A Little Bit Can Hurt (20 page)
Read A Little Bit Can Hurt Online
Authors: Donna Decosta
The chef should ask the guest what [he] usually eats. If the chef knows this, he or she can create something from the ingredients in their kitchen. So remember to ask this question, "What do you usually eat?"
"I eat chicken and potatoes."
"Okay, I can do this for you. I have chicken, I have potatoes, I have these ingredients."
Then the chef just needs to focus on safe cooking procedures, and the guest should have a great meal.
One of the important things to remember is the experience you will be creating for the guest. Many people with food allergies do not eat at restaurants. So when
they get that experience it is special to them. They will remember that and return to your establishment.
Q: What do you think are the guests' responsibilities to safeguard themselves while dining out?
A: They need to identify themselves right away and not be embarrassed. Say, "Hey, I have a food allergy," and be truthful. Tell them everything, "I'm allergic to this, and I might have an intolerance to this, this and this." They need to be honest, and they need to expect that the restaurant may not be able to serve them.
Q: If so, what do they do?
A: Well, the guest should leave, but they should always contact the restaurant prior to showing up just to see if they can be accommodated. Don't just show up. If you have a severe food allergy, don't just show up and expect a restaurant that you've never been to to understand your food allergy.
Q: With whom should they ask to speak?
A: The guest should always speak to a manager, chef or person in charge. Don't waste your time with a server or a hostess because it is not their responsibility to discuss your food allergy request. Say, "I have a food allergy. I would like to speak to a chef or a manager."
Q: Any particular questions they should ask the manager or chef?
A: The first thing is to tell the person in charge about their food allergy and say, "Can you accommodate me? Have you accommodated other people with food allergies, and can you accommodate my food allergy?" If they've never served anybody with a food allergy, this might not be the right place to eat.
Q: What was your inspiration for writing
Serving People with Food Allergies: Kitchen Management and Menu Creation
and who is your intended audience?
A: The inspiration was that I wanted to share what I learned and what was done at Disney. I felt it was very important for the food service industry to become better educated. There really wasn't a book written for a chef or a manager. Since
I have experience in these areas, I could share it with them in a way that made sense.
The intended audience is of course the food service leader. But it also is for the consumer, for the housewife or the family [who] has the food allergy. They can learn what goes on in the industry, and they can share my book with one of the restaurants they want to dine at. The book is divided into three sections. The first section shares knowledge about food allergies and special diets that the food service operation will encounter in their restaurant. Section Two is about the training procedures, and Section Three contains 68 recipes that are creative and simple to prepare.
Q: Is there anything else that I missed or haven't covered?
A:
No, I think the point is just that it's fifty/fifty -- fifty percent on the guest side and fifty percent on the restaurant side. It's for the guest to say, "Look, I don't feel comfortable eating here," and leave. If the chef or managers don't feel comfortable serving them, say no, and just be done with it. Don't make a mistake.
RESOURCES
Here is a partial listing of the numerous resources available to help food-allergic individuals and members of their Food Allergy Circle. For additional resources, please visit the author's web site at
www.foodallergymomdoc.com
.
ORGANIZATIONS
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
120 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 2000
Chicago, Illinois 60606-6995
800-877-1600
Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America (AAFA)
8201 Corporate Drive, Suite 1000
Landover, MD 20785
1.800.7.ASTHMA (1.800.727.8462)
Allergy/Asthma Information Association (AAIA)
295 The West Mall, Suite 118
Toronto, Ontario M9C 4Z4
1-800-611-7011
Allergy Chefs, Inc.
T.E.A.C.H. Food Allergen Safety
AllergyHome
American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI)
555 East Wells Street, Suite 1100
Milwaukee, WI 53202-3823
414-272-6071
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
141 Northwest Point Boulevard
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007-1098
847-434-4000
American College of Allergy Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI)
85 West Algonquin Road, Suite 550
Arlington Heights, IL 60005
847-427-1200
American Medical Association (AMA)
515 N. State Street
Chicago, IL 60654
800- 621-8335
Anaphylaxis Canada
2005 Sheppard Avenue East, Suite 800
Toronto, Ontario M2J 5B4
Toll-free 1-866-785-5660 / Toronto: 416-785-5666
Auvi-Q™ (Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC)
Sanofi US, 55 Corporate Drive
Bridgewater, NJ 08807
800-981-2491
Canadian Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Foundation (CAAIF)
P.O. Box 51045
Orleans, Ontario K1E 3W4
613-986-5869
Celiac Sprue Association
P.O. Box 31700
Omaha, NE 68131-0700
877-CSA-4-CSA (877-272-4272)
Consortium of Food Allergy Research (CoFAR)
Contact: Statistical and Clinical Coordinating Center
301-251-1161, email:
[email protected]
Dietitians of Canada
480 University Avenue, Suite 604
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1V2
416-596-0857
EpiPen
®
Mylan Specialty, L.P.
110 Allen Road, 4th Floor
Basking Ridge, NJ 07920
908-542-1999
Food Allergy Foundation (FAF™)
25050 Riding Plaza, Suite 130-135
South Riding, VA 20152
202-540-0860
Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE)
7925 Jones Branch Drive, Suite 1100
McLean, VA 22102
(800) 929-4040
Johns Hopkins Children's Center
Pediatric Allergy Clinic, 200 N. Wolfe St.
Baltimore, MD 21287
443-997-KIDS (5437)
http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/allergy/
Kids with Food Allergies, Inc.
5049 Swamp Road, Suite 303
P.O. Box 554
Fountainville, PA18923
215-230-5394
MedicAlert
®
Foundation
2323 Colorado Avenue
Turlock, CA 95382
888-633-4298
504 Osceola Avenue
Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250
National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA)
Gluten-Free Resource Education and Awareness Training (GREAT) Kitchens
Attention: Beckee Moreland, P.O. Box 6635
Lincoln, NE 68506-6635
215-325-1306
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID)
NIAID Office of Communications and Government Relations
6610 Rockledge Drive, MSC 6612
Bethesda, MD 20892-6612
866-284-4107
www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/foodallergy/Pages/default.aspx
Neocate
®
Nutricia North America
P.O. Box 117
Gaithersburg, MD 20884
1-800-365-7354
Safe@School™ Partners, Inc.
FARE, 7925 Jones Branch Drive, Suite 1100
McLean, VA 22102
(800) 929-4040
http://www.foodallergy.org/files/Safe_at_School_flyer.pdf
U.S. Department of Education (ED)
(Frequently Asked Questions about Section 504 and the Education of Children with Disabilities)
Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) Department of Education Building
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202
1-800-USA-LEARN (1-800-872-5327)
http://www2.ed.gov/about/oices/list/ocr/504faq.html
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
(Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004)
10903 New Hampshire Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002
1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332)
http://www.fda.gov/food/labelingnutrition/foodallergenslabeling/guidancecomplianceregulatoryinformation/ucm106890.htm
BOOKS
Allergic Girl: Adventures in Living Well with Food Allergies
Sloane Miller
Wiley, 2011
Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense
Ellyn Satter
Bull Pub., 2000
Food Allergies for Dummies
Robert A. Wood, MD and Joe Krayak
Wiley, 2007
Food Allergy: Expert Consult Basic, 1st edition
John M. James, MD, Wesley Burks, MD and Philippe Eigenmann, MD
Elsevier Saunders, 2012
How to Manage Your Child's Life-T
h
reatening Food Allergies:
Practical Tips for Everyday Life
Linda Marienhoff Coss
Plumtree, 2004
The Parent's Guide to Food Allergies: Clear and Complete Advice from the Experts on Raising Your Food-allergic Child
Marianne S. Barber, et al.
Henry Holt, 2001
The Peanut Allergy Answer Book, 2nd edition
Michael C. Young, MD
Fair Winds, 2006
Serving People with Food Allergies: Kitchen Management and Menu Creation
Joel J. Schaefer
CRC, 2011
Understanding and Managing Your Child's Food Allergies
Scott H. Sicherer, MD
Johns Hopkins UP, 2006
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
- DVD:
One Bite Is All It Takes!
available from FARE (
www.foodallergy.org
) - Magazine:
Allergic Living
(
http://allergicliving.com
) - Magazine:
Living Without
(
www.livingwithout.com
) - Medical article:
The Prevalence, Severity, and Distribution of Childhood Food Allergy in the United States
by Ruchi S. Gupta, MD, MPH, et al. (
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2011/06/16/peds.2011-0204.abstract
) - Medical guidelines :
Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Food Allergy in the United States: Summary for Patients, Families, and Caregivers
(
www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/foodAllergy/clinical/Documents/FAguidelinesPatient.pdf
) - Medical report:
Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Food Allergy in the United States: Summary of the NIAID-Sponsored Expert Panel Report by Joshua A. Boyce, MD, et al.
(
www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/foodAllergy/clinical/Documents/FAGuidelinesExecSummary.pdf
)
GLOSSARY
Acidophilus:
A lactobacillus
(Lactobacillus acidophilus)
that is added especially to dairy products (as yogurt and milk) or prepared as a dietary supplement, is part of the normal intestinal and vaginal flora, and is used therapeutically especially to promote intestinal health; also: a preparation containing such bacteria.
8
Allergen:
A substance, such as foods or pollens, that induces
allergy
.
9
Allergy:
An allergy is a chronic condition involving an abnormal reaction to an ordinarily harmless substance called an
allergen.
If you have an allergy, your immune system views the allergen as an invader and a chain reaction is initiated. White blood cells of the immune system produce IgE antibodies. These antibodies attach themselves to special cells called mast cells, causing a release of potent chemicals such as histamine. These chemicals cause symptoms such as:
