For the allergic, safe dining

For Kelly Campbell , the seemingly simple act of dining with her family in a restaurant is fraught with tension.

Campbell's daughter, Michaela, 7, has a severe allergy to tree nuts such as walnuts, pecans, or almonds. If she nibbles on one, the results could be tragic.

"When she was first diagnosed, we didn't eat out at all. We were terrified," said Campbell, a Holliston resident.

Campbell has since learned to ask restaurant staff lots of questions before ordering, and she purposely chooses places that she knows are safe.

Now, the state Legislature is considering whether to step in to make restaurants safer for Michaela and other people with food allergies.

Legislation pending at the State House calls for allergy training for restaurant workers, the addition of a tag line on menus asking customers with allergies to alert their servers prior to ordering, and the prominent display in restaurant kitchens of a poster showing the most common food allergens, as well as information on how to avoid cross-contamination.

"You shouldn't feel fearful when you go to a restaurant," said Ming Tsai, chef and owner of the Blue Ginger restaurant in Wellesley who has been working closely with Senator Cynthia Creem of Newton to push for the legislation.

What restaurants should do to help people with allergies is a topic that's being debated nationwide. Allergy awareness forums, like peanutallergy.org, even offer a restaurant thread where users dish over which restaurants are allergy-conscious and which are not.

According to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, New Jersey is the only state other than Massachusetts with restaurant legislation pending, though the organization expects more states to follow in the coming months.

Tsai, who writes cookbooks and appears on a PBS television show, "Simply Ming," said he has been sensitive to the issue for years but stepped up his efforts after his eldest son, David, was born with a host of life-threatening allergies.

David had seven of the eight major food allergies: soy, wheat, dairy, shellfish, eggs, tree nuts, and peanuts. (The eighth is fish.) Now 6, David has outgrown all his allergies, with the exception of tree nuts and peanuts, which remain life-threatening for him.

"The issue in this that is so amazing to me is that this is life and death. This isn't a preference. It's not like wool over cotton. This is: If someone eats something, they could die, and I can't think of anything more serious than death," said Tsai.

The bill Creem filed last year encountered resistance from the Massachusetts Restaurant Association. But Creem said compromises were made, including an exemption for restaurants with fewer than 50 seats, to make it more palatable to the industry.

The amended bill was passed by the state Senate, but never made it to a vote in the House. Creem has refiled the legislation again this year.

Peter Christie , president and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, said the industry is still against the bill, and he doesn't think it will pass.

" It's very hard to find middle ground with the proponents and with us. We have tried and will continue to try," he said.

Christie said restaurateurs don't want people to get sick, but he was concerned the law could result in a wave of lawsuits against restaurants.

"I just don't want something that's going to be a new law that's going to create opportunities for lawsuits that don't presently exist," he said.

According to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, more than 12 million Americans have food allergies, and that number is expected to increase. Peanut allergies are the most common type and appear to be the fastest-growing category.

Federal regulations now require labels to be placed on foods notifying people if allergens are inside. The bill's proponents say they want that same kind of information when they dine out.

Some national chains are becoming more allergy-conscious, informing the public when their dishes include allergens. But that's still not the norm for the majority of local restaurants.

At those restaurants, people "have to rely on the person they're speaking to for the contents of the food. In other words, they're putting their life in the hands of the wait staff every time they order," said Anne Munoz-Furlong , founder and CEO of the organization.

Tsai hopes that more restaurants will implement his "Bible" system. He has assembled a notebook that includes the recipe for every dish served in the restaurant. Ingredients that are common allergens are highlighted in bright yellow. If the recipe calls for a processed ingredient, like soy sauce or pre made noodles, the label from the package is photocopied and pasted in.

The notebook is consulted when a customer with an allergy asks about a dish. Tsai says this system has prevented mishaps at his restaurant, where about 20 tables on a typical Saturday include somebody with a food allergy.

State Representative Alice Hanlon Peisch of Wellesley, who is sponsoring Creem's bill in the House, said restaurants may find that becoming allergy-conscious will be good for business.

"People who are not particularly accommodating don't understand the seriousness and prevalence of food allergies," said Peisch." And as the incidence of allergies increase s, restaurants that don't make accommodations will find their business is negatively impacted. If their response is, 'Go somewhere else,' they'll be surprised at how many people have to go somewhere else."

For a mother like Rachel Loughran of Watertown, the issue extends beyond food. Her son, Ryan , 5, is severely allergic to egg, mustard, tree nuts, and peanuts. Rather than ordering from the menu, Loughran brings Ryan's meal into the restaurant.

"My biggest fear is cross-contamination. Ryan's starting to get better, but the first four years of his life, his wrists would break out because they were touching the table. I just wish restaurants would wipe down the tables and chairs that kids sit in. I can control what goes into his mouth, but the cleanliness part is more difficult."

Approximately 30,000 people require emergency room treatment and 150 Americans die each year because of allergic reactions to food, the US Food and Drug Administration estimated in late 2005.

In the end, says Munoz-Furlong, it's all about education and communication. The staff needs training and awareness, and the person with allergies needs to let the restaurant staff know about them, she says.

"Neither side," Munoz-Furlong said, "can take care of food allergies on their own."