foodha for thought – menuism blog

When it comes to food allergies, dining out can be quite a nightmare and a possible fatal nightmare at that. However, there are ways to be proactive to ensure a safe, but still delicious dining experience. Let’s look at some general steps you can take.

Pre-Screen the Restaurant

Investigate What’s On the Menu
Always try and look over the restaurant’s menu before you dine there. If the restaurant is in your general vicinity, stop by or go online and find out if the restaurant has a website with an online menu that you can look at.

Call Ahead
If you’re not able to access a restaurant’s menu, call ahead of time and ask to speak to the chef. Be sure to call at off-peak hours so that you don’t catch the chef in the middle of a lunch or dinner rush. Once you have the chef on the phone, ask for menu suggestions based on the constraints of your allergy, or if there is a particular dish that you really like, ask if it’s possible to leave a particular harmful ingredient off . This type of communication is especially important if you’re attending a catered function since all the food is prepared in advance. By doing this in advance, you’re ensuring that the chef and restaurant will be prepared to take care of your needs upon your arrival at the restaurant.

Things to Keep in Mind
Larger and/or established restaurants may be better suited to handle food allergy requests. Generally speaking, corporate chain restaurants sometimes are your best bet simply because chains have a better handle on their menus and ingredients, since their menus don’t change very often. What that means for you is that the staff is more likely to know what’s in each dish and can guide you towards the appropriate menu item, unlike independently-owned restaurants where the menu is sometimes seasonal or there are daily specials. Also, while Mom and Pop restaurants may be willing to accommodate you, there’s no guarantee that your dish will taste the same on a second visit, since there’s more variability in the cooking and/or use of ingredients.

Dining at the Restaurant

Speak Up About Your Food Allergies
If you aren’t able to see the menu and/or speak with the chef, be sure to inform your server as soon as you’re seated and given menus about your food allergies. With the advance notice, the service will be able to inform the chef and the kitchen so that you can both work together on the best dining strategy for you. You may even consider carrying allergy cards that the server can give to the Chef so the Chef will know what ingredients should be kept out of your dish.

Dine at Off Peak Hours
To ensure that you get the proper attention from the restaurant, it might be best to dine when the restaurant isn’t as busy. For example, you might want to dine between 2 pm and 5 pm (or before 6 pm) or after 9 pm. With the kitchen less busy, there’s also less room for error in the preparation of your food.

Be Gracious and Reward Their Excellent Service
As you may or may not now, chefs and restaurant staff work really hard to ensure a quality dining experience for their customers. Often times, they are fielding various requests throughout the whole service. For someone with food allergies, getting their water refilled pales in comparison with eating something that may make them ill or worse. So when a chef and restaurant goes out of their way to keep you safe and out of danger’s way, while still enjoying a good meal, they definitely service your gratitude. So thank them and even better, reward them with a generous tip and/or give them repeat business.

Know What to Avoid

In the end, the best way to avoiding a food allergy reaction while eating out is to not order the food you’re allergic to; however, that’s not always as easy as you may think. For example, your allergen could be in a salad dressing or in a sauce or in the bread crumbs your food is coated in. What you may also not know is that chefs may use products where the ingredients are listed by alternate names. For example, if you saw the word “casein” in a list of ingredients, you may not realize that it’s a milk protein, which would be a problem if you were allergic to dairy. Although the FDA instituted the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act in 2004, which mandated that all food manufacturers clearly label product ingredients as they relate to major food allergies. For example, in the example used above, this company now has to say milk and not “casein”; however, you’re still not left off the hook. This Act covers only 8 of the most common food allergens like milk, eggs, wheat soy, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish and regular fish. 8 is certainly not even close to covering the breadth of variety of food allergens that people have.

Be Aware of Hidden Food Allergens

If you have a milk/dairy allergy, hidden sources for you to be aware of include: hot dogs, canned tuna, some chewing gum, margarine made from corn oil (skim milk powder), granola bars, chocolate chips, desserts containing caramel coloring, brown-sugar flavoring, coconut-cream flavoring, natural chocolate flavoring, grilled steak (many restaurants rub steaks with butter after grilling).

If you have an egg allergy, hidden sources for you to be aware of include: Milky Way or Snickers bars (nougat contains eggs); any baked good with a shiny surface, including bagels and pretzels; the foam on some coffee drinks; the pasta in prepared foods such as soups.

If you have a nut allergy, hidden sources for you to be aware of include: barbecue sauce, bouillon, chili (nuts are used sometimes as thickener).

If you have a wheat/gluten allergy, hidden sources for you to be aware of include: hydrolyzed wheat protein is sometimes listed only as a flavor enhancer or binder in prepared foods and sauces, alcoholic beverages, hot dogs, ice cream cones, licorice, soup mixes, coffee creamer substitutes (grain based), butter flavoring, caramel coloring, some brands of butter, couscous.

If you have a seafood allergy, hidden sources for you to be aware of include: Caesar salad (anchovies); caponata (Italian relish/anchovies); foods fortified with omega-3 fatty acids (fish source), including some orange juice, baby cereals, and soymilk.

In the end, the more precautions you take, the better (and safer) dining experience you will have.  As long as you are proactive, ask questions and know the right kinds of questions to ask, it’ll be easier for you as well as your dining partners to enjoy the meal without having as many worries.