Chef with food allergy

kayaspop · #1 07-24-2006, 11:12 PM

Got a problem. I've been cooking for a number of years and never had a problem with food allergies, until recently. Does anyone know of a person that was still able to cook professionally with a food allergy. I'm not allergic to wheat or Diary. I was tested and found I'm now allergic to fish, and nuts. Does that bite or what?? I'm up for a new job and now saddled with this..

Anyone have any other suggestions besides finding a new line of work? lol...

Steve A · #2 07-25-2006, 06:41 AM

Just how far does that allergy go? You can't be near them, touch them, taste them, what?

I have a problem with the liquor from shellfish and any 'juices' from shrimp. It creates bumps on my skin (especially in the web between the thumb and finger) and causes and acid-like burning feeling. I latex wear gloves and I'm okay.

Ciao,

katbalou · #3 07-25-2006, 07:29 AM

delegate.

seriously. i worked for many years with my numerous allergies, using double gloves to cut the fish and having other people peel the shrimp - they really didn't like it if i had to make an ambulance run in the middle of the shift, as i couldn't breathe.
it was the gluten intolerance that finally forced me out of the kitchen, though. i didn't know what was wrong with me for 16 yrs. drs. always thought i was a hypochondriac, until i proved to them by a simple vitamin defiency test that i was celiac.( i would highly recommend you get re-tested for wheat this way, or try taking the gluten out of your diet for 2 weeks to see if you feel any different) ( sometimes if you have one of the big 8 allergies, the wheat goes along with them.).
kathee

Suzanne · #4 07-25-2006, 08:02 AM

A sous chef I worked under was allergic to nuts -- which meant that he could not taste anything we sauteed since we used peanut oil. It meant he had to trust us to season properly --but since we had all be taught to do so, we did.

lynne · #5 07-25-2006, 10:04 AM

We finally nailed it down that it was nuts I was allergic to about 9-10 years ago. 1st it was just walnuts, then walnuts and pecans, now it's about all of them -- luckily, I can control the cooking oils in our kitchen! I can't cut or handle them in any way without double gloving...so someone else has to do a final taste test...

also if you ever end up handling some of those pre-made cookie doughs for whatever reason, a lot of the "deluxe" or "premium" versions also have nut flours in them even if they are oatmeal raisin or chocolate chunk. Ditto for a lot of graham cracker crusts.

(a by the way hint: at home-a lot of those furniture polishes have nut oils in them!)

I was on a med for 2 years that I couldn't eat seafood with - it sucks when your health meesses with your career. Fish you should know the basics of seasoning from your previous life, and are going to have to trust someone else to adjust final seasoning there too...

the new job - it really depends on what type of position it is, what type of cooking it is,

Good luck!

Lynne

Pete · #6 07-25-2006, 10:06 AM

While your allergies might present some obstacles, I don't think any of them are insurmountable. You can work around these allergies by wearing gloves, not tasting certain foods, etc. Just make sure you know the seriousness of your allergies. There is a big difference between an allergy that causes some discomfort and one that is life threatening.

CanuckAlert · #7 07-25-2006, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete

While your allergies might present some obstacles, I don't think any of them are insurmountable. You can work around these allergies by wearing gloves, not tasting certain foods, etc. Just make sure you know the seriousness of your allergies. There is a big difference between an allergy that causes some discomfort and one that is life threatening.

Yes I agree but to add I think that the others you are working with should know what you are allergic to and how seriously you are allergic to them. I like to treat any allergy as serious to begin with just in case.

kayaspop · #8 07-25-2006, 11:50 AM

Thanks folks, I appreciated the words of wisdom. I've eaten fish (White, Salmon, Whatever) and my throat starts to itch, but doesn't close up. Its very wierd. I went to an allergist, and was told I was allergic to nuts, not shellfish, but fish. I can handle fish really without much of a problem, though when slicing it i always use gloves anyways, for sanitation concerns.

Well, the Stage is at the Napa Rose in Disneyland, so everyone wish me luck.

Oh, I'm not allergic to wheat or gluten, thank god. Or at least not at the moment anyways.

katbalou · #9 07-25-2006, 01:01 PM

be careful with eating the fish - the allergic responses seem to get stronger every time. anaphlaxis is not fun, especially when you get that nice shot of ephinephrine that makes your heart go boom didi boom didi boom in a rather rapid pattern.

kathee

zipsil · #10 07-25-2006, 02:59 PM

I havent been working in kitchens for a long time but I knew going into this that I was allergic to fish. I have the same type of symptoms scratchy throat and sometimes hives. One day in class a fellow student really smoked up the kitchen grilling some salmon..and I breathed in quite a bit of smoke...the fishy kitchen smoke gave me an allergic reaction...basicly an asthma attack..I had to sit outside for about 20 min...because I couldnt breath lucky that it was a slow time during lunch service(school has a functioning resturant).

This is the first time I have had that type of reaction but I guess not eating fish myself I havent really been exposed to the smoke either. So basicly when some one is grilling salmon or sea bass(for some reason not as bad) I step out...this hasnt been a problem for me as I am just a student...I can see how it could become one. I have also had this same asthma attack reaction from breathing steam out of the dishwasher when someone put a sheet pan with gobs of baked on fishy goodness in there without a proper scrub.

For an exam for one class, we had to do cajun blackened catfish....wich was rough...but I didnt have to leave class(15 students all cajun blackening at the same time.) so I thing its some fish and not others....I'm also not allergic to tuna...even weirder!

I have seen an allergist/immunotheripist and basicly they can make you(in most cases) not allergic to almost anything thru the use of immunotherpy injections...so if I want to I could bring him a sample of fish that I want to eat...and he would inject with small doses over long periods of time and in 2-5 years I could eat salmon. I think if I got a job where there was salmon on the menu I would go get some type of inhaler and investigate other options to prevent it. I have done that treatment for other types of allergys(cats, dust, mold) and it worked very well.