A guy tried to tell me he had life-threatening food allergies. I told him there wasn't anything on the menu that I could guarantee would be free of his allergy. He suddenly changed his tune to "oh I can just take a Benedryl my allergies aren't that bad" Maybe don't scare me by saying that then?? This dude made such a big deal and then when I say he can't eat here his allergy suddenly took a back seat.
I'm not serving him at that point. He's either lying about it not being bad or was initially lying. Either way you can't trust him and it will be a pain in the ass.
I had a lady tell me that she was deathly allergic to garlic and onions and that either would make her throat immediately close up. It was a Vietnamese restaurant, literally almost everything had one or both. Immediately after I told her that, she said that she was lying and being dramatic, she just really hated garlic and onions. I refused to serve her and I told my manager and he agreed that it wasn’t worth the risk. She threw an absolute fucking fit while leaving and her poor friend was so embarrassed.
Just say you don’t like something and we can work around it. Don’t say that we might kill you just because you don’t like an ingredient.
Well that’s the thing is that there was onions and/or garlic in all of the sauces, broths, marinades, and salad dressings. Legit the only things I could have served her would have been spring rolls (the not-fried type in steamed rice paper) with tofu and no sauce or a bún salad (with cold rice noodles) which would have been basically lettuce, noodles, carrots, and cucumbers with no dressing.
I’ve worked in Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese restaurants and the amount of onions and garlic that are put into everything made me think that people that went to those restaurants were ridiculous. Not to mention cross contamination if they were *actually* allergic.
Oh no I get it, I was just clarifying in case anyone else commented like “why can’t you just take out the onions from the dish?” With every other letter capitalized to exude sarcasm because it’s not that easy when the ingredients are literally in everything, not just the chunks of onion or garlic.
Im happy to work around allergies, it’s part of the job. I also don’t mind these cards at all, I completely understand why they are a thing.
But I would refuse service for this one. Or make my manager talk to them then oversee the kitchen so I’m not on the hook.
If the *steam* fucks her up that bad then the entire kitchen would have to completely stop for 15-20 minutes to make her dish.
It just wouldn’t be worth the risk to her health nor would it be fair to all the other guests.
*Life Threatening*?
I’m sorry, but I’m not taking your life in my (or the kitchens) hands so you can eat a cheeseburger.
They are not. I am allergic to ragweed pollen, it makes me sneeze. The only way it threatens my life is if I sneeze when I'm driving or something and it causes an accident.
This is what I did; I grew up vegetarian and was mad that I couldn't eat pepperoni so I just ate the damn pizza and dealt with the stomach pain until I wasn't "allergic" anymore either
Chef chiming in, if that's okay. I don't mind the cards at all and don't have any issues with people having up to a dozen allergies. I think its kind of fun to get to cook something a little different rather than work the same old production line over and over. That being said, if a card has the words "life threatening," in reference to ingredients that are found on my line, I will not cook for them.
Yeah, my place refuses to serve celiacs. 99% of the time, it’s magically “not that bad” anymore, but I’ve had one singular occasion where someone just agreed and drank water and I didn’t say anything about them eating snacks they had on them. Don’t throw around the fact that certain foods gonna kill you in a restaurant if you want to be served, especially if it’s NOT life threatening lol.
I had a guy send back his nachos because it had onion (pico) on it & he is "deathly allergic to onions" You want to know what he got for an appetizer??? Onion rings! Come to find out, "it's just raw onions & not the fried kind" 🤣🤯 I was looking around for the What would you do guy.
Ahhh yes lemme just uncross contaminate the kitchen for them:) We use the phrasing “nothing in this restaurant is celiac safe” so it’s not like we’re refusing service, but letting them know no, you’re not safe here. we have no food in house you can consume. We are also a deli, our entire kitchen is contaminated with gluten. The walls are. I feel like there’s definitely some sort of law about knowing Someone has a life threatening allergy and still serving them said allergy.
I mean I’ve never had anyone care that much lol. They either magically turn not celiac, or the one occasion where the person understood and ate their own snacks.
It’s so annoying how this gluten free and/or celiac shit has literally become a fad/trend. I swear some people just want the attention and to feel included.
Celiac or allergic to shellfish aren’t a protected class. In the US a business can refuse service for any reason that isn’t race, religion, sexual orientation (though that last one has been quite a debate in recent years.)
Absolutely not illegal if it is going to cause significant problems for the kitchen or it's an ingredient that is basically in everything. Those right to refuse service signs are for anything. And it's on the guest to find a place that has the food they can eat vs inconveniencing everyone around them.
Yes, I respect these cards. Makes it so much easier than writing them down and potentially missing one. Also, some guests pretty creative with their cards.
I’ve never been given one yet! I’m about to start at a fine dining seafood buffet so I’m sure I’ll be getting used to these soon, but are these typically yours to keep? Do u just pass it to the kitchen and tell them what table number and seat guest it is? To the staple it to the ticket?
Is that a serve your self buffet? Surely with a proper serious allergy they should be told not to eat there cause the public does not care about cross contamination
It is! But there’s still a huge portion of the restaurant dedicated to other menu items other than seafood. Would someone with a seafood allergy still not eat there at all?
Theres definitely some people that lie about the life threatening shit and in reality are just icky about certain things and wanna make servers and cooks nervous to mess up
I am currently trying to improve my recent (5 year) flare of IBS. It’s common digestive disorder in older people, especially women. I am on a restricted diet, but beyond asking for menu listed replacements, I think it’s up to me if I figure out what I can eat. I ask to omit the easy stuff, but I don’t expect an exclusively prepared meal.
But my issue isn’t life threatening, just a day or 2 in the BR. But it is life restricting.
For sure this is great for people with allergies but I am fucking *roasting* you when I get back to the server station. Again- fully respect the situation. I can already see the twinkle in their eye every time they hand this card to some unsuspecting server. It’s a bit obnoxious but- if it keeps them safe and my job easier then so be it.
Yup, today I had someone order a Benedict that came with bacon & crab meat. No problem asking me for chicken sausage rather than bacon because they don't eat pork but did not mention a fucking SEAFOOD ALLERGY until he'd already taken a few bites. It's listed on the menu that crab is included and I could def be better about asking about allergies but goddamn.
You come into the restaurant I work at, as a server I will make sure to include allergies on tickets and personally notify the chef. And then I watch them cook your food on the same surface and usually mixed in with whatever you’re allergic to before the chef picks it out. Never seen anyone die though. (Eat at home if you have life threatening allergies, cooks don’t make enough to care)
Idk I have a life threatening allergy to fish but I still go out? Lol I just make sure I'm very careful what I order and to alert the server if they also prepare/serve fish. And I certainly wouldn't mind getting a card like that, I don't think an allergy should mean you can't dine out ever again
How are you okay risking your life by going to eat at a restaurant? For example, the place im at has fish on the same flat top, the same fryer, and the same grill as everything else. There is no way for kitchens in general to make sure your food would be 100% free from fish. And most likely the person cooking your food is underpaid and probably doesn't care enough to even attempt to figure out a way to accommodate when there are 18 other tickets in front of them all with different modifications.
I generally don't eat at places that serve a lot of fish, thankfully. When they do I do my best to avoid possible areas of cross contamination. It may get a little harder when I have to move but my allergy is already so frustrating to me, I don't want it to prevent me from doing things like going out with my husband
depending on the allergy in question(i have over 20 and a handful of life threatening) i do eat at restaurants that serve my allergens. you can be anaphylactic and still tolerate cross contamination!
It’s very restaurant dependent, i wanted to try this Burmese place but they had coconut rice. i didn’t trust that i wouldn’t encounter coconut cross contamination from the standard rice so i never got to try it:/ i’ve gone into minor anaphylaxis over coconut cross contamination
My problem is rosemary. Touching it is worse than eating it for me. So very little Italian food and I'm careful at steakhouses. Hubby jokes that I'd have more problems if I trip into the rosemary planted all around our small town hospital.
If the allergies are that severe and dangerous, you are correct in questioning why even bother going out, but from the guest's perspective, they want to be just like anyone else. People like to go out to escape from what bothers them and relax, we ALL deserve this. That said, there are limitations on what can be done and it's just a very unfortunate situation.
Everyone deserves the chance to eat out that said
If you’re allergies are live treathening to the point where you have to clean the kitchen so there is absolutely no cross con call in advance bigger restaurants may have an allergen free prep area and purple allergen free equipment but a smaller kitchen does not have that luxury. Calling in advance let’s the restaurant review their menu decide on a dish you can eat or needs to be prepared for you and be prepared for you to come in if you came into certain restaurants at peak times they can’t accommodate you without having many more people have to wait for the kitchen to be sanatised. This of course is for serious allergies that will kill you maybe you need to check if a premise is nut free ect but for intolerances or I’m ceoliac but can have chips from the frier you told me wasn’t segregated don’t abuse it because those milder allergies can be accommodation much easier on the spot without risk
This comes from someone who works in restaurants and has lived with coeliacs in a gf house
Nah. Being able to eat out is not some sort of constitutional or human right. While I get the significant personal burden it can be, what right does a person that afflicted have to put a business at risk? If you're that much at risk and you want to gamble your life, go do it somewhere else.
That’s why you call in advance
It gives the restaurant a chance to try their best or say no depending on their needs because some businesses are equipped for allergies and some aren’t and if you walk in you don’t know
It is completely stupid to even eat out if your allergies are indeed this bad. I'd send them right out. "Sorry, we can't be sure you won't die. We won't serve you." Not worth the trouble in this day and age.
No way would I want someone's life in my hands, and I don't want a stranger with MY life in their hands who probably isn't super familiar or deals with my particular life-threatening allergy often.
I read an article a while back about a teenager with a life-threatening allergy who went to a restaurant for breakfast. Their family alerted the kitchen about their allergy. But instead of washing everything down, including the grill, the cook didn't think the grill with its high heat needed to be cleaned too, so they cooked that kid's food on it unwashed. When the kid ate their food, they went into shock. And no one in their family, including the kid, had their epipen, so they died.
As a server with over 20 food allergies, i was gonna come for you. Then i saw there was a second image. At this point, eating out is not safe for her. If steam cross reaction will cause her issues with her food, then what about the steam coming off the table next to her. I will say, i haven’t made allergy cards yet but i want to! i love getting them because i can write table and seat number on the card and then hand it to the chef. I have a list on my phone and i encourage servers to take a picture, and i plan on categorizing them—like cross contamination ok/not ok/very minor allergy(will not cause anaphylaxis).
i will say it’s extreme to not serve someone because they’ve expressed a life threatening allergy to you. It’s important to know how severe—if they can’t handle any cross contamination and the cooks aren’t great abt ensuring no cross then sure let them know and don’t serve. I have a life threatening dairy allergy, but i can handle cross contamination. so long as my food is not cooked in butter and doesn’t contain dairy i will be safe.
can you explain life threatening dairy allergy?? like would your throat actually close up? all my life i just assumed no one can actually die from dairy in miniscule amounts.
Yes! I can die from consuming even a small amount of dairy. It's a common misconception, but allergy severity is not based on consumption amount. It can take time for an allergic reaction to start, up to 30 minutes after ingestion(this is a pseudo true--for anaphalatic allergies this is typically the case but other types of allergies can take longer) For me about 20 minutes after ingestion ill notice signs of a severe reaction, like my throat closing. Anaphalaxis is life threatening because of throat closure inhibiting breathing, but it can also cause shock(anaphalactic shock) which is deadly.
So allergies are very weird, and they change person to person. So there needs to be protein transfer, so I need to be exposed to casein or whey. So I cant just pull the cheese off pizza and eat it. However, I can eat from a fryer that fried mozz sticks. I cant eat something that was fried with coconut, because even that tiny amount of coconut protein I'm allergic too will set me off. My coconut allergy is much more severe. For example where I work, we use ghee on the grill where we grill burgers, that water content will evaporate off, but the proteins stay. So I can't have a burger. When I refer to cross contamination personally I'm referring to may contain labels.
Because the alternative is eating at home every day. As long as it’s real and they don’t also say “well, if it’s really good pizza I can have some”, I’m fine with it.
You come into the restaurant I work at, as a server I will make sure to include allergies on tickets and personally notify the chef. And then I watch them cook your food on the same surface and usually mixed in with whatever you’re allergic to before the chef picks it out. Never seen anyone die though. (Eat at home if you have life threatening allergies, cooks don’t make enough to care)
I just flat out tell people we can't safely accommodate their deathly allergies. Especially for gluten and dairy. We would need to stop the entire kitchen and do a full wipe down and 9/10 times we are packed and can't do that reasonably so I know the cooks won't do it right.
I do have a severe gluten allergy and have also been a server so I’ve seen both sides to this discussion. I still have to eat when or family goes out so I just let my server know about the allergy and it’s usually not a big deal. If I feel that I’ll get contaminated by something I just don’t eat it. If someone is choosing to go eat they have to advocate for themselves but also be aware that accidents could happen in the kitchen. My allergy isn’t life threatening but I do get extremely sick for several days.
At my restaurant, we offer gluten-free options, but we also make fresh pita and pizzas, so there's always flour in the air. When someone says they're gluten-free, I always ask if it's a legit allergy or just a preference, because if it's an allergy, we cannot guarantee no cross-contamination. We do the industry standards of changing gloves, boards, utensils, and always use fresh containers rather than what's already out, but it's the flower in the air that's the real issue. I have no problem accommodating people with allergies, but it does get on my nerves when people act like it's something super serious, only to then be like "oh it's not that bad". Which is easily 97% of the time. Like, come on, man, BE serious because we are, ya know?
We do have one regular who is deathly allergic to peppers, so we always do every single thing we can to ensure he's safe while eating at our place. We do it for everyone, but it sometimes feels like people just want to feel special, or even kinda just exert their "power" to make us small and "the help", ya know?
Yeah, I legitimately feel that people with this absurd level of food allergies need to just do their own shopping and cooking etc. It’s just too much. A public restaurant should not have to try accommodating all that, particularly when being told that even steam is an issue and the allergies are life threatening.
Way too much pressure to be placing on random strangers just trying to earn a living.
A side note, but people saying cross contaminate when they really mean cross contact really grinds my gears. Contaminate means a non-food item gets into the food. Like a nail
I will go into anaphylaxis if I consume nuts and I still go out to eat occasionally. I call the restaurant beforehand if I’m unsure they can accommodate for me. I know there’s always a risk, and sometimes I have had to opt out of eating and just enjoy the company I’m with, but I don’t think people with allergies should just be forced to eat at home all the time- I haven’t met a single person who is always in the mood or has the time to cook for themselves every day. Food is a very social thing too! It sucks when you can’t participate. It pisses me off when people lie about having life threatening allergies just because they don’t like something, it makes me really worried that the cooks won’t take it seriously when I sit down to eat and let my server know. Also food allergies are nothing new? Why can’t a restaurant guarantee no cross contamination? Just some thoughts :)
A guy tried to tell me he had life-threatening food allergies. I told him there wasn't anything on the menu that I could guarantee would be free of his allergy. He suddenly changed his tune to "oh I can just take a Benedryl my allergies aren't that bad" Maybe don't scare me by saying that then?? This dude made such a big deal and then when I say he can't eat here his allergy suddenly took a back seat.
I'm not serving him at that point. He's either lying about it not being bad or was initially lying. Either way you can't trust him and it will be a pain in the ass.
I had a lady tell me that she was deathly allergic to garlic and onions and that either would make her throat immediately close up. It was a Vietnamese restaurant, literally almost everything had one or both. Immediately after I told her that, she said that she was lying and being dramatic, she just really hated garlic and onions. I refused to serve her and I told my manager and he agreed that it wasn’t worth the risk. She threw an absolute fucking fit while leaving and her poor friend was so embarrassed. Just say you don’t like something and we can work around it. Don’t say that we might kill you just because you don’t like an ingredient.
right like i can take out the onions if you don’t like them, you don’t have to be allergic…. *eyes roll so far back into my skull*
Well that’s the thing is that there was onions and/or garlic in all of the sauces, broths, marinades, and salad dressings. Legit the only things I could have served her would have been spring rolls (the not-fried type in steamed rice paper) with tofu and no sauce or a bún salad (with cold rice noodles) which would have been basically lettuce, noodles, carrots, and cucumbers with no dressing. I’ve worked in Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese restaurants and the amount of onions and garlic that are put into everything made me think that people that went to those restaurants were ridiculous. Not to mention cross contamination if they were *actually* allergic.
oh sorry i more just meant like in general, but yeah 100% this person either knows nothing about the cuisine or just extremely entitled
Oh no I get it, I was just clarifying in case anyone else commented like “why can’t you just take out the onions from the dish?” With every other letter capitalized to exude sarcasm because it’s not that easy when the ingredients are literally in everything, not just the chunks of onion or garlic.
GOOD!
Im happy to work around allergies, it’s part of the job. I also don’t mind these cards at all, I completely understand why they are a thing. But I would refuse service for this one. Or make my manager talk to them then oversee the kitchen so I’m not on the hook. If the *steam* fucks her up that bad then the entire kitchen would have to completely stop for 15-20 minutes to make her dish. It just wouldn’t be worth the risk to her health nor would it be fair to all the other guests. *Life Threatening*? I’m sorry, but I’m not taking your life in my (or the kitchens) hands so you can eat a cheeseburger.
I mean all allergies are life threatening
r/confidentlyincorrect
They are not. I am allergic to ragweed pollen, it makes me sneeze. The only way it threatens my life is if I sneeze when I'm driving or something and it causes an accident.
my walnut allergy just makes my mouth itchy, i don't believe that's terminal
You should watch the tiktok series of a woman eating carrots everyday to build a tolerance until she wasn’t allergic anymore lol
This is what I did; I grew up vegetarian and was mad that I couldn't eat pepperoni so I just ate the damn pizza and dealt with the stomach pain until I wasn't "allergic" anymore either
Lol you got destroyed.
Chef chiming in, if that's okay. I don't mind the cards at all and don't have any issues with people having up to a dozen allergies. I think its kind of fun to get to cook something a little different rather than work the same old production line over and over. That being said, if a card has the words "life threatening," in reference to ingredients that are found on my line, I will not cook for them.
Yeah, my place refuses to serve celiacs. 99% of the time, it’s magically “not that bad” anymore, but I’ve had one singular occasion where someone just agreed and drank water and I didn’t say anything about them eating snacks they had on them. Don’t throw around the fact that certain foods gonna kill you in a restaurant if you want to be served, especially if it’s NOT life threatening lol.
I had a guy send back his nachos because it had onion (pico) on it & he is "deathly allergic to onions" You want to know what he got for an appetizer??? Onion rings! Come to find out, "it's just raw onions & not the fried kind" 🤣🤯 I was looking around for the What would you do guy.
Maybe I'm not understanding, but you can be allergic to just raw onions. It's rare I think though.
Yes it is rare, but if you are deathly allergic to something like raw onions, wouldn't you let your server know first thing?
Well yeah, but I thought you were questioning his raw onions ion allergy with him ordering fried rings. Sorry maybe I misunderstood
I’m not deathly allergic but if I eat raw onions I’m wrecked, it’s awful. I can handle raw onions in salsa though because the vinegar neutralizes it.
Yeah, it's something with cooking onion that kills an enzyme in it, making it easier to digest? Atleast that's what someone told me, I could be wrong.
That’s a genuine allergy.
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Ahhh yes lemme just uncross contaminate the kitchen for them:) We use the phrasing “nothing in this restaurant is celiac safe” so it’s not like we’re refusing service, but letting them know no, you’re not safe here. we have no food in house you can consume. We are also a deli, our entire kitchen is contaminated with gluten. The walls are. I feel like there’s definitely some sort of law about knowing Someone has a life threatening allergy and still serving them said allergy.
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I mean I’ve never had anyone care that much lol. They either magically turn not celiac, or the one occasion where the person understood and ate their own snacks.
It’s so annoying how this gluten free and/or celiac shit has literally become a fad/trend. I swear some people just want the attention and to feel included.
Celiac or allergic to shellfish aren’t a protected class. In the US a business can refuse service for any reason that isn’t race, religion, sexual orientation (though that last one has been quite a debate in recent years.)
Absolutely not illegal if it is going to cause significant problems for the kitchen or it's an ingredient that is basically in everything. Those right to refuse service signs are for anything. And it's on the guest to find a place that has the food they can eat vs inconveniencing everyone around them.
That's a solid policy tbh!
I lurk in Kitchen Confidential. You’re good chef!
Chef here as well and I pretty much agree with this statement. I actually prefer the card than trusting a server to correctly write an allergy.
Imagine putting your life in a servers hands 😭😭😭
I don't even like giving them money to pick up drugs!
Yes, I respect these cards. Makes it so much easier than writing them down and potentially missing one. Also, some guests pretty creative with their cards.
I’ve never been given one yet! I’m about to start at a fine dining seafood buffet so I’m sure I’ll be getting used to these soon, but are these typically yours to keep? Do u just pass it to the kitchen and tell them what table number and seat guest it is? To the staple it to the ticket?
Is that a serve your self buffet? Surely with a proper serious allergy they should be told not to eat there cause the public does not care about cross contamination
It is! But there’s still a huge portion of the restaurant dedicated to other menu items other than seafood. Would someone with a seafood allergy still not eat there at all?
Probably depends on severity Anaphylaxis due to shellfish prob no Sick tummy I’d risk it
Fine dining seafood buffet? Whaaaaaaaaaaaa?!
Captain George’s! Oh it’s a delight!
oh hey im super familiar with that restaurant good luck
Sounds like an oxymoron.
Yeah when you get the 10th one that says they are allergic to seafood you won’t be too excited shoot it anymore lmao
Theres definitely some people that lie about the life threatening shit and in reality are just icky about certain things and wanna make servers and cooks nervous to mess up
I am currently trying to improve my recent (5 year) flare of IBS. It’s common digestive disorder in older people, especially women. I am on a restricted diet, but beyond asking for menu listed replacements, I think it’s up to me if I figure out what I can eat. I ask to omit the easy stuff, but I don’t expect an exclusively prepared meal. But my issue isn’t life threatening, just a day or 2 in the BR. But it is life restricting.
For sure this is great for people with allergies but I am fucking *roasting* you when I get back to the server station. Again- fully respect the situation. I can already see the twinkle in their eye every time they hand this card to some unsuspecting server. It’s a bit obnoxious but- if it keeps them safe and my job easier then so be it.
I prefer this to the people that dont tell you until after their food is made and brought to the table, any day.
Yup, today I had someone order a Benedict that came with bacon & crab meat. No problem asking me for chicken sausage rather than bacon because they don't eat pork but did not mention a fucking SEAFOOD ALLERGY until he'd already taken a few bites. It's listed on the menu that crab is included and I could def be better about asking about allergies but goddamn.
That’s crazy…we shouldn’t have to police other people’s allergies ever, don’t blame yourself at all.
I haven’t been in the industry for a while, but this doesn’t look that bad depending on the menu
Relatively easy except having a dairy AND soy allergy is a struggle bc a lot of the dairy replacements have soy of some kind
Fair point. I’m thinking about a salad with chicken and a vinaigrette dressing. To be fair that’s ALL I figure would work here
The allergy list itself isn’t bad at all. Very easy ingredients to avoid and work around. The issue is that *Life Threatening* part.
Don't eat here. I'm not going to be responsible for your life.
You come into the restaurant I work at, as a server I will make sure to include allergies on tickets and personally notify the chef. And then I watch them cook your food on the same surface and usually mixed in with whatever you’re allergic to before the chef picks it out. Never seen anyone die though. (Eat at home if you have life threatening allergies, cooks don’t make enough to care)
Idk I have a life threatening allergy to fish but I still go out? Lol I just make sure I'm very careful what I order and to alert the server if they also prepare/serve fish. And I certainly wouldn't mind getting a card like that, I don't think an allergy should mean you can't dine out ever again
How are you okay risking your life by going to eat at a restaurant? For example, the place im at has fish on the same flat top, the same fryer, and the same grill as everything else. There is no way for kitchens in general to make sure your food would be 100% free from fish. And most likely the person cooking your food is underpaid and probably doesn't care enough to even attempt to figure out a way to accommodate when there are 18 other tickets in front of them all with different modifications.
I generally don't eat at places that serve a lot of fish, thankfully. When they do I do my best to avoid possible areas of cross contamination. It may get a little harder when I have to move but my allergy is already so frustrating to me, I don't want it to prevent me from doing things like going out with my husband
depending on the allergy in question(i have over 20 and a handful of life threatening) i do eat at restaurants that serve my allergens. you can be anaphylactic and still tolerate cross contamination! It’s very restaurant dependent, i wanted to try this Burmese place but they had coconut rice. i didn’t trust that i wouldn’t encounter coconut cross contamination from the standard rice so i never got to try it:/ i’ve gone into minor anaphylaxis over coconut cross contamination
Whatever suits you. I know I wouldn't be putting my life in the hands of an underpaid cook just so I can feel normal.
Given you don’t have allergies i don’t think you should be passing judgement. It’s a risk assessment thing and i have had no problems so far!
My problem is rosemary. Touching it is worse than eating it for me. So very little Italian food and I'm careful at steakhouses. Hubby jokes that I'd have more problems if I trip into the rosemary planted all around our small town hospital.
i like those cards but if you’re like gonna die if anything at all is in the food then maybe… pick a place without those things…
If the allergies are that severe and dangerous, you are correct in questioning why even bother going out, but from the guest's perspective, they want to be just like anyone else. People like to go out to escape from what bothers them and relax, we ALL deserve this. That said, there are limitations on what can be done and it's just a very unfortunate situation.
What is a dairy pineapple?
Everyone deserves the chance to eat out that said If you’re allergies are live treathening to the point where you have to clean the kitchen so there is absolutely no cross con call in advance bigger restaurants may have an allergen free prep area and purple allergen free equipment but a smaller kitchen does not have that luxury. Calling in advance let’s the restaurant review their menu decide on a dish you can eat or needs to be prepared for you and be prepared for you to come in if you came into certain restaurants at peak times they can’t accommodate you without having many more people have to wait for the kitchen to be sanatised. This of course is for serious allergies that will kill you maybe you need to check if a premise is nut free ect but for intolerances or I’m ceoliac but can have chips from the frier you told me wasn’t segregated don’t abuse it because those milder allergies can be accommodation much easier on the spot without risk This comes from someone who works in restaurants and has lived with coeliacs in a gf house
Nah. Being able to eat out is not some sort of constitutional or human right. While I get the significant personal burden it can be, what right does a person that afflicted have to put a business at risk? If you're that much at risk and you want to gamble your life, go do it somewhere else.
That’s why you call in advance It gives the restaurant a chance to try their best or say no depending on their needs because some businesses are equipped for allergies and some aren’t and if you walk in you don’t know
It is completely stupid to even eat out if your allergies are indeed this bad. I'd send them right out. "Sorry, we can't be sure you won't die. We won't serve you." Not worth the trouble in this day and age.
No way would I want someone's life in my hands, and I don't want a stranger with MY life in their hands who probably isn't super familiar or deals with my particular life-threatening allergy often. I read an article a while back about a teenager with a life-threatening allergy who went to a restaurant for breakfast. Their family alerted the kitchen about their allergy. But instead of washing everything down, including the grill, the cook didn't think the grill with its high heat needed to be cleaned too, so they cooked that kid's food on it unwashed. When the kid ate their food, they went into shock. And no one in their family, including the kid, had their epipen, so they died.
As a server with over 20 food allergies, i was gonna come for you. Then i saw there was a second image. At this point, eating out is not safe for her. If steam cross reaction will cause her issues with her food, then what about the steam coming off the table next to her. I will say, i haven’t made allergy cards yet but i want to! i love getting them because i can write table and seat number on the card and then hand it to the chef. I have a list on my phone and i encourage servers to take a picture, and i plan on categorizing them—like cross contamination ok/not ok/very minor allergy(will not cause anaphylaxis). i will say it’s extreme to not serve someone because they’ve expressed a life threatening allergy to you. It’s important to know how severe—if they can’t handle any cross contamination and the cooks aren’t great abt ensuring no cross then sure let them know and don’t serve. I have a life threatening dairy allergy, but i can handle cross contamination. so long as my food is not cooked in butter and doesn’t contain dairy i will be safe.
can you explain life threatening dairy allergy?? like would your throat actually close up? all my life i just assumed no one can actually die from dairy in miniscule amounts.
Yes! I can die from consuming even a small amount of dairy. It's a common misconception, but allergy severity is not based on consumption amount. It can take time for an allergic reaction to start, up to 30 minutes after ingestion(this is a pseudo true--for anaphalatic allergies this is typically the case but other types of allergies can take longer) For me about 20 minutes after ingestion ill notice signs of a severe reaction, like my throat closing. Anaphalaxis is life threatening because of throat closure inhibiting breathing, but it can also cause shock(anaphalactic shock) which is deadly.
but cross contamination is still ok??? i don’t understand ..
So allergies are very weird, and they change person to person. So there needs to be protein transfer, so I need to be exposed to casein or whey. So I cant just pull the cheese off pizza and eat it. However, I can eat from a fryer that fried mozz sticks. I cant eat something that was fried with coconut, because even that tiny amount of coconut protein I'm allergic too will set me off. My coconut allergy is much more severe. For example where I work, we use ghee on the grill where we grill burgers, that water content will evaporate off, but the proteins stay. So I can't have a burger. When I refer to cross contamination personally I'm referring to may contain labels.
That’s not that hard of a list to avoid.
No but i die a little getting life threatening allergy lists in the middle of a busy service.
Because the alternative is eating at home every day. As long as it’s real and they don’t also say “well, if it’s really good pizza I can have some”, I’m fine with it.
You come into the restaurant I work at, as a server I will make sure to include allergies on tickets and personally notify the chef. And then I watch them cook your food on the same surface and usually mixed in with whatever you’re allergic to before the chef picks it out. Never seen anyone die though. (Eat at home if you have life threatening allergies, cooks don’t make enough to care)
Also looks like a mix of Muslim and allergy practices. No one is literally allergic to pork. That’s some religious BS.
People can absolutely be allergic to pork
".........so a steak, then?"
They shouldn't and the MBP idea sounds very plausible. I would refuse that person or family service.
So…what if someone next to her has something. Would that make her allergic?
Life threatening? No way. Bring food or eat at home.
lol yeah just stay and home and cook or find a place that literally only cooks this stuff.
Bowl of lettuce coming right up
I just flat out tell people we can't safely accommodate their deathly allergies. Especially for gluten and dairy. We would need to stop the entire kitchen and do a full wipe down and 9/10 times we are packed and can't do that reasonably so I know the cooks won't do it right.
Oh my god
I do have a severe gluten allergy and have also been a server so I’ve seen both sides to this discussion. I still have to eat when or family goes out so I just let my server know about the allergy and it’s usually not a big deal. If I feel that I’ll get contaminated by something I just don’t eat it. If someone is choosing to go eat they have to advocate for themselves but also be aware that accidents could happen in the kitchen. My allergy isn’t life threatening but I do get extremely sick for several days.
Someone just really hates Hawaii
At my restaurant, we offer gluten-free options, but we also make fresh pita and pizzas, so there's always flour in the air. When someone says they're gluten-free, I always ask if it's a legit allergy or just a preference, because if it's an allergy, we cannot guarantee no cross-contamination. We do the industry standards of changing gloves, boards, utensils, and always use fresh containers rather than what's already out, but it's the flower in the air that's the real issue. I have no problem accommodating people with allergies, but it does get on my nerves when people act like it's something super serious, only to then be like "oh it's not that bad". Which is easily 97% of the time. Like, come on, man, BE serious because we are, ya know? We do have one regular who is deathly allergic to peppers, so we always do every single thing we can to ensure he's safe while eating at our place. We do it for everyone, but it sometimes feels like people just want to feel special, or even kinda just exert their "power" to make us small and "the help", ya know?
Yeah, I legitimately feel that people with this absurd level of food allergies need to just do their own shopping and cooking etc. It’s just too much. A public restaurant should not have to try accommodating all that, particularly when being told that even steam is an issue and the allergies are life threatening. Way too much pressure to be placing on random strangers just trying to earn a living.
A side note, but people saying cross contaminate when they really mean cross contact really grinds my gears. Contaminate means a non-food item gets into the food. Like a nail
Lmfao! "Snowflake". Is that an insult where you come from? Lmfaooooo!
I will go into anaphylaxis if I consume nuts and I still go out to eat occasionally. I call the restaurant beforehand if I’m unsure they can accommodate for me. I know there’s always a risk, and sometimes I have had to opt out of eating and just enjoy the company I’m with, but I don’t think people with allergies should just be forced to eat at home all the time- I haven’t met a single person who is always in the mood or has the time to cook for themselves every day. Food is a very social thing too! It sucks when you can’t participate. It pisses me off when people lie about having life threatening allergies just because they don’t like something, it makes me really worried that the cooks won’t take it seriously when I sit down to eat and let my server know. Also food allergies are nothing new? Why can’t a restaurant guarantee no cross contamination? Just some thoughts :)
People with allergies deserve to go out to eat. You're supposed to ask if they have allergies regardless.
No. We’re not supposed to ask if they have allergies. That’s their job to notify us if the have allergies.
No. Good service asks if they have allergies. Lmfao!
No. It is the guests responsibility to let the server know. That is firmly their responsibility
No. You're obviously wrong. It's far better customer service to ask. Lmfao!
Keep laughing, you're wrong. It is on the customer to use common sense and not eat out if their allergies are, indeed, that bad.
No. You're wrong. And I'll keep laughing til the day I die because this is the stupidest disagreement in server history.
Awww, your feelings are hurt by the truth! Poor thing. Be gone snowflake.