Food fads are life-threatening to people like me

Understanding food-related allergies is not rocket science. So why are simple pleasures like dining out with friends still leading people to tears or trips to the emergency department, asks Kathy McCabe.

The bread looked too soft, too doughy, too scrumptious to be gluten-free.

I asked the server at the inner city cafe in Sydney to check if it was indeed, free of gluten. He returned with the good news it was minus any pesky protein.

Remaining of the suspicion that if I think it is too good to be true then it probably isn’t gluten-free, I asked to see the packaging.

Off the amiable waiter went again and returned to assure me it was the gluten-free good stuff and they were trialling it from a new supplier and the packaging was just plastic wrap. So I ate half a slice.

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Within five minutes, stomach acid had erupted lava-style up my oesophagus. My scalp, the skin behind my knees and my wrists were equally on fire, itching like a swarm of mosquitoes had found a human-sized food truck.

Those “bites” soon turned to enormous welts, my face began to swell and everything got hot and sweaty.

My gluten allergy leads to epipen injections and getting to the GP as quickly as I can. Picture: iStock

After several rounds with anaphylaxis after ingestion of wheat or gluten since my allergy was diagnosed about 15 years ago, I know to pop an antihistamine, sit quietly and calmly while maintaining my breathing, stab myself with an epipen and get to a doctor ASAP to make sure the reaction is stabilised.

I’m lucky that the onset of my symptoms is gradual — hastened by “exercise” which could even be a slow walk to help — so I have time to deal with the reaction.

Others who suffer severe food allergies don’t have that luxury. They can be dead within mere minutes.

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It turned out the waiter in this case of the wrong bread had been given the wrong plate with the wrong toast.

He had done everything in his power to confirm the product was gluten-free and there was GF bread available, it just wasn’t the pair of slices on the plate delivered to me.

And like the woman who painstakingly pointed out the dinner options on the menu of the southern Sydney suburbs restaurant I went to last week, there are many allergy-aware and educated members of the hospitality industry in Australia.

Peanut and other nut allergies are also on the rise. Picture: iStock

I wish I could list all the cafes and restaurants who have been professional and helpful and welcoming to this allergy sufferer because I am lucky to have found so many. And therefore, I will continue to dine out.

The problem is, it isn’t all of them.

There is a dangerous, life-threatening inconsistency in allergy awareness in our dining establishments.

Some waiters, managers and chefs don’t understand the protocols around food allergies and wish you didn’t frequent their establishment so they don’t have to worry about it.

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I have been asked to leave a restaurant during a get-together with a group of friends because the manager at the Asian restaurant confused my wheat allergy with a peanut one and insisted there was nothing I could eat.

It took about 15 minutes to calm him down, explain rice is my friend and here’s a couple of other options and we’re all good.

Others have disappointingly dismissed a gluten allergy as a lifestyle diet choice, like cutting carbs.

Some cafes and restaurants are great at understanding allergies, but many need a lot more work. Picture: iStock

For that erroneous world view, I blame the hip cafe owners who post snarky blackboards declaring those seeking a GF meal are not welcome at their joint. We ain’t being precious, we just can’t eat your delicious sourdough.

As someone whose anaphylactic reactions have always been in public places — I’m hardly going to poison myself with my own cooking — I would do anything not to provoke fear and worry in servers, chefs and fellow diners.

It’s not a great day at work to have to call an ambulance for one of your diners.

But understanding food-related allergies is not rocket science.

It’s as simple as having to wrap your brain around all the other issues of working in hospitality from hygiene (a lack of cleanliness can lead to seriously ill diners) to responsible service of alcohol.

And if you print GF on your menu next to the options, like you put the V next to the plant-based selections, then you won’t even have to talk about it.

Originally published as Food fads are life-threatening to people like me