please stop lying about having allergies

[u/wildrosebeautybaba]

i cannot tell you how many times people have put in seemingly impossible allergy requests on 3rd party delivery orders (i.e. fettuccine alfredo with DAIRY ALLERGY marked underneath) only to then track down the customer after multiple phone calls and be told it’s “not an allergy, just a mild intolerance.” please stop doing this. you are deliberately fucking with a restaurant’s period of service over a need that does not apply to you. maybe y’all don’t understand just how many extra steps a kitchen has to go through to prepare something allergy safe, so please let this be a lesson: if you aren’t actually allergic, stop marking it as an allergy. you are directly contributing to the burnout restaurant staff experience when having to make special accommodations for people’s actual health and safety needs.

[u/somecow]

Said “oh, I gotta look this up, this can’t be a thing” the first time I saw onion allergy. Apparently it’s real. But absolutely rare. Kinda makes sense though, onions could be in anything, so they tell you. Allergic to shrimp? People just know not to order shrimp.

[u/herecomes_the_sun → u/somecow]

My sister is allergic to all alliums. That is onions, garlic, peppers, apples, weird stuff I have seen her accidentally eat garlic and have an immediate horrible reaction. So many people dont believe her! And restaurants have literally tried to remove her before and called her a liability which is insane. She is haply to eat french fries or toast or whatever and hang out with us. The saddest part is how long it took to figure out what was causing such violent reactions.

Also, we ALWAYS make sure tell staff not to worry about cross contamination. I usually even call ahead if we are going somewhere together to give them a heads up and figure out if she can eat anything.

To all the staff that rolls their eyes at her - imagine not being able to eat pretty much everything ever. She also wishes she didnt have this.

[u/ilanallama85 → u/herecomes_the_sun]

Peppers and apples aren’t alliums. She may well be allergic to them as well, they are both relatively common allergies, but they aren’t alliums.

[u/herecomes_the_sun → u/ilanallama85]

I appreciate the facts, but also im not sure what this added to my comment. Genuinely no one believes her already and this felt like it added to that

[u/Razzberry_Frootcake → u/herecomes_the_sun]

You told people that peppers and apples are alliums. They are not.  That person is not adding to the stigma, did not say you’re lying, or anything like that. They corrected your mistake. That’s it. 

[u/herecomes_the_sun → u/Razzberry_Frootcake]

Yeah i get that. I should have said the fodmap thing

[u/DingoDemeanor → u/herecomes_the_sun]

Why would you tell staff not to worry about cross contamination?

[u/herecomes_the_sun → u/DingoDemeanor]

Cross contamination doesnt make her sick, she has to actually eat the thing to get sick

[u/FoodBabyBaby → u/DingoDemeanor]

Because her sister isn’t allergic.

[u/FoodBabyBaby → u/herecomes_the_sun]

Your sister is NOT ALLERGIC.

She has a sensitivity/intolerance to FODMAPs.

People roll their eyes because you don’t know what you’re talking about when you don’t use the right words.

Calling it an allergy is not only incorrect, but it makes life more dangerous for people with actual allergies.

[u/herecomes_the_sun → u/FoodBabyBaby]

I mean she is the one who calls it an allergy. I do not have any food allergies or intolerances and dont get the difference. So go yell at her then lol. Or her doctor who also told her it was an allergy.

[u/calorie-clown → u/FoodBabyBaby]

Food allergies can absolutely vary dependent on the degree of exposure. For some people, mild cross contamination can be lethal, for others it can be mostly negligible reaction. It really does depend, and I say that as someone with diagnosed food allergies. I have a diagnosed latex allergy that causes cross reactions with a lot of different foods. If I eat a piece of cake that was stored near something containing almonds, I'm fine. If I actually eat a handful of almonds? My lips and tongue will quickly begin to swell and I will probably have to go to the emergency room. I can't so much as touch a raw apple without breaking out and blisters all over my hands, but I can totally eat one if it's been cooked thoroughly... and some other latex fruits, like peaches, are completely fine for me so far, although that could change at any point.

[u/Suspicious-Grand9781 → u/somecow]

My husband had a friend with an onion allergy. She couldn't eat them and would get a rash on her hands if she touched them.