to expect to be able to eat a decent meal in a resturant and not have to spend the night clearing up sick!

[shouldbeelswhere]

Why is it that pretty much everytime we eat out with my nut and cheese allergic DD do we find she's presented with a dreadful meal (last night, new potatoes in a heap with two rolled up bits of ham!) This being the only thing that they could provide that they considered safe.

We then returned home, settled her to sleep and then woke umpteen times being sick (typical allergic response)....she's 3 and being taught by experience that eating out is not an option for her. It just really p*s me off

OK so now she's stopped being sick, now it's just the diarrhoea...

Do you ever contact the restaurant before booking and check out the menu for her?

If not, it might be an idea.

Doesn't sound like fun. But another one wondering whether it might be sensible to contact the places first to check they can cater for people with such particular needs.

Nut and cheese allergy? Poor thing. What a massive inconvenience for you, but you cannot blame the restaurants for not being inventive. A kitchen that's totally nut and cheese free would be hard to find!

Its a shame your dd can't experience a meal out without risking her feeling ill. But at 3yrs old, she doesn't NEED to have that experience, so why put her through it? If she's THAT allergic, keep her out of restaurants until she's grown out of her allergy, or can choose for herself whether to take that gamble.

My eldest had a milk allergy, quite serious (hospitalised 3 times from 'accidental' contamination) and we simply avoided places we weren't sure of. And I'm afraid that unless the whole kitchen is set up to be free from nuts and cheese, then you can't be certain.

If your dd wants a restaurant experience, then turn your home into one... this is something we do regularly its a giggle. Mama Mia's Pizzeria goes down well with the kids, and I control the food. Otherwise, a babysitter may be in order!

Yes, you're right worral, jade and aldi and mostly I do phone the resturant first but this was a spontaneous thing.

Resturants are fearful of litigation and none that I've found would ever guarentee nut free. All I'm asking for are reasonal precautions for example washing utensils after using them to serve cheese / nuts. When I have specifically explained to them the fears of cross contamination. It is not rock science.

She may not NEED to experience eating out but it is an enjoyable thing for the rest of the family and she is part of the family. If pizza nut and macdonalds can do it, why can't other eateries?

I wouldn't be TOO quick to blame the restaurant on this occasion..everyone I know with kids has had vomiting bugs in the household this year.

Restaurants are hard with allergies though, my DD is allergic to eggs, fish, nuts, peas, lentils and she always just has a cheese toastie and chips wherever we go, no problems so far.

Poor DD

However unless you have contacted the restaurant beforehand I think it's unfair to blame them. Dairy and nuts are in so many foods.

Perhaps you might just need to accept that you can't eat out at restaurants spontaneously then.

I get that it's irritating and frustrating, but if phoning beforehand meets your dd's needs and not doing so doesn't, it seems to be me that phoning in advance is your responsibility as a parent.

Perhaps you might just need to accept that you can't eat out at restaurants spontaneously then.

Really???! Yes, of course it makes sense to phone in advance when we can (and most of us do!), but this is not always possible because sometimes life is spontaneous. Is it really so unreasonable to expect restuarant staff to have a bit of a clue when it comes to food allergies? After all, restaurants are food businesses...

DS has food allergies, and our last 'spontaneous' meal out was in the cafeteria at the local hospital, following an afternoon spent in A&E - I could hardly have planned that trip!

(and in the hospital cafeteria there were huge issues with cross-contamination, e.g. same spoons being used for different dishes, staff not knowing the ingredients of most dishes, egg on forks and so on ).

Is it really so unreasonable to expect restuarant staff to have a bit of a clue when it comes to food allergies? After all, restaurants are food businesses...

I run a "food business". It's difficult with allergies as there are so many. Restaurants will be able to do more if you give them advance warning but there can be no guarantees as to whether someone will not still have an allergic reaction even when all reasonable precautions have been taken. With nut allergies a member of staff could have had peanut butter for breakfast and that could be enough to trigger the reaction in a customer. If you give them advance warning you should get better results.

I think you just need to accept that unfortunately you can't be spontaneous when it comes to eating out. If this is the result then is it really worth it? And I'm sure most restaurants, if you phoned ahead and explained the situation, would allow you to bring your own food for your DD.

Insomnia, yes of course it must be very difficult and also worrying for restaurants to deal with customers who have food allergies. I think the key phrase in what you posted is "when reasonable precautions have been taken..." If staff can provide lists of ingredients, and assure customers that the hygiene in the kitchen is good (e.g. good handwashing, clean utensils for each dish) then customers will feel equipped to make an informed decision about whether or not they want to take the risk.

I do understand that no restaurant wants to actually guarantee that a food-allergic person will be safe on the premises, but it is very unlikely that staff eating peanuts for breakfast would pose a risk to customers later in the day (unless, of course, they were dropping spittle all over the food or touching it with unwashed hands!) It's true that ANY allergy can be very, very serious, but there are a lot of myths around about nut allergies.

Sometimes, people with allergies do want to eat out. Never eating out can be very inconvenient and socially excluding.

I do know this is contentious, and probably doesn't seem like a fair comparison to most people, but surely none of us would dream of excluding a wheelchair user from a restaurant because the owner was not willing to provide wheelchair access. Severe food allergies do fit the criteria set out by the Disability Discrimination Act, but are not yet technically covered because there has never been a test case.

P.S. shouldbeelsewhere, do you think it might have been the ham? I have noticed that people who have no first-hand experience of food allergies (and restaurant staff who have not been trained) rarely consider that there might be milk protein in ham, sausages, fishfingers, crisps etc.

whew I knew I'd put that cat among the pigeons again! Thanks for your support fellow allergy suffering parents.

Unlikely to be ham as milk isn't a problem (though something in cheese is so

Again why can macdonalds, pizza hut cater and others can't?

And yes re the "talk to them first" did that recently and struggled to find anywhere that would cater for my DD...it all seems to hinge on the knowledge of the kitchen staff in independent resturants imo.

I agree with what Greenbananas says.

Some of the responses on here are depressing and discriminatory. But not surprising!

Many meals out are at other childrens parties and allergic dc so want to join in and be part of normal life. Until you have a food-allergic child you do not understand how isolating it can be not to just be able to join in and just how much calling ahead and speaking to people in advance is required.

Truthfully its quite crap and a little compassion from others goes a bloody long way.

No restaurant could possibly 'cater' for all different allergies. People can be allergic to almost anything (for example, my DS is highly allergic to bananas and peas, amongst other things).

Just good information and good hygiene (i.e. eliminating cross-contamination) would be enough for most customers to feel that they were in control of their own safety. Surely this is not to much to ask??

YANBU! Any decent restaurant should be able to get some vegetables, some pasta or whatever made up for her no problem! I will say, however, that if you go out at a busy time of year, it is harder for the staff to cater for allergies.

I think chain restaurants like McDonalds cater because everything comes pre-prepared and is just assembled on the premises. Nothing ever deviates from the pattern of what goes into each dish. For this reason, you can get lists of ingredients of things like their bread rolls and this is reliable.

Unfortunately, for real restaurants that actually make their own food, it is a lot trickier.

Just wanted to poke my nose in here and say that Pizza Express are very good at catering for people with allergies. I have a friend who has a serious dairy allergy (even a drop of milk on her skin requires oral steroids, and if she consumes a tiny bit of milk/butter/cheese she requires 2 epipens and a trip to hospital ). Apparently Pizza Express don't use dairy products in their pizza dough, and they do a cheese-free pizza ... and they are good about the nut-free issue too. (Always check with them before ordering though!). HTH.