Surviving Food Allergies

More than 12 million people in the United States suffer from food allergies. There are many more people unaware they have food allergies. Eight foods make up the most common food allergies: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (pistachios, almonds, cashews, etcetera), soy, wheat, fish and shell fish. To help people with food allergies, restaurants and food companies should be more specific about ingredients on food labels and menus, and have better knowledge about food allergies.
Many people do not put any thought into what they order at a restaurant. Not true for people with food allergies. A person with food allergies must order with the greatest discretion. It is the person’s responsibility to tell the server of their food allergies. By doing this the server that is knowledgeable about the menu will be able to direct the person to a safe meal choice. Then the allergic person will feel better about the meal, knowing they are less likely to suffer from an allergic reaction. Restaurants that help people with food allergies are more likely to be patronized by the people again.
Restaurants should take the responsibility of informing their workers of food allergies. The chef is responsible for knowing what goes into the food served at the restaurant. A manager must also be knowledgeable about food allergies as they are a common occurrence in today’s society. The chef and manager need to work with the servers to teach them about food allergies, so patrons can have a safe and enjoyable meal.
Labeling food correctly is also important to people with food allergies. Currently the Food and Drug Administration does not require food companies to state allergy warnings such as, “Manufactured in a facility...”, or “May contain...”, or “Made on shared equipment....” These warnings are important to allergic persons because they warn the person the food may have come in contact with a food they are allergic to. For a person with food allergies, even the slightest bit of contact with food the person is allergic to can cause an allergic reaction. This is especially true with people with peanut allergies. An allergic reaction can be caused by coming in contact with the smallest amount of oil from a peanut. For example a person who ate a peanut butter sandwich, and then high-fived a person with peanut allergies; could cause the person with the peanut allergy to have a severe reaction from coming into contact with the peanut oil on the other person’s hands.
It is extremely important for the safety and lives of people with allergies for restaurants and food companies to be aware of allergies. Labeling food correctly can mean life or death for a person with food allergies. The knowledge of food allergies by restaurants and food companies allows people feel safe.