Dining out with peanut/tree nut allergy

hope some of the restaurants will post or others who have experienced this; we have the same problem with one of my grandchildren and it makes eating out as a family almost impossible.

We were at Shorty's and overheard someone ask the waiter what type of oil they used and he said not peanut oil. Hope this helps.

Just call ahead to your restaurant of of choice and ask to speak to the manager (no offence to the Hosts out there, but sometimes they just give you the answer they think you want to hear ). Any manager along 30A will be more than willing to give you accurate info about their kitchens product use.

I have been trying to think of restaurants and between salads, desserts, and "Encrusted" items am having a hard time finding a completely nut free environment.

yeah, it is a real problem particularly if one is allergic to just a trace of the nuts...ice cream shops are out--has made life very different for my grandson. Some of his favorite things to do he can no longer do...so that means no one in the family can either. It is difficult.

Glenda, I can definitely sympathize with you. How old is your grandson?
It's sad to not be able to take my daughter over to the ice cream shop and get a cone, or all the other small things we did when we were kids that were such a treat. I also have a 5 year old and it's sad to always tell him he can't have something because she can't have it (he has no food allergies). I look at other children eating whatever, where ever and I wish my daughter could. I bought a cuisinart ice cream machine and I make it at home, but there's nothing like just going and getting some for a daytime treat, or ordering food at a restaurant and be able to eat your food and not having to be worried sick that something could happen at any moment in time.

I feel so badly for children (and adults) with peanut allergies. Just out of curiousity, twilkerson and Glenda, have your children/grandchildren's schools banned other students from bringing PB&J sandwiches in their lunch boxes? That has been an issue here in Georgia.

So sorry.

OK, I'll (once again) prove my ignorance. Where & when did such severe allergies to even traces of peanuts arise? When I was a kid in the '60s, I don't believe this existed... we sure never heard of it anyway.

My wife was on a plane last month & as the plane was pushing back, the PA announced that no one in rows 1-22 could even think of pulling out anything peanut-containing, since a child in the midst of those rows was allergic. That was a new one to her.

@ Passin Thru, I don't know when it happened. It wasn't an issue when I was a child, But it's becoming more and more common and I don't know why.
@ Beach Runner, my daughter is only 2, but because of the severity of her allergy she will not attend preschool or Elementary school. I will be homeschooling her. I live "in the country" and they're not very knowledgeable out here on food allergies. They don't ban it at the school my 5 year old will be attending in the fall. They only have a "peanut free table" in the lunchroom, which is not adequate to those children who are allergic to the airborne peanut particles. Plus I think it is really sad to sit a child at the "peanut free table" while all the other children sit together. When I went to tour the school last month for my 5 year old (who has know known food allergies) I saw that they had a snack that went around to all the classrooms in the afternoon and there were butterfingers and plenty of other peanut containing products on it. I asked about the children with the peanut allergies and how the snack cart was handles and they said it was up to the teacher of each particular classroom. they might sit the peanut allergic child across the room from the kids eating butterfingers and such. In the neighboring county that I grew up in there are actual nut-free schools that make sure products that contain even traces are not brought in. I would love to send my daughter there, but it is a half hour away and is a private school. I have heard of other public schools in the neighboring county banning the PB, but I think it depends on the school and what they want to do.

@ Beach Runner, my daughter is only 2, but because of the severity of her allergy she will not attend preschool or Elementary school. I will be homeschooling her. I live "in the country" and they're not very knowledgeable out here on food allergies. They don't ban it at the school my 5 year old will be attending in the fall. They only have a "peanut free table" in the lunchroom, which is not adequate to those children who are allergic to the airborne peanut particles. Plus I think it is really sad to sit a child at the "peanut free table" while all the other children sit together. When I went to tour the school last month for my 5 year old (who has know known food allergies) I saw that they had a snack that went around to all the classrooms in the afternoon and there were butterfingers and plenty of other peanut containing products on it. I asked about the children with the peanut allergies and how the snack cart was handles and they said it was up to the teacher of each particular classroom. they might sit the peanut allergic child across the room from the kids eating butterfingers and such. In the neighboring county that I grew up in there are actual nut-free schools that make sure products that contain even traces are not brought in. I would love to send my daughter there, but it is a half hour sucaway and is a private school. I have heard of other public schools in the neighboring county banning the PB, but I think it depends on the school and what they want to do.

This is so wrong. School officials need to be more educated and more proactive about such health issues. Does the ADA law protect children like yours?

I've read that there is a 504 plan under the American with Disabilities act that would include children with food allergies. However, because the majority of children do not have a food allergy they are often singled out. I am a fan on a facebook page for mother's with children who have nut allergies and all to often, I read about other children picking on the peanut allergic child and sticking peanut butter crackers in their desk at school, etc. Plus there was the recent incident with the 1st grader at Edgewater Elementary in Fl who became a big target and parents were even picketing outside of the school and holding cruel signs because they were mad that there children could not bring in peanut butter or because they couldn't bring in party treats, even though the mother of the child with the allergy provided nut-free treats for all the kids in the class room for a holiday party. The other parents in the school wanted the 6 year old with the allergy removed from the classroom and home-schooled, rather than deal with special rules to protect her health. That 6 year old also had a threating letter sent to her house saying that they were going to put peanut butter in her backpack. To me, it's just not worth it to have my daughter singled out.
Here's an article regarding that little girl with the allergy:http://www.epicparenting.com/teachable-moments/inconvenient-life-allergies-kids-school/

Here is a very interesting article about peanut-sniffing service dogs.

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=6990365&page=1

To answer your original question, if your daughter is deathly allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, then no restaurant is safe for her. Most restaurnants have pecans, walnuts and/or hazelnuts on the menu (as well as pine nuts). And even if they don't have these ingredients on the menu, there is no guarantee that some of the products have not come in contact with nuts at some point in production.
I wish you luck for the future

Glenda,
Last night I was on facebook and came across a page of a woman who has a daughter with food allergies and she created a website called kid friendly Florida. She has a facebook page as well if you have facebook. https://www.facebook.com/pages/kidfriendlyfloridacom/96834963258
She said Tommy Bahama was good with allergies. Although I don't think her child is allergic to nuts, just gluten and dairy. It would be worth checking into though. She also said that there weren't many suitable restaurants in the area that were suitable for food allergies
We just had a gluten free nut free restaurant announce their opening in Louisville, KY and I am really excited about that. I wish there were more of them! I am seriously considering opening my own because there are so few places.

Millseynz has the right idea, call around and ask the manager (or even better, ask the chef). There are several restaurants in the area that can probably accomodate. We get quite a few special requests/dietary needs/allergies every night that we can work with, so I can only assume other places have options just out of necessity.

That behavior described is ridiculous. Parents like that is a large part of why our schools are failing IMO. We had classmates that were allergic - usually to bees and strawberries - and it was simply accommodated. Some schools are getting rid of brought in snacks anyway due to obesity issues.

As a kid I certainly wouldn't want to not be able to eat things because someone else was allergic, but that is life. Nut free schools and planes seem extreme - is there no other way to protect these kids?

My daughters school has kids that have peanut allergies. But instead of make a "peanut free" table all tables are peanut free except for 1. You sit at the peanut table if you've brought something for lunch that contains nuts. The table is decorated (marked) so during cleanings or meetings there is no chance that the peanut table will get mixed in with the others. The kids at the "peanut table" are even escorted to a separate washroom so they wash their hands.

My only concern is that your child is deathly allergic to nuts...even airbourne. If a restaurant has nuts in any of their preparation, those nuts could go airbourne and contaminate the food, regardless of how careful the chef is. As far as I am concerned...that is not a risk I would be willing to take (as a chef or a paernt). Just my thoughts.

My daughters school has kids that have peanut allergies. But instead of make a "peanut free" table all tables are peanut free except for 1. You sit at the peanut table if you've brought something for lunch that contains nuts. The table is decorated (marked) so during cleanings or meetings there is no chance that the peanut table will get mixed in with the others. The kids at the "peanut table" are even escorted to a separate washroom so they wash their hands.

This is awesome that her school does this.

ktschris that is awesome! I wish more schools would adopt that idea.
Allifun, I don't know if she is allergic to airborne particles. She is only 2. We found out at 8 months old that she was allergic to peanuts, and about 6 months ago found out that she was allergic even to traces of peanuts in food, when she ate her first "store bought" cookie at my 5 year old's Christmas preschool program. I had kept her away from all of that until my husband said he was tired of her not being normal and offered her a cookie. Within 5 minutes she reacted. It was a iced oatmeal cookie that had been prepared in the same facility that processed peanut products and she went into anaphylaxis. I don't take her into restaurants that throw peanut shells onto the floor and we don't eat in restaurants that fry in peanut oil. I also never sit her at a table where anyone is eating anything with peanuts in it.

Hi all, I have been away from Internet on a trip. This is a serious situation I'll share more ofour experience later. I am also curious about why it is becoming more common. In our case, it is a life threatening situation and there is nothing to be done except the Epipen to administer the antidote...if one is exposed and to try and avoid. Very difficult situation,.

In your case then you are probably ok. Speak to the manager or chef and I am sure they would be more than willing to accomodate you. I know our restaurant does not fry with peanut oil, so you are safe with the fries. You also have the option of grilled fish or chicken. We do incorporate hazelnuts (dessert), pecans and walnuts in our menu, but they are confined to the salad station. A responsible restaurant should be careful of cross contamination of products in their meals.
Glenda, I am like you, I wonder why this has become such a common health hazard. What has caused this?

Studies suggest that it is possible that because we dry roast our peanuts as opposed to boiling them, it is causing them to be more allergenic. There are also some that say it might be because we are much cleaner than we were years ago and our antibodies have turned on something else. I've also read that eating a lot of peanuts when pregnant could cause it. I ate peanut butter A LOT when I was pregnant and nursing my daughter. When she was an infant she would wake up crying in the middle of the night and she would be covered in a rash from head to toe. I would put her in the bathtub because I didn't know what was wrong with her. I took her to the Dr over and over and they kept telling me it was eczema. I knew she had eczema, but this was not eczema. Later when I found out she was allergic to peanuts and I quit eating them, her rash never came back and her skin cleared up. Every time one is exposed to peanuts, the reaction gets worse and worse. The last time she reacted with the oatmeal cookie,her mouth swelled, her blood pressure dropped, and she started projectile vomiting, so I used the epi pen and we went to the hospital. I wish someone could come up with a cure or at least to make reactions not as severe.