What Can I Get You Folks? - Diners and Their Allergies

by Hanna Raskin, Posted Jul 1st 2009 @ 4:00PM

Beware! Allergens abound at most eateries. Photo: Dan4th/ Flickr

Hanna Raskin's first waitressing job was at a small Greek diner in Michigan. In the 15 years since, she's worked at a chop suey joint in Mississippi, an exclusive Arizonan country club, a vegetarian eatery and an Irish pub. She currently picks up odd shifts at a seafood eatery in the North Carolina mountains, where she cracks crab legs for helpless tourists. This is the second in a series of posts.

My mother, who has a severe shellfish allergy, hasn't tasted seafood since the Eisenhower administration. Since she hasn't a clue whether crustaceans are salty, sweet or sour, she suspects they're lurking everywhere on the menu: "Now, does this cheesecake have any shellfish?" she'll ask her very patient server.

As a kid, I cringed at my mom's fastidiousness. Because really, who would put shrimp in granola? But with chefs now fusing ingredients at a breakneck pace and food allergies multiplying at an unprecedented rate, my mother isn't the only one asking. Twelve million Americans suffer from food allergies, and they're demanding that restaurants accommodate them.

As a server at a seafood restaurant, it sometimes seems like every one of those unlucky eaters has sat at one of my tables. I still can't understand why someone who can't stomach wheat or fish would choose to dine at a place renowned for its lobster mac and cheese.

Yes, we can bring you carrots instead of the complimentary smoked trout dip and crackers. And, yes, we can make sure contaminated tongs don't touch your green salad. But according to the comprehensive Welcoming Guests with Food Allergies program issued by the Food Allergies and Anaphylaxis Network, servers should do still more to alleviate the risks of restaurant dining.

To be fair, FAAN recognizes that guests should take steps to protect themselves, citing stories of allergy sufferers who carry cards detailing their needs and carefully review a restaurant's menu before visiting. But with half of food allergy fatalities attributable to restaurants, the industry has taken on much of the burden of shielding their customers from potentially deadly soy, fish and nuts.

For servers, that means standing sentry at the food window to make sure no one inadvertently dusts their customer's plate with powdered peanuts, and then carrying the dish out on a freshly scrubbed tray to avoid any contact with allergens. It's a time-consuming task that can feel more like nursing than serving -- and one that often goes unacknowledged when it comes time to leave a tip.

Servers are naturally sympathetic to the plight of allergy sufferers: As professional foodies, they can well appreciate the hardship of having to strike an entire food group from their diets. But how many special requests should servers be expected to fulfill? Is there a point at which certain diners, cursed with gluten intolerance and difficult milk, egg and soy allergies, should consider staying home to eat?

Should restaurants be expected to accomodate every food allergy?
Yes	51 (15.3%)
No	217 (65.2%)
Depends (tell us more in comments)	65 (19.5%)

Filed Under: Chefs & Restaurants, Restaurants
Tags: food allergies, FoodAllergies, hanna raskin, HannaRaskin, waitress, waitressing, what can i get you folks, WhatCanIGetYouFolks

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Reader comments (Page 2 of 2)

9-23-2009 @5:30PM C.Moore said... Um, no. Restaurant owners and operators have no obligation to cater to the special needs, whims, desires, or tastes of anyone. Generally speaking, no one has a right... no one is entitled... to eat another person's food in their dining room, whether it's a private residence or a business.

If an establishment CHOOSES to accommodate for allergens, great. If not, too bad. It's THEIR business, after all. Don't like it? Eat somewhere else.

It is entirely up to the individual to take responsibility for THEIR special needs. Having a a food allergy doesn't make me special nor does it confer any entitlement to me for special treatment.

It doesn't make anyone else "special" either...
Reply