Eating Out Can Be More Complicated Than You Think

Even though eating out may be a more convenient and easier option for someone without any dietary restrictions, having allergies makes things a bit more complicated.

When you eliminate the obvious ingredients such as for example creamed sauces for someone with a dairy allergy and check that desert doesn't have nuts for someone with nut allergy you think you're done.... think again!

A great example of some really deceitful items that can give you a reaction are things like steamed vegetables, steaks, and even things like vegetable spring roll. How could this be? Well, in many restaurants, after they steam the veggies they sprinkle them with melted butter.  Similarly, butter on steak is very common during preparation.  And for the spring roll case - what if it was fried in sesame oil.  Now you see how seemingly benign dishes can become a hazard.

Furthermore, what is most interesting is the lack of familiarity and awareness of the severity of allergens from most restaurant staff.  I do have to admit, that I'm very lucky to live in NYC and I find that the staff in NYC tend to be more informed than some other places around the country.

As an example, we had a little ski get-away and we stayed in a very nice resort near Camelback. When we were at dinner, we asked the waiter to just boil some plain pasta with tomato sauce asking them to check with the kitchen to make sure that there is no butter during the preparation of the pasta or the sauce due to our daughter's dairy allergy. We've also offered them an alternative of just plain boiled pasta and olive oil on the side in case the tomato sauce is prepared with butter.  The waiter seemed to understand the situation.  Minutes later they brought the pasta, with tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.  This is just one example....

And in case you're wondering, yes, we bring a thermos along with our daughter's meals everywhere we go and when we go on family vacations, we stay in places with a kitchen.  We find that to be the most stress-free way to go.

But in case we are going out, we stick to Japanese restaurants, genuine Italian / Spanish, or seafood places.  In a Japanese restaurant at least you know you're most likely good on the dairy side. Similarly in genuine Italian / Spanish places olive oil is the oil of choice, and seafood - well our daughter just loves it so you can't go wrong with say some grilled octopus or fish. Lucky for us, she's not allergic to shellfish.

I hope that one day, the wait staff and importantly the chefs will be fully trained and aware of the ingredients that go into the food that is prepared in the kitchen.  There are a number of initiatives that are being worked on to improve the awareness factor, please see below:
http://www.foodallergy.org/advocacy/restaurants

Also, I found the results of the study done in 2010 that concluded that 90% of managers, wait staff and chefs expressed varying degrees of "comfort" in providing a safe meal for customers with food allergies:
http://allergicliving.com/2010/07/02/restaurants-and-allergies-study-reveals-dangers/

Shout out to Sean Parker

I couldn't resist but share this!
http://allergicliving.com/2014/12/17/tech-mogul-sean-parker-pledges-24-million-to-find-allergy-cure/

I'm so happy that this money is going to Dr. Kari Nadeau (http://nadeaulab.stanford.edu/). I've mentioned her as my inspiration on this journey of allergic living.  She is self-less, persistent, and passionate!

I'm looking forward to coming publications out of the studies that will be sponsored with this donation!

Shaking off the old beliefs on safety of eating

Talking to my own parents and in-laws it takes some convincing to remind them that "no she can't have yogurt" she has a dairy allergy and "no, tzatziki sauce" still does not qualify as an item their grand-daughter can eat. And "no, even if you did't use butter in the recipe" for that yummy dinner role, but you put some on top to brown it in the oven, "she can't have it"....

I feel like after three years of consistent reminders and education of my own family members, we can leave her with one of her grandmothers only and even so, I wouldn't be too comfortable with this being more than perhaps a day (this is besides myself, my husband, and her nanny - all of use live and breath this every day).

I think it comes from two main underlying reasons:

(1) the older generation hasn't really experienced it, so they can't comprehend it as real and the fact that it could be life-threatening is just a tough concept to grasp,

(2) there isn't enough awareness and education, so it is still very much a concept limited to those suffering from allergies or interacting with the sufferers closely.

As crazy as it sounds, but the first instance of a peanut allergy has been recorded in 1920 (according the the Peanut Allergy Answer Book). First case of sesame allergy was recorded in 1950 (http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/resourcespre.php?id=107&title=sesame_allergy). It was only in 2008 that the CDC has released it's first federal study focused on childhood allergies (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db10.pdf).

Therefore, literally a generation ago, allergies have been virtually unheard of....

Now, fast forward to today:
http://www.foodallergy.org/facts-and-stats

How Many People Have Food Allergies?

• Researchers estimate that up to 15 million Americans have food allergies.
• This potentially deadly disease affects 1 in every 13 children (under 18 years of age) in the U.S. That’s roughly two in every classroom.
• The economic cost of children’s food allergies is nearly $25 billion per year.

Food Allergies on the Rise

• According to a study released in 2013 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, food allergies among children increased approximately 50% between 1997 and 2011.
• The number of people who have a food allergy is growing, but there is no clear answer as to why.
• Researchers are trying to discover why food allergies are on the rise in developed countries worldwide, and to learn more about the impact of the disease in developing nations. More than 17 million Europeans have a food allergy, and hospital admissions for severe reactions in children have risen seven-fold over the past decade, according to the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI).

This is quite scary, since we don't have a full understanding of the cause or cure.  We are making hypothesis. Some tie it GMO, some tie to to environmental pollution, some tie to to us becoming too clean, some tie it to vaccinations but we're still searching for answers.

Two things we do know, that if your parents had it you're more likely to have it. That means that we will continue to multiply our allergy statistics on a catastrophic scale. And the second thing we know is that there is no cure... yet.

Are we our own worst enemy? Are we on a path to self-destruction by messing with nature? Will we ever find out? And if so, will we find out when it's too late to reverse the process?