Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
FROM DECEMBER 2014 restaurants will be required to show whether 14 main food allergens (gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame seeds, sulphur dioxide and sulphites, lupin and molluscs) are contained in any food they are serving. This is great news for the allergy community. Many of these food allergens including milk, shellfish and peanuts could cause a life threatening anaphylactic shock in some people, this is why it is so crucial for restaurants to be aware of what they are serving. I think if people were aware how very serious it could be, there would be a different reaction when you ask for something without a specific allergen.
Dining out can be difficult for many people with food allergies and intolerances. Eating out is such a huge part of our culture – weddings, funerals, birthday parties, festivals, holidays all have one thing in common – food. Sometimes when you explain a food allergy, you get a sense that people think you are being fussy or that your children are being fussy – but people with food allergies, or who look after children with food allergies, just want a chance to eat out safely like everyone else. We’re not looking for separate menus or special treatment, just for the restaurant staff to be knowledgeable about what is in the food they are serving so that we can make an informed decision.
Staff need to understand allergies
My children are cow’s milk protein intolerant so they cannot have anything with milk or milk products in it. We are extremely lucky my children’s reactions are mild but if they were very serious I would worry more about eating out. I’m hoping the new December 2014 laws will mean that the restaurant experience for those with allergies is about to improve dramatically.
I recently ate at a local restaurant where the staff seemed very well trained on allergens. I am hoping it is a sign of things to come. The waiter immediately checked with the chef once we asked if the chicken dish we wished to order contained dairy. He came back to say that the chicken had been marinaded in something containing milk, so we were able to order something different. It was refreshing to see my child’s allergy taken seriously.
Unfortunately, my heart sank when I ate out again somewhere different a few weeks later.
We ate out in a busy long established Italian restaurant with the kids and another family recently. When I scanned the kids’ menu, I narrowed it down to three possibilities that shouldn’t contain milk products. I asked the waitress what could the children have that is dairy free. She looked at me blankly. Then she told me they could make gluten-free pasta. I could see I would need to explain what dairy-free meant. I told her they couldn’t have anything with cheese, milk, butter or cream. She then repeated that they could have gluten free pasta. She said the spaghetti bolognese or pasta with tomato sauce would be fine but she didn’t really sound confident that she even knew what we were asking.
I then proceeded to ask about dessert because the children’s menu was an all-in-one price including dessert. The options on the menu were chocolate brownie and ice-cream or an ice-cream float. There it was again, that blank stare. We agreed that they would have fruit, but again I wasn’t inspired by her confidence and I was expecting her to forget and put cream or ice-cream with the fruit by accident.
If we decide to bring the kids with us to a restaurant, it’s hard enough getting them to stay quiet, eat with knives and forks and to stop running around among the servers with hot food. Quite apart from that I usually have to explain again why they cannot have particular things. This can result in tears or a tantrum. The last thing a hassled parent wants is to have to explain about their kids allergies to the waiting staff when they clearly have no idea what you are talking about and aren’t very accommodating.
In the meantime my five-year-old read the adults’ dessert menu which was on the back of his menu and decided he wanted strawberry parfait. I knew this would have milk in it but I decided to try another waiter when he was over and asked if any of the desserts were dairy-free. He replied ‘gluten free?’ And so the cycle started again where we educated him in what ‘dairy’ meant.
Awkward
I am delighted that there were gluten-free options on the menu and the staff knew about them but they didn’t seem to really understand why someone might want something gluten-free. Their level of training definitely needs to improve. In general, gluten-free foodstuffs and gluten-free menu options are becoming very widespread which is absolutely super, but restaurants need to up their game to be aware of other food allergens also. It is not just leaving out a small number of food allergy sufferers, if you include their families, who won’t go to the restaurant if everyone can’t eat, you can see a huge portion of the population put off eating out.
As we were eating out with friends they started apologising that their kids would be having dessert, and I felt we were making a big fuss where there shouldn’t have been one. The boys ended up with strawberries for dessert and a promise of something nice when they got home if they accepted this. The five-year-old took some persuading, but he didn’t create a scene. It was so difficult to explain to him why he couldn’t have the same as his friend. He understands that he can’t have dairy but tantrums are never far away in situations like this.
To say I was disappointed by the staff in the restaurant was a huge understatement. It is so incredibly important for restaurant staff to understand the dangers of food allergies. The reactions can vary from life-threatening to mild, but understanding is key. If you tell them you or your child is allergic to something, they should react as if it is possible that it could be life-threatening. They don’t know unless they ask you how mild or serious it might be.
My boys are intolerant to the protein in cow’s milk, my younger boy would have a sick stomach, bloating, and be unwell for a few days if he consumed milk products. My older boy would react with excema and his asthma symptoms would worsen. These are mild reactions compared to how other people can react.
I was really shocked by the lack of knowledge among waiting staff that day. I hope that restaurant owners are aware of the new laws and have plans in place to train their staff. It is so important. With five months to go to December, I really hope the restaurants will be ready. I am dreaming of a day when it will be safe to eat out and we are not trusting our child’s health to someone untrained in allergens and how serious it might be.
Laura Kenny writes at dairyfreekids.ie
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I think it’s very important that a doctor tells you’ve got a food allergy
A trained medical doctor !
Not some health shop or self diagnosed
Food intolerance website
Jeff if I waited for a doctor to tell me what was wrong I’d be dead by now. Doctors treat blood tests not people. I went to an excellent nutritionist who treated me and despite being dog sick with anything I ate or drank managed to get me back to a place where once it’s gluten free I’m fine. It took nearly 2 years hard work and I have to be careful but I’m healthy.
You should mention allergies when booking your table you’ll find there is no fuss rather than assuming everybody should be knowable about your allergy and your specific requirements. Then at least you know before you go
We always do and often it makes no difference at all sorry to say. We don’t expect everyone to be knowledgable about our specific requirements but Ireland has a very high incidence of Coeliac disease as it’s more common in Irish people and people of Irish decent. The point I am making us that some restaurants claim to cater for people with coeliac disease ( which is an auto immune disease ) . I don’t think it’s too much to assume they have some level if knowledge is that case . Often though cross contamination is the main issue and when you are really sick because someone used the wrong serving spoon it’s pretty easy to be annoyed.
My son is Coeliac and lactose intolerant . Eating out is a nightmare. Listing ingredients is great but staff need educating on cross contamination too. My poor son has ended up very ill because of so called gluten free options that clearly got contaminated from other foods. I just don’t eat out with him now. It’s safer .
Catherine I understand – I’ve Coeliac disease too, and even a crumb would make me very ill.
Many restaurants do produce GF food, only for it to be cross-contaminated with gluten during serving; like using the same spoons to serve, or dropping crumbs on the GF meal.
Things are improving though. There are a few fantastic places, but it depends where u are based.
Believe it or not, Mcdonald’s is good (I’ve a 6 year old!) with gluten clearly marked on the menu sheet- the underside of the sheet they put on each tray.
Antoinette’s bakery in Kevin st, Dublin is a totally GF café. No chance of cross contamination.
Da Mario’s in Celbridge is an amazing restaurant, extremely high awareness of Coeliac condition.
For fish and chips, Beshoff’s, Mespil road can’t be beaten and they clean down according to advice from the Coeliac Society of Ireland.
Even Starbucks have a delicious GF bap with ham and cheese, and you can ask for a wrapped piece of hazelnut & chocolate cake, or a wrapped chocolate brownie thus avoiding any cross contamination.
The problem with restaurants and especially the smaller ones is not just a lack of knowledge on the part of the front of house staff but also the kitchen. In many smaller places the food comes from places like Musgrave and Palladium Foods and is pre par pared and frozen. Other than following the basic cooking instructions the chefs knowledge of the product is limited. HSE at the moment ask only they be trained in hygiene. Ask someone in an Italian, Chinese, Thai or burger joint about lactose or sulphur s and they would have to admit to not understanding what they have in their kitchen. What are the constituents of mustard and ketchup is not part of general training. But let me be clear here, I am not blaming the small operator, they work long hours, pay exorbitant taxes and – especially these days – get very little return for the labour invested. I think the HSE have to get real here and demand and offer (free) training for these outlets and large food firms should produce notices about their products which should be posted in public. Staff should be trained of course, but the nature of this workplace means a high turnover of personal which managers and owners find hard to keep apace with. Share the burden and people will quickly adapt.
I find restaurants biggest downfall is gf dessert. You ask for the icecream which they assure you is gluten free. Then they stick a wafer in it. So it has to be sent back and then they send out the same dish with the wafer removed. And look at you like you’ve ten heads when you tell them that it’s contaminated and you can’t eat it.
We find McDonalds fantastic too but he is a bit fed up of that being his only eating out treat but it’s food you only give in moderation really. There is maybe one or two good places down here in the mid west but our recent holiday around Co Clare was a disaster . The only place he didn’t get sick after was one place that didn’t normally do GF but sorted something for him and it’s clear they took great care and he was fine after it. We have soup cafe in Limerick which are fantastic I have to say .
What a massive entitled whine.
There are kids who are allergic to almost everything so the staff just aren’t going to be knowledgeable about every single allergen . They have a dozen tables and just deliver the food. They don’t know the makeup of every constantly changing dish.
Just a quick ring ahead that day to the restaurant and there wouldn’t be an issue. Either the maitre d could give them all the details beforehand or one of the staff would be ready when they arrived.
But leaving it till you get there to talk to busy staff at peak times is just entitled.
I worked with kids who were allergic to legumes, grains, nuts, dairy and everything you can think off. The parents called ahead, sent binders with info, dropped down beforehand and met with the staff. They had it down pat and it wasn’t an issue because of it.
You don’t need it all on the main menu. You just have 1 or 2 separate menus that staff can give to customers when asked with the ingredients if everything on it. Let’s be honest they’ll still put that it may have been contaminated somewhere else. I make food and bring it to restaurants with me for my little one. Anaphylaxis is not something I want to see occur again
I never eat out in restaurants because of this, imagine explaining to someone, no grains(wheat,rye,barely,rice,corn etc) , no dairy and no white sugar? It’s better to stay at home and cook and make deserts that I know exactly what is in them.
There are some restaurants which can cater too such needs in Ireland. Not many but they are there.
Its very difficult to find a restaurant that has grain free options on the menu and for this reason I dont eat out
Mustn’t have allergies so. I’d everything in the picture with relish .
Seriously!! Thumbs down for not having an allergy. That’s a good thing.
It must be because people with allergies are self obsessed.
The sooner the chefs stop piling salt & sugar into food the better.
It’s almost impossible to get food that isn’t drowned or cooked in the stuff.
I’m allergic to chocolate. Its a nightmare getting desserts. Even last week I asked for vanilla ice cream and explained I’m allergic to chocolate. And out it came with a chocolate wafer on it. But worse still I got married last year and from day one told the hotel I was allergic and went thru the whole story. The day before I went thru it again and was made sure that the kitchen would be chocolate free. They wrote congratulations in chocolate on my dessert plate. Hiw bloody stupid. Some places just dont care about allergies.
That’s pretty bad, no excuse when they are informed beforehand.
What happens if you have chocolate then ? Have you been medically diagnosed by a doctor as having an actual allergy and not just an intolerance ?
Yeah diagnosed and all. Its an allergy not just intolerance. Took a few yrs to diagnose properly after tons of tests.
That’s a great story Eoin… really breathtaking. Now, hopefully you’ve learnt that the world doesn’t revolve around you and if you’re unfortunate enough to be allergic to chocolate, it is your responsibility to ensure you don’t eat it. Not everyone else’s. But are the movie rights still available for that masterpiece you just told us?
I have food allergies so understand the fear. Must be extra hard with kids. Might be difficult for some – but I think i’d check out the menu online beforehand and an Italian restaurant in Ireland would not be somewhere I’d choose hoping for diary allergy free food. They generally use a lot of cream & dairy.
It will be great to have more awareness and education for staff soon. Much needed.
She just wants to complain.
Most eastern food has little no dairy in it. Thai or Chinese or Vietnamese and it’s very unlikely to have dairy.
Or just call ahead and ask so they have time to check. Instead of waiting till the worst possible time.
I have issues with low fat milk as it causes me to have a very upset stomach – a nightmare when eating out. It would be great if the glycemic index and carbohydrate details were listed for food as well for diabetic’s. I think that a lot of people are alergic to something and agree that we should at least know what is in our food if eating out.
Why should waiting staff have to be trained and knowledgable in your particular issue? These people are generally paid terribly low wages and are working there as a stop-gap, not as food prep and allergy specialists. The waiting staff don’t cook the food. I suggest that the next time you want to eat out, call ahead and ask to speak to the chief who prepares the food so that they can tell you directly and save you making a wasted journey.
I’m sure there are actually a lot of people out there who are not allergic but are quite intolerant to certain food groups or types. So this new rule helps a lot of people.
I’m very intolerant of fish and other seafoods. It’s not as hard to avoid that but I’m – to a lesser extent – intolerant of dairy and gluten. Thankfully I have the choice as to whether or not I want to feel crap (unlike people who are actually allergic) sometimes the pizza or huge slab of cheesecake is worth it.
Most people who think they have allergies are in fact food intolerant , of which I have myself. Food allergies are quite rare.
I am a fish lover however I’m intolerant to Molluscs they make me violently sick very quickly but thankfully I don’t go into anphalactic shock at all. I find most restaurants are quite helpful but almost always they refer to the chef which makes me feel a lot safer. I’ve worked in kitchens and ingredients can be changed during the day if they run out of something its always safer to get the chefs ok I think.
Food allergies & intolerances are no joke. My daughter has a nut allergy & the amount of times people have suggested she’s being fussy or insinuated that we’re over protective is mind boggling. Parties are a nightmare, we bring a lunchbox of food & safe cake to avoid her sitting watching others enjoy treats.
I have an intolerance to wheat- so yes if I get wheat in a meal out I wont seem ill at the time, however a week of bloating, pain & semi-religious experiences in the bathroom mean I am adamant I dont want any wheat!
Waiting staff ARE responsible for food too. I have worked in catering in the past & I was trained to represent the chef & ethos of the restaurant in front of the customer. Professional front of house staff can make or break a customers experience. In the case of allergies the stakes are higher than usual.
What kind of wait staff don’t understand the word ‘dairy’? Sounds a bit far fetched; I have a dairy and wheat intolerance and I have found wait staff to be most helpful and accommodating in several restaurants around the country.
Not that far fetched. Asked a server if there was any dairy in one of the potato dishes on offer and was told yes so other creamy potatoes were loaded onto my plate and when I said ‘oh no I can’t eat those’ I was told ‘oh you’re fine, it’s just cream’ :-/
I’ve worked as a waitress for years and most staff aren’t trained to understand this, I’ve been met with blank stares when requesting dairy free dishes before too. Not so far fetched actually.
I have lactose intolerance. It’s not the worst of the food intolerances, but you do have to ask, as dairy is used in a lot of dishes…
Anapen or Epipen should be in every restaurant and every flight. Just in case your waitress or chef doesn’t understand your allergy.
It is useful to have a card with all your info on it so the waitress can give one to the chef . That way it is clear what you can’t have.
Look after yourself. You can’t expect other people to .
I wish I was able to express myself better because reading this I got very annoyed. I think its something to do with how petty all this is. Is there not enough important things going on in the world at the moment you could use your column inches on?
Im am very happy about this. I am lactoce intolerant and the waiters often get it wrong or there is hidden dairy in sauces which leads to me being ill. I eat without worry now
I had take away this evening from Bombay Pantry and the menu was very useful as they had detailed allergy info in symbols beside the names of the dishes. Hopefully a sign of things to come.
Also as somebody who worked as a waitress in my late teens, I always took customers with allergies seriously. While in some cases I may have been sure of the content of dishes, I always checked with the head chef and informed the customer accordingly. As a paying customer, you deserve a certain standard of service from the waiter/waitress, inclusive of their knowledge of the menu (and bothering to check with the chef if neccessary).
have your say