While basic awareness of peanut and tree nut allergies is growing, the questions and comments we hear on a daily basis still highlight a poor understanding of what it means to live with the risk of anaphylaxis. At best, they come from people who simply haven't needed to think about allergies. At worst, these questions can reveal that a restaurant or service, that supposedly caters to allergies, does not have the right practices in place and is operating on a 'it won’t happen to us' basis.
Talking to our community, we’ve gathered some common experiences to show why allergy understanding and accommodation has a long way to go.
"Are you okay with traces?"
No we’re not, that’s the entire premise of an allergy. While people might see this as an innocent question, it implies the understanding of an allergy as an intolerance, and not something that could result in a fatal anaphylactic reaction. All allergies are serious, and potentially life threatening in the right circumstances. In many restaurants, the idea of traces present in food is mixed up with 'may contain traces', which adds further risk.
"Is it a serious allergy?"
AKA, can we get away with not really catering to you? This is simply a question that gets in the way of someone trying to manage their allergy when ordering food. It is not the responsibility of staff to quantify an allergy, only to provide accurate allergen information and relay requests to the kitchen properly. If a restaurant cannot cater to nut allergies, then that’s okay - honesty is better than unnecessary risk.
There are rare exceptions to this, some restaurants may be asking as they have a completely separate menu for those with what they categorise as severe allergies.
"So extra nuts, yeah?"
While cracking jokes can be a way for waiting staff to break the ice, this can leave someone with a nut allergy on edge. This is a life threatening condition, and not taking it seriously creates a lack of trust. The whole point of disclosing an allergy is so that the person can feel safe, and can focus on enjoying their food. It shouldn’t be a cause of anxiety. Leaving the restaurant without ordering in response to this would not be an overreaction.
"Oh I couldn’t live without my PB&J sandwiches."
Exclusionary comments like this can make people with nut allergies feel isolated and awkward. They’re simply not needed and are a strange way of framing allergies as if they are lifestyle choices.
"Is it airborne?"
Commonly asked by flight staff when travelling, it takes away from the risks of surface-contamination and food safety, putting the focus on one highly debated aspect of nut allergies. There’s a common conception that peanut and tree nut particles can travel through aircraft ventilation systems and cause an allergic reaction. In fact, allergic reactions from food are around 10 - 100 times less common during flights than 'on the ground', perhaps because of the multiple precautions passengers take when flying [1].
"Oh it’s just pasta"
Commonly heard when travelling abroad, allergy questions are met with patronising disbelief and dismissal about specific foods. This is usually due to a lack of understanding about traces of nuts, or manufacturing processes, and a complacency that the whole ingredient of nuts is not included so it must be fine.
"No reaction yet? Still alive then?"
The easiest way to ruin someone’s meal that previously felt safe. While this might sound funny, it makes an allergic person doubt that all the right precautions were taken for a meal they’re midway through eating.
"Can't you just pick the nuts out?"
The most persistent misconception about cross-contamination in a single sentence. It reveals a complete lack of understanding about how allergic reactions work. The protein is the trigger.
"My friend has a nut allergy and they eat here all the time"
Using someone else's risk tolerance to dismiss yours, implies that if one allergic person survived it must be fine, and completely ignores that allergy severity varies enormously between individuals.
"Have you tried just eating a little bit to build up a tolerance?"
Medically illiterate and genuinely risky advice that allergic people hear surprisingly often, sometimes from well-meaning relatives. Oral immunotherapy is a real clinical treatment. What isn't real is the idea that casually eating a bit of peanut at dinner will help.
"Are you sure it's an allergy and not just an intolerance?"
The medical sceptic. Implies the allergic person doesn't know their own medical history and subtly encourages them to question whether any precautions are really necessary.
All of this highlights that allergy policies are not enough on their own to create safe environments. Staff must take policy and training seriously enough to not disparage nut allergy sufferers, and make sure they’re asking the right questions. While many restaurants are improving, there is a feeling that a large reason policies are in place is to simply cover legal risks, rather than being there for the benefit of the allergy sufferer. One of the best things restaurants can do is appoint a dedicated allergy lead, to ensure all requests trigger the right procedures.
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