totally avoid the use of soybean oil and peanut oil in every circumstance whatsoever. There has been one study, funded by the soybean lobby, which claims that oil cannot be allergenic. Unfortunately, there is also considerable anecdotal evidence that oils can indeed be allergenic, and fatally so in some cases. (I know of one young man, a medical student, who was in a coma for ten months after consuming a dish in which the only peanut source was peanut oil (and yes, he asked, and was told there were no peanut products in the sauce). He can now walk, but it's unlikely he'll ever be gainfully employed. Imagine the liability claim that restaurant is facing.)

Wats

[Nick.Shu]

we have a duty of care to our customers.

One thing that i try to imagine is the result of failing in my duty of care. This frightening and very real scenario relates to my own actions resulting in the death of a customer through my own neglect and trying to live with that.

Given that, (being a worst case scenario) i base all actions and reactions to allergy situations on that and act accordingly.

you cannot be too careful. I even impress that scenario on others in the kitchen.

But you are right about wait ppl. I have told my restaurant manager many times that i cannot have dairy in my coffee because of a possible dairy allergy. He then gets the s**ts when i pour it down the sink and make him get me one with soy milk, then lecture him that he's lucky that it is only me and not someone who will litigate over possible injury. but you cannot help some people.

[lynne]

This is where an ingredient listing for each menu item can be an important thing if and only if the folks on the line follow the recipe/outline for the dish and don't make free-form substitions. Important #1-FOH can verify ingredients without disrupting a busy line; #2-consistency in that recipe is very important for the returning customer. For example, I cannot eat walnuts. Having verified once that this particular salad dressing (a raspberry viniagrette) did not have walnut oil in it (as so many do). I enjoyed it the first time and proceeded to order it the next time--and uh oh! And then there was the pecan pie I ordered that was chock full of walnuts (luckily I could see that!). So number 3 is truth in advertising -- the liability issues a restaurant faces when a product is advertised on a menu one way and comes out to the customer with different ingredients is incredible--what a stupid way to get in trouble!

[Nick.Shu]

perhaps there should be a system where the person who is at fault should be put to death by being bashed slowly with a brick rather than be sued, it would certainly bring about a change in professional attitudes and even go so far to underline the discomfort of allergies (and iam understating allergies by saying they cause discomfort).

Allergies are not fun, neither is death.

When I was catering, I always tried to be careful if the client let me know about food sensitivities ahead of time. It's funny, though, as a restaurant customer, I've had my suspicions about the wait staff. I'm lactose intolerant, so I have to be careful about what I order. Nevertheless, dairy products are kind of insidious; whey, lactose solids and other forms of dairy seem to sneak into the most unexpected places. It doesn't kill me, but at times has made death seem desirable <g>. At other times, I've requested decaf in the evening and then wound up awake all night.

I think it would be prohibitive to post a list of ingredients on a menu, but maybe to make it available in the kitchen so that wait staff can check it out. If they can't read the big words, maybe offer help (oops).

My son had a strawberry allergy as a child, which also meant he couldn't eat shellfish. He would go into anaphylactic (sp?) shock, and having spent some very scarey moments with him I'm a little bit of a **** about this stuff. Find out what the wait staff's food sensitivities are and then force-feed them so that they have a reminder to be a little more conscientious about conveying this important info to the chefs!

[Nick.Shu]

it is interesting to note that with dairy, the allergy is a symptom of dust mite allergy, that is, if you have one, then chances are that you have the other.

That is interesting . . . that might explain some other odd symptoms I've been having. I'm going to have to check into that - thanks!!