Eating Out with Food Allergies: Ask Before Eliminating!

When my son was first diagnosed with severe peanut and tree nut allergies, our doctor recommended avoiding all Asian restaurants. That was a sad day in our family history. But it's 2007 and things have changed! I believe that the introduction of the food labeling laws, the increase in incidences of food allergies in the general public, and more awareness has made this a big issue in the restaurant industry. So much so that whereas two years ago, most servers looked at me with a blank stare when I mentioned that we had a child with food allergies, now that is not the case. I often see signs posted prominently in bakeries and ice cream parlors regarding their food allergy policy. Most national chains have their policies on their websites. And, it is not uncommon to see items containing peanuts designated on menus.

The latest gift from the heavens was that P.F. Chang's has a great system for dealing with food allergies. The manager at their Chesterfield location reassured us that 1) they wash the woks after every serving anyway but 2) if you tell your server that you have food allergies, it is flagged in their computer system and all the servings for your order are plated on different colored plates and different colored trays in addition to being prepared in freshly cleaned woks! He explained that they also have a special gluten free menu that is available on their website.

Similarly, we've found that our local Ben & Jerry's has a system in place so that all nut-free flavors are in one freezer case (I think this might be company-wide). If you tell them about a food allergy concern, they will use a fresh scooper. I found out that one of the workers actually has a nut allergy. The Cakery is actually a peanut free bakery. They make sure that no peanut oils, extracts, or peanut-based ingredients contaminate their facility.

So my recommendation, for those families who have to live with severe food allergies and are "cooking-challenged/intolerant" (like me), is to do some research before unnecessarily eliminating a dining-out option. Okay, I'm admitting this online... If we had to depend on my cooking, we would be eating a lot of (organic) chicken nuggets.