Food allergies are an increasingly common problem for many adults and even more so challenging for kids. 1 in 25 Americans and over 3 million kids in the US suffer from mild to severe allergic reactions to peanuts, gluten, soy, shellfish and other common food allergens. If you are a parent of a child with a food allergy, you always have to be on high alert whenever eating out (if you can do that in the first place) and, of course, carry an epi-pen with you at all times. Avoiding places that offer cross-contamination of different foods – buffets, ice cream shops – is a good start. There are a lot of factors that make it easier or harder to have a meal outside your house. So following the Food Allergy Awareness Week I decided to speak with Paul Antico, founder of AllergyEeats.com. His mission is to help make it easier for food-allergic families to eat out.
What are the biggest challenges food-allergic families face when eating out as opposed to at home?
There are a few challenges families face when dining out with food-allergic children. When parents cook a meal at home, they can be sure of the ingredients in the meal and the cleanliness of the cooking surface (to prevent accidental cross-contamination with one of the allergic child’s trigger foods). When dining out, even if a family goes to a restaurant well-known for being allergy-friendly, they can’t see or hear what’s happening in the kitchen, so there’s an inherent increase in uncertainty.
Another challenge is that most children’s menus are very limited in their selections and there are usually at least a few that aren’t viable options for a child with food allergies (almost regardless of the allergy). While many restaurants are willing to prepare something that’s not on the menu – like a simple chicken breast – a food-allergic child may have very little choice in his or her meal.
The most important challenge that ALL food-allergic diners face is whether the restaurant staff “gets it” when it comes to food allergies. Parents must clearly communicate their child’s allergies to servers (and possibly others) and ask lots of questions about ingredient lists, how meals are prepared, and more. Most importantly, parents need to trust their instincts – if the restaurant staff doesn’t seem knowledgeable about how to safely accommodate a food-allergic diner – or if they can’t answer your questions confidently – leave and find another restaurant.
AllergyEats (www.allergyeats.com) was designed to help food-allergic diners avoid this last challenge as often as possible. With restaurant ratings from other food-allergic diners around the country, AllergyEats gives the entire community a starting point to help find restaurants that are likely more capable of accommodating them (and those that are less likely as well).
Are there certain restaurants that are known to cook clean (separating known allergens) or some that always use potential allergens (e.g. peanut oil)?
There are certainly many restaurants that understand how to accommodate food-allergic guests, including maintaining contamination-free cooking environments. The list would be too long to recite – and, thankfully, a growing number of restaurants are becoming more allergy-friendly. I’d encourage food-allergic diners to check AllergyEats in advance to find restaurants where they can more comfortably eat.
On the flip side, some restaurants consider using particular allergens as something they can’t do without for one reason or another. As an example, Five Guys Burger & Fries considers peanuts as part of their corporate image – peanut oil in the fryer, peanut boxes on the walls, etc. Other restaurants may simply be reluctant to change their long-standing recipes. Some of this information (e.g. what type of oil do you use in the fryer?) can be gleaned with a simple phone call, but a lot of it is hit or miss without a resource like AllergyEats. Users can draw upon the experience – and peer-ratings – of thousands of food-allergic diners, which is a huge help and can eliminate a lot of frustrations.
Do you think restaurants should be required to post allergy information on the menu?
I do think restaurants should be required to take the simple step of posting allergen information on their menus. First of all, restaurants are already being required by the federal government to calculate calorie counts – a much more difficult process that inherently allows for the identification of all major allergens without any additional work! Secondly, I believe food labeling laws have been very successful in helping make the process of buying products at the supermarket much easier and safer. I did write a more expansive piece on this subject that can be found at www.allergyeats.com/blog/index.php/restaurants-must-post-calorie-counts-but-not-allergen-lists/
Eating out with my son who has nut allergies is very tricky. What can parents do to make their restaurant visits easier?
Parents need to prepare in advance – consider known allergy-friendly restaurants, check menus or make phone calls before you start driving around, try to dine at off-peak hours, learn the right questions to ask staff, and trust your instinct if the employees at a specific restaurant don’t seem to feel comfortable with how to safely accommodate you. Most importantly, however, NEVER dine out without an Epi-Pen (or similar rescue medication). Each of these items deserves more attention. You can find more extensive dining tips from experts at www.allergyeats.com/dining_tips.php.
What motivated you to start AllergyEats.com?
I started AllergyEats after experiencing my own frustrations trying to dine out with my food-allergic children – I have 3 food-allergic children and 2 non-allergic. We’ve had (and continue to have) plenty of difficult situations trying to find allergy-friendly restaurants in our travels. Prior to starting AllergyEats, there was a particular occasion where I drove around with my food-allergic children for almost two hours trying to find a restaurant that could accommodate us. All I could think of, while my children complained and cried of hunger, was that I wished there was a guide. Soon after, I left my job in the financial services industry to launch AllergyEats, hoping to help all food-allergic families like ours.
What are the advantages of having user reviews vs. restaurant listings for allergy-friendly restaurants?
A key differentiator for AllergyEats is the peer-based nature of the reviews and the resulting allergy-friendliness rating assigned to each restaurant.
Many restaurants can post an allergen list on their website and call themselves allergy-friendly. Many can tell you a staff member has been trained and, thus, they’re allergy-friendly. And many can tell you that their kitchen layout is safe or they have procedures in place and, therefore, they are allergy-friendly. But the bottom line is that restaurateurs want your business and may say whatever they think you want to hear to bring you into their restaurant. I don’t think that’s a very good, or safe, way to make a decision about where to bring your food-allergic child to eat.
AllergyEats is the biggest and fastest-growing online guide for finding allergy-friendly restaurants specifically due to its unique peer-based feedback. AllergyEats ratings are based on the real world experiences of thousands of food-allergic diners (a number which is growing very quickly!). It is this element that gives AllergyEats its credibility, the same way that other review sites are trusted for hotels, electronics, and even dry cleaners. Further, our ratings focus specifically on a restaurant’s ability to accommodate food-allergic diners, not on things like ambiance or atmosphere, and are derived from three specific allergy-related questions. This ensures that the ratings are applicable to food allergies and not focused on how the meal tasted, the wait time for a table or other information about the restaurant.
Having allergy ratings – instead of just listing allergy-friendly restaurants – exposes some restaurants as being allergy-UNfriendly. This information prevents diners from wasting their time on a restaurant that won’t meet their needs. For instance, there’s a large, national restaurant chain that includes an allergen list on their site as a demonstration of their commitment to accommodating food-allergic diners. However, the peer-reviews on AllergyEats shows this chain having a poor 2.5 (out of 5.0) allergy-friendliness rating. The negative feedback is spotlighted in users’ comments on the site as well as discussions on the AllergyEats Blog and Facebook page.
In your experience, have you found a restaurant that is 100% safe for people with allergies?
No – it’s impossible. Unfortunately, mistakes happen in life – some preventable, some not. This is true for restaurants as much as anywhere else. That’s why I refer to “allergy-friendly” restaurants and not “allergy-safe” restaurants. When dining out, always be prepared for the worst!
Which allergy resources would you recommend for parents?
Obviously, I’d recommend AllergyEats. In addition to the proprietary peer-based allergy-friendliness ratings, the site includes many other features that are incredibly useful before dining out. All restaurant listings include a phone number plus maps and directions. Many also include links to a restaurant’s website, menu (including gluten-free), allergen lists, certifications, nutritional information, independent blog posts, and more. Further, the site includes dining tips and special deals for AllergyEats users. Lastly, the AllergyEats Blog, Facebook page, and Twitter feed are extremely popular for sharing more in-depth information about dining out with food allergies.
Outside of AllergyEats, I am a big fan of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (www.aafa.org) (of which I’m also on the Board of Directors), Kids With Food Allergies (www.kidswithfoodallergies.org), and the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (foodallergies.org). Each has a slightly different focus and I find they are somewhat complimentary organizations. I am also a fan of the site Go Dairy Free (www.godairyfree.org) and I love the magazine Allergic Living (www.allergicliving.com). On the Celiac Disease / gluten intolerance side, I strongly support the Gluten Intolerance Group (www.gluten.net).
