Some restaurants make reasonable accommodations for food allergy customers. It is not a law or a right. United States Laws are clear for people with disabilities. The United States laws don’t consider a person with allergies to be disabled. A restaurant will usually try to work with you if it is made known you have an allergy.
From the Florida Senate website concerning disabilities there is no mention of allergies in the law:
562.51 Retail alcoholic beverage establishments; rights as private enterprise. —A licensed retail alcoholic beverage establishment open to the public is a private enterprise and:
(1) May refuse service to any person who is objectionable or undesirable to the licensee, but such refusal of service shall not be on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, sex, national origin, marital status, or physical handicap.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1964 and 1990 (ADA)
The Year 1964, there is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. The right has some protections against the possible discrimination based on race, religion sex, national origin. It does not include any protection based on allergies. That is why the ADA added the provision in 1990 for reasonable accommodation and if it doesn’t disrupt the business. It requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified persons with a disability unless to do so would be an “undue hardship.” The requested reasonable accommodation poses an undue hardship if: it involves a significant difficulty that disrupts the business.
What Restaurant Accommodations Are Reasonable
That is up to the restaurant. There is no food allergy law in the books that enforces them to serve you. Often there is a lot of additional work that goes into serving food to avoid cross-contamination. This often includes a separate preparation station or a different cooking station. If they don’t have these then it is up to the cook if they want to clean the area first before making your meal.
Accommodation Preparation of Food With Good Hygiene
- For raw and cooked foods, they must use different utensils, plates, and chopping boards for raw and cooked food
- In between orders they need to wash utensils, plates, and chopping boards for raw and cooked foods and clean all preparation areas
- Raw meat should not be rinsed
- Before and after you handle ready-to-eat foods wash your hands after touching
- You may want to avoid fried foods unless they have a different fryer to prepare items without egg batter
Some restaurants have a separate cooking station dedicated to cooking allergy free. This saves time for them; however, some small restaurants and fast-food restaurants may not have the space for an additional cooking station and preparation area. It is always best to research the restaurant menu online to determine their food allergen policy and if they have an allergen-free menu.
What Can You Do to Avoid a Restaurant That Doesn’t Accommodate People With Allergies
Call ahead and speak with the chef or manager about their cross-contamination practice, allergy policies, and food choices. This will save your time and the staff’s time if you already know what you are going to order. Some restaurants have an assigned person or manager to answer or oversee allergy requests. You may want to ask upon arrival if they have such a person in their establishment. Consider going during a slow time in lieu of a busy time as they will have more time to take precautions.
At the restaurant, check to see if they have a separate book or menu that lists the ingredients of the food to make a good choice. Red Lobster and Cracker Barrel have a book that lists food and the type of food allergen. This is very handy and speeds things up if you are dining with family and friends.
Check the website to see if they have a separate menu for food allergens. You may need to search to find an exact inquiry. For example, in the query results for, “Does Burger King Whopper have egg ingredients in it,” they tout that their meat has no fillers or preservatives. You still need to watch out for the mayonnaise or the bun in some restaurants. Another example is Wendy’s has cross-contamination because they use the same spoon to spread the mustard and ketchup on top of their brioche bread products as they do for their egg-free buns. You need to consider these things. I have experienced this myself and had an anaphylactic reaction at Wendy’s.
Do Servers Have to Ask You if You Have an Allergy
The wait staff is not obligated to ask you if you have an allergy. It is always best if you advise the waiter/waitress of your allergy and the foods to avoid. Don’t be hesitant to discuss the ingredients of a prepared dish. It is up to you to inform them so you can be safe from an allergic reaction. Remember, they don’t readily know the information you do about baking powder having egg in it. Nor does the waiter/waitress prepare the food. They may need to check with the kitchen regarding the ingredients. I often bring my eggless ranch dressing and request they rinse all the fruits and vegetables in the salad because of the egg preservative they now use in place of the wax preservative on the fresh salad items. It has been my experience that restaurants don’t mind you bringing your salad dressing from home for the salad.
If you eat out a lot, then have some cards printed out with your allergy and a list of items you need to avoid for the cook. The wait staff doesn’t have time to write down everything you are allergic to, and the card will be clipped to the order so that it will draw the attention of the cooking staff. Use my downloadable egg allergy notification card if you don’t already have one. Baked desserts can be prepared with baking powder, which always has egg in it, so bring your own or opt for fresh fruit that has been rinsed off. If you’re not allergic to milk or dairy, then you can have a dollop of whipped topping or ice cream if it isn’t made with eggs.
