Legal Sea Foods’ allergy-friendly service wins loyalty of new customers

[This AllergyEats Blog post guest written by Lisa Giuriceo, Facilitator of The Food Allergy and Asthma Support Group of North Jersey]

I am the parent of an eleven year old child with multiple food allergies to wheat, eggs, fish, peanuts, tree nuts, oats, rye, barley, sesame seeds, peas, and green beans.  Our child was diagnosed with food allergies at nine months of age.  From the beginning, my husband and I partnered with this philosphy: we would do all we could to provide our daughter with the tools to live a complete life while safely managing her food allergies.  At the young age of 2-1/2 years old, our child had an anaphylactic reaction after consuming French fries at a restaurant in New York City.  Thankfully, we had our Epi-pen with us and were able to get her immediate medical care at a city hospital.  We thought we did all the right things as parents.  We communicated our daughter’s allergies to the server and we were told the French fries would be safe for her to consume.  However, we never spoke directly to the chef to find out that the fryer was indeed contaminated with wheat and egg allergens.  After our feeling of guilt, we vowed never to make that mistake again.

My husband and I live an active lifestyle and we thoroughly enjoy dining out.  We enjoy going to a restaurant to relax and have a wonderful time with our family and friends.  Many cherished family memories have been made at restaurant tables over the years.  However, any parent of a food allergic child will tell you that dining out safely can be a daunting task.  Although years have passed since our daughter’s anaphylactic reaction, we always dine out with the memory of that terrible day of the reaction with us.

Throughout this eleven year long journey, we have discovered that Disney World is a good place to vacation because of the procedures in place at table service, sit down restaurants.  At Disney, we are given the opportunity to speak directly with the chef to discuss our child’s allergies.  After that discussion, she is served a safe meal free of her food allergens.  This protocol at Disney World restaurants has allowed us to dine safely while on vacation.

It has not been so easy to find this service and awareness from restaurants elsewhere.  After reading some positive review on the AllergyEats website, we discovered a true gem for food allergic diners, Legal Sea Foods.  I must admit we were hesitatant from the start.  It did not make sense to allow our child with a fish allergy to dine at a seafood restaurant.  Read the rest of this entry »

I was very excited back in 2009 and 2010 when Massachusetts passed, and then put into effect, the first ever statewide food allergy awareness law for restaurants.  My excitement and enthusiasm came not from the specifics of the law itself, but from the expectation that its passage would begin a cascade of other states enacting new laws related to food allergy awareness in restaurants.  And that is exactly what appears to be happening.  Rhode Island passed a law last year, very similar to the one in Massachusetts, which will go into effect in July.  There is also currently a strong effort to pass a similar law in Maryland.  And there are or have been rumblings in many other states as well, including Illinois, New York, Minnesota, Hawaii, and elsewhere.

All this sounds great… but I’m concerned.

I’m concerned because the Massachusetts law, being the first of its kind, is – to put it bluntly – weak.  (Note that I am a resident of Massachusetts.)  I wrote as much in a post on this blog back on October 18, 2010 titled: “Massachusetts food allergy awareness law goes into effect… but is it enough?“  And while I am encouraged by the efforts in other states, and particularly by the individual champions of these new bills, I strongly urge our national food allergy community and state legislators to push for improvements over the Massachusetts and Rhode Island laws.

Now, I understand that politics is politics and significant changes versus the existing Massachusetts and Rhode Island laws are highly unlikely.  I also recognize that many restaurateurs and some state restaurant associations will push back.  However, smaller incremental improvements that are in no way overly burdensome to a restaurant should be possible and need to be pushed for.

Let me lay out some thoughts, first regarding the existing Massachusetts law (and its relative clone in Rhode Island):

Read the rest of this entry »

“Everyone’s got their issues.  Be thankful food allergies are all you have.  If that’s the worst thing in your life, we’re really lucky.”

This is what I often tell my kids.  I don’t want them feeling sorry for themselves and on some level I don’t think they really have the “right” to.  They understand.  They accept that having food allergies is a challenge, but it is what it is… and it could be a lot worse.

Some of you may not agree.  My 3 kids’ food allergies – peanuts, tree nuts (2), dairy (2), egg, and sesame – seem much more manageable than what I know many of you deal with.  For some, the list of allergens is much longer, the dining much more restrictive (corn, soy, other less well-known allergens, etc.), and/or the allergy sensitivity much more severe (inhalation, etc.).  So in no way do I want to minimize how difficult the daily food allergy challenges are for many families, nor do I want to diminish the feelings of ANYONE dealing with food allergies – we all cope differently.  However, every now and then I see something that makes me believe even more strongly that my kids are in fact lucky.

It seems that almost every child I know or come across these days has some issue (actually, that’s not just reserved for children).  There are those with significant maladies better known to the general public like juvenile diabetes, leukemia and other cancers, autism, and more.  There are those with very challenging “hidden” diseases like various forms of mental illness and I’d even include distressing or dangerous family dynamics, etc.  And there seem to be more and more children growing up with less well-known and rare issues – some that are quite severe, lifelong, affect very few people and very little research dollars.  I have come across a disturbing number of children suffering in this last category.

So in light of all that, yes, I feel my children are lucky.

I was given another reminder the other day from a member of our very own food allergy community.  Last Tuesday – March 5 – I shared on the AllergyEats Facebook page a Wall Street Journal article entitled “Food Allergy Advice for Parents: Start Peanuts, Eggs and More Sooner.”  Now, I won’t go into my thoughts on the content of that article here (go to the Facebook page to see more), but one of the reader comments really struck me and filled me with compassion, sadness, and optimism – all in 5 simple sentences.  Let me share the comment from Susan Callahan here:

As a 70-yr-old with a life-long peanut allergy, I feel I have come from prehistoric times into a new world of allergy awareness and knowledge.  In my childhood I was ridiculed in school and my parents took me to my family doctor who did not know how to help.  Somehow I survived without epipens and coping skills almost with just sheer instinct and luck.  I wished I had lived more fully, traveled without fear and taken more opportunities in life.  I say to today’s parents give your food-allergic child coping skills and the information to fly like a bird (with an epi under his/her wing).

My children are tremendously lucky by comparison.  Read the rest of this entry »

A game changer.  No doubt about it.  As a stock analyst and portfolio manager years ago, I was always wary of mergers – most do NOT work out well for stakeholders – but I learned to recognize those that simply made sense, where one plus one would equal more than two.  Such is the case with the combination of the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) and Kids With Food Allergies Foundation (KFA), which was announced today.  The sum of the combined entity will clearly be greater than the strengths of each individual organization.

To read the press release from the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America announcing this merger, please click here: AAFA KFA PRESS RELEASE.

Here’s the landscape as I see it now:

AAFA  is the oldest and largest nonprofit patient organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with asthma, allergies, and related conditions.  Their work is both “top-down” (advocacy, research, education, etc.) and “bottom-up” (helping individuals directly).  AAFA is the only allergy organization on the National Health Council, and the only patient organization that provides research funding for both asthma and allergies.  AAFA has 8 chapters in various regions around the U.S. as well as many support groups.  These chapters and support groups offer traditional outreach via face-to-face gatherings, hosting expert speakers, providing a place for individuals to speak with someone live about their questions and concerns, and providing many other services that bring together and help individuals dealing with asthma and allergies.

KFA is the best “bottom-up” resource for individuals dealing specifically with food allergies, thanks to its patient education programs, webinars (a new and very successful addition!), allergy buyers’ buide, electronic database of allergen-free recipes, and more.  KFA’s “crown jewel” however, in my opinion, is its highly active and motivated online community of people dealing with food allergies in their families every day.  Sharing their stories, questions, advice, resources, and more through dozens of daily posts on KFA’s message boards, this community provides almost instantaneous feedback to any question or issue relevant to the food allergy community.

So why am I so excited by this merger?

• I am excited to see the creation of an organization better equipped to help the tens of millions of individuals dealing with one or a combination of allergies, anaphylaxis, asthma, and more, via each organization’s existing resources – together AAFA and KFA will be the most comprehensive nonprofit source of education, advocacy, research, social networking and support for millions of families living with these diseases
• Read the rest of this entry »

This blog post has been a long time coming.  I’ve been waiting to write this since AllergyEats began just about 3 years ago, but I wanted to be sure we had a large enough sample of restaurant ratings by the food allergy community for this list to be relevant and accurate.  With total ratings now in the tens of thousands, I am comfortable that hurdle has been met.  (As an FYI, AllergyEats is issuing a public press release on this subject today which can be found here: http://www.allergyeats.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/AllergyEats-Release-Best-Rated-Restaurants-FINAL-130213.pdf)

Some may question the relevance of posting a list of the most allergy-friendly restaurant chains.  After all, just because a chain is considered allergy-friendly doesn’t mean each individual restaurant in the chain is equally accommodating, especially with some chains having franchised units as well as corporate ones… right?

While the point has some validity – and certainly there are outliers in every case – there is actually an incredibly high correlation in allergy-friendliness ratings among restaurants belonging to the same chain.  In other words, if a chain has a high allergy-friendliness rating, generally the bulk of its individual restaurants does as well.  And vice versa.  (Of course, the chain ratings are actually derived from the individual restaurant ratings, so this makes sense.)  There aren’t many chains with an equal distribution of ratings from 1 to 5.  Why?  My strong belief is that the commitment to allergy-friendliness – or lack thereof – comes from the top.  If the owners, CEOs, and managers of restaurants and chains make allergy-friendliness a priority, the culture in each restaurant will likely reflect that.  And again, vice versa.  This is true not just with allergy-friendliness and not just with restaurants, but with companies of all sizes and in all industries.

Get to the point, you say?  So be it.

Restaurant chains were grouped into three categories – Large (over 200 units), Medium (50-200 units), and Small (under 50 units).  The following lists the most allergy-friendly chains through January 2013, as a result of diner feedback on the AllergyEats website and free smartphone app.  Ratings are on a scale of 1 (least allergy-friendly) to 5 (most allergy-friendly).

Large (over 200 units):

• Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (4.47 rating)
• P.F. Chang’s China Bistro (4.45 rating)
• Chipotle Mexican Grill (4.38 rating)
• Outback Steakhouse (4.34 rating)
• Longhorn Steakhouse (4.30 rating)

Medium (50-200 units):

• Bonefish Grill (4.50 rating)
• Ninety Nine Restaurant (4.22 rating)
• Zpizza (4.22 rating)
• Uno Chicago Grill (4.22 rating)
• Bertucci’s Brick Oven Restaurant (4.13 rating)

Small (under 50 units):

• Burtons Grill (4.88 rating)
• Maggiano’s Little Italy (4.76 rating)
• Not Your Average Joe’s (4.73 rating)
• Legal Sea Foods (4.65 rating)
• Papa Razzi (4.64 rating)

The following restaurant chains (of all sizes) were recommended more often than any other, with the highest number of positive ratings and reviews:

• Red Robin Gourmet Burgers
• Outback Steakhouse
• Chipotle Mexican Grill
• P.F. Chang’s China Bistro
• Not Your Average Joe’s

Of course, we couldn’t present this information if it wasn’t for the dedicated users and raters on our AllergyEats website and free smartphone app sharing their experiences.  So thank you all!  People are always asking which chains are the most accommodating for diners with food allergies.  Now that question can be answered with confidence.

So what do you think?  Are you surprised?  Did your favorite chain make the list or not?  I welcome and look forward to as much feedback as possible on this post.  Please share your thoughts in the Reply box below.  (Note that you can’t leave comments from the blog home page – you must click on the post title first if you don’t see the Reply area.)

Great things are happening right now at AllergyEats, and you have made it all possible thanks to your participation.  Each time you rate a new dining experience, AllergyEats becomes a more powerful tool for the entire food allergy and intolerance community.  So if you’ve dined out recently, please take a moment to go to www.allergyeats.com or our free smartphone app and add your ratings.  Each one takes just a minute, but means so much.

AllergyEats: A Helpful, Free Resource for the Holidays:

Reduces Stress Around Dining Out, Parties and Traveling

Growing Site, App & Online Community Offer Valuable Information

For People with Food Allergies & Intolerances

BOSTON, MA (December 17, 2012) –  During the holidays, many of us dine out more often, while traveling to visit family and friends, shopping for gifts or vacationing during school break.  For the over 15 million people with food allergies and intolerances, dining out can be tremendously stressful, especially when navigating unfamiliar restaurants.  AllergyEats (www.AllergyEats.com), the most comprehensive source for finding allergy-friendly restaurants, offers a solution.  The free website, smartphone app and online community provide valuable, peer-based information about how well – or poorly – restaurants accommodate people with food allergies and intolerances, helping these individuals make more informed decisions about which restaurants to visit and which to avoid. 

“Much of the holidays revolve around food, which can be a huge source of anxiety for people with food allergies and intolerances.  AllergyEats, a peer-based website, smartphone app and social media community, can help reduce that stress dramatically by aiding food-allergic and gluten intolerant individuals in finding accommodating restaurants,” said Paul Antico, Founder of AllergyEats, father of three food-allergic children and passionate food allergy advocate.   

Antico, who has dined out extensively with his three food-allergic children, offers the following tips to other food-allergic families who are navigating the holiday season – and all of the restaurant meals, parties and travel stops that go with it: 

• Research restaurants in advance.  Whether you’re traveling across town or across the country, Read the rest of this entry »

A significant part of my life every day is reading. I read everything I can find about food allergies and intolerances, restaurants, and any related subject.  I read newspapers, glossy magazines and trade journals, medical studies, online e-zines, social media posts, and blog entries – from the most popular to the most obscure.  Going through this process helps me become as educated as I can possibly be about food allergies and dining out.  It also helps me find great content to share with you via this AllergyEats Blog and our social media pages.

So it was that I came upon a blog which I had never heard of before the end of October.  Titled “Food Allergy Gal,” it is written by a woman (Lara) who was diagnosed with food allergies 10 years ago (to 9 foods) and started her own food allergy consulting practice for commercial kitchens 2-1/2 years ago.  To quote her background as she shares it: “I love food.  Food is the essence of everything wonderful.  I hate that I have food allergies.  I would do anything to be able to eat everything again.  Enjoying one of everything on the menu and sharing with a group of 10 was the way I grew up.“  Lara is one of a rising number of individuals who have developed “adult onset food allergies,” which get less media attention than the staggering number of children with food allergies.

What caught my attention the day I came upon Lara’s blog was a post she had written which I thought was simply awesome, titled “Now taking Reservations Nov 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012. The lunch with Food Allergy Gal Challenge.”  It is exactly what it says it is – a challenge to restaurateurs to have lunch with her (“It’s not a bashing session or a public humiliation; it’s just a day in the life of what we [food allergic diners] go through“).  The challenge stemmed from her frustration with “so many people in the hospitality industry [being] so ‘not nice’ to me.”

Personally, I have experienced more individuals who were willing to go the extra mile for my food allergic children than those who weren’t accommodating to us, but the genuineness with which Lara expresses her frustration shows she has in fact been much less fortunate in that regard.  “I occasionally find some [restaurant staff] who understand. I don’t want to be food allergic, and I’m not trying to be a pain in the neck.  I just want to live well, and part of that includes eating out with friends, clients and family.  I am basically begging you (restaurant, bakery, catering company) to let me spend my money with you, so please stop saying ‘No!’ and better yet, please stop making me sick.  I’d love to come back to your restaurant and know I can eat there safely.”  Lara also bemoans the fact that many chain restaurants have allergen guides, gluten free menus, and nutrition info online, but that “everything is very different” when you actually go into the individual restaurant.  I can attest to this being the case with some of the poorer AllergyEats rated chains in the country, but on the flip side the best are the best for a reason – they “get it” and are consistent.

So, as Food Allergy Gal put it, “tough times call for drastic measures!”  And so it was that she decided to put out the challenge at the top of her blog post which read:

 

October 29, 2012

To: VP, CEO, Chef or Owner of foodservice

From: Food Allergy Gal

Re: Lunch

Please let me buy you lunch at your facility.

It doesn’t matter what type of kitchen you have from a grocery store hot meal kitchen, to a restaurant to a hospital.  Lunch with me is always, a challenge.  Let’s eat out together.  It’s an education and enlightenment, not to mention a major challenge.  Let me show you how to attract new customers who will be loyal and bring their friends too.

Later, she says about this challenge: Read the rest of this entry »

Regular readers of the AllergyEats Blog know that I am a huge fan of the Massachusetts and Washington DC regional chain Not Your Average Joe’s.  With 17 units in total, an AllergyEats allergy-friendliness chain rating of 4.8/5.0, a stellar reputation for accommodating all guests (beyond just those with food allergy needs), and with SIX of the top spots in OpenTable’s recent list of the 75 most kid-friendly restaurants in America, Not Your Average Joe’s has deserved all the praise I’ve heaped upon them.

I first met CEO Steve Silverstein about two years ago.  I was so impressed with his dedication to customer service, his willingness to be on the cutting edge of restaurant trends, and the chain’s reputation for allergy-friendliness that I asked if we could interview him for this blog.  I strongly recommend those looking for the right attitude in restaurant leadership read that entry from April 2011: “What makes Not Your Average Joe’s well above average? – Let’s hear from the CEO.”  Recently, when AllergyEats hosted the Inaugural Food Allergy Conference for Restaurateurs, Steve was one of three members on our Restaurants That Get It Right panel (along with Rich Vellante from Legal Sea Foods and Jim O’Brien from Jake’s Seafood).  In addition, a few other members of the chain came to the conference purely as attendees.

Fortunately for us, Steve and the Not Your Average Joe’s team are also fans of AllergyEats.  Along with co-hosting gatherings and tastings at their restaurants to welcome the food allergy and gluten free communities, many Not Your Average Joe’s restaurants proactively promote AllergyEats to diners who come in with special dietary needs.  By doing so, they help increase awareness of AllergyEats (which benefits all of us!) and they help improve their profile on AllergyEats since they’re confident diners will give them positive reviews.

Steve occasionally forwards me an email he’s received from a manager or diner that he thinks I would be interested in reading.  However, I’ve never been so impressed by one as I was with the email he forwarded me last week.  I told him I had to share this with all of you, and he obliged.  Please enjoy.  [Note: Bold and Italics added by me.]

“I wanted to take this opportunity to share a story with you all that occurred on Sunday November 4th between myself [sous chef Paul] and Guy [restaurant manager].  Around 8:15 a young lady came to our restaurant to dine with us.  Upon noticing her we realized that she was wearing a custom surgical mask and what appeared to be mittens.  After the party sat and was greeted by Christina [server], we were alerted to [the] fact that one of the members of the group had multiple allergies (in fact wearing an allergy bracelet).  Guy quickly greeted the table.  After about 10 min of speaking with the guest, Guy returned to the kitchen with a list of allergies that neither one of [us] had ever been presented with before.  She was highly allergic to all forms of nuts, gluten, garlic, soy, parsley, cilantro, shellfish, potato, onion, berries, vinegar, wine, [maple] syrup, legumes, tomato, peppers, pineapple, ginger and a lactose intolerance.  After hearing that list I wanted to speak with her as I was nervous about any product that she could have, being near or around all of the items she was allergic to.  Anything that she could eat safely could not be in close proximity to any of the items.  After a lengthy conversation we came up with a menu of salmon atop a salad of mixed greens with goat cheese, seasoned and flavored with salt, pepper and lemon.  As you can imagine the steps we had to take to safely prepare this meal were many.  First we ran a clean saute pan through dish[washer], opened up a fresh box of foil and carefully wrapped the salmon in the foil while in the walkin [freezer].  The next step was place the wrapped salmon into the pan and into the oven.  We then had to get a fresh tube of goat cheese, new box of greens, and two lemons (which we wrapped in foil as well, during plating process).  Next we ran a clean large pasta bowl through dish[washer].  At this point Guy and I plated this dish together.  Guy held the plate while I carefully built the item in the dish, changing my gloves between touching each item including opening the bag of mix and changing gloves to grab the mix.  At this point, the production was so large that the service staff was now in the prep kitchen just to watch this dish being built.  We finally were finished and we presented the young lady with a great plate of food and she could not have been more grateful for what our restaurant had done for her as she could not remember the last time she had even gone out ot eat.  I checked back on her after a few bites.  She was safe and she thought her food was excellent.  I wanted to share this story because it says a lot about what our company does in regards to allergy awareness, training and operational procedures.  All of this being greatly heightened by our participation in the AllergyEats Conference.  This is just another small example of what we do for our guests at Not Your Average Joe’s.”

 

That’s commitment.  That’s knowledge.  That’s training.  That’s Not Your Average Joe’s.  And that’s the model for so many others!

Does this story impress you as much as it does me?  What are the first thoughts that come to your head after reading this?  Do you know of similarly amazing efforts by a restaurant staff?  Please click Comment or Reply below to share your thoughts and opinions.  We’d love to hear them!

Also, please help our food allergy and intolerance community by rewarding those restaurants that have acoommodated YOU well (and give a thumbs-down to those who have not) by rating any recent restaurant experiences on our core AllergyEats site at www.allergyeats.com or on our free smartphone app.  Rating a restaurant takes just a minute, but makes AllergyEats a more valuable tool for all of us.

Given the online, offline, and social media reaction to our September blog post about the increase in restaurants that won’t accommodate any special dietary requests or menu substitutions, we decided to make the views of AllergyEats more public via a national press release that went out today.  As always, we try to represent the community well and in a way that is not demanding, yet respectful of the fact that restaurant owners can run their establishments as they see fit.  However, we do continue to try hard to educate these restaurateurs that they can “do well by doing good” – experience a significant increase in long-term revenues and profits by learning how to safety accommodate food allergic and intolerant diners.  This is the true win-win that we think more and more restaurant owners are beginning to understand.

In any case, please feel free to let us know what you think of this press release by clicking on Reply or Comments below.

AllergyEats: Restaurants’ “No Substitutions” Policies Are A Concerning New Trend

Restaurant Owners Have the Right to Make their Own Rules,

But It’s Disappointing that Some Choose Not to Accommodate Food-Allergic Guests

BOSTON, MA (November 13, 2012) –  At New York City diner Shopsin’s, owner Kenny Shopsin doesn’t allow any substitutions to his menu items for any reason – including guests’ food allergies.  While many restaurant owners are willing and able to substitute ingredients or leave them out altogether to accommodate food-allergic guests, an increasing number of restaurateurs are choosing not to, implementing strict “no substitutions” policies instead. Paul Antico, Founder of AllergyEats, calls this a concerning trend for people with food allergies and intolerances.

“While I strongly believe that restaurant owners have the right to make their own rules, it’s disappointing that some opt to enforce ‘no substitutions’ policies, where they won’t accommodate food-allergic guests,” Antico said.  Antico created AllergyEats, the leading guide to allergy-friendly restaurants, to help food-allergic families quickly and easily find restaurants that will cater to their special dietary requirements – and avoid the ones that won’t.

Diner owner Shopsin has a different opinion.  “Some people tell me that they’re deathly allergic to something and that I have to make sure it’s not in their food. I kick them out,” Shopsin wrote in his book Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin. If someone has a food allergy, he recommends they “go eat at a hospital” instead.  Typically, restaurant owners aren’t as blunt as Shopsin, but he’s certainly not the only one implementing “no substitutions” policies.

Read the rest of this entry »

AllergyEats recently presented The Inaugural Food Allergy Conference for Restaurateurs: What Every Restaurant Should Know About Food Allergies To Ensure Safety & Maximize Customer Engagement, Loyalty, and Revenue, an educational event for people in the restaurant industry.  Participants – including food service operators, chefs and restaurant owners – heard from an impressive panel of industry experts, who explained how to become more knowledgeable and accommodating about food allergies.

Paul Antico, Founder/CEO of AllergyEats, galvanized a variety of highly-respected experts to speak at the event, including:

• Rich Vellante, Executive Chef and Executive Vice President of Restaurants, Legal Sea Foods, Inc.
• Kevin Scott, Region Manager, Northeast, National Restaurant Association
• Betsy Craig, CEO/Founder, Kitchens with Confidence
• Steve Silverstein, Founder/CEO, Not Your Average Joe’s, Inc.
• Jim O’Brien, Owner/CEO, Jake’s Seafood
• Michele Carrick, MSW, LICSW, Member, Board of Directors for the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
• Ted Bazakos, Vice President, New England Restaurant Brokers, Food Service Advisor
• Dr. Wayne Shreffler, MD, PhD, Director, Food Allergy Center, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Dr. Michael Pistiner, MMSc,  Pediatric Allergist and Medical Director of Shared Medical Appointments for Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, and Instructor of Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital

Paul, a former fund manager for Fidelity Investments who now runs AllergyEats, serves on the Board of Directors for the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America and is a passionate food allergy advocate, also served as a panelist.

Michele Carrick

Peter Christie

Peter Christie, President and CEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, welcomed the crowd, praised AllergyEats for organizing and implementing the event – the first of its kind – and vowed to partner with AllergyEats on similar events in the future.  Then, during four separate panel discussions, the experts provided valuable information, tips and advice about accommodating food-allergic guests, reducing the fear around serving guests with food allergies and building customer loyalty and profits by becoming more allergy-friendly.

The experts explained that the prevalence of food allergies and intolerances has risen in recent years and, therefore, it’s imperative that restaurateurs be able to comfortably accommodate food-allergic guests.  One mistake in the kitchen could be deadly for a guest – and could result in a restaurant-ending fallout.

“Ignorance is the main risk,” Peter Christie, CEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, told the crowd, adding there’s a potential for danger that exists when food isn’t handled properly.

Read the rest of this entry »