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That's a very educational comment. I didn't think of that view point. Thankyou. Although, I wonder, if you find the little mom and pop outfit, if they wouldn't

by pomian 5y ago

That's a very educational comment. I didn't think of that view point. Thankyou. Although, I wonder, if you find the little mom and pop outfit, if they wouldn't be more flexible in tailoring the food to your requirements? I would assume there are always locals with special needs too.

rufus_foreman 5y ago
Nobody takes it seriously, they just think you are on some sort of fad diet. The chains don't take it seriously either but since they're standardized you know what makes you really sick and what makes you less sick.
hn_user82179 5y ago
I imagine it comes down to risk. Anecdotally I did food prep for my college dining hall and we had a decent number of people asking for sandwiches on gluten-free bread, but we only had one who asked for a very strict protocol (had to be from a new bag of gluten-free bread, new gloves, sauces were squirted on only (no spatula that could have touched glutenous bread)). We knew the customer by sight so were used to going through the process - I'd guess it'd be tiresome to have to explain the whole process at every new restaurant. That said, I'm doubtful a fast food restaurant would do much better for a dietary restriction that severe. I too miss local and independent restaurants and am a little sad to have missed the "golden age" of road trips in the US.
dfinninger 5y ago
It’s like playing roulette. Will they know what’s inside of the food they make? I don’t mean this as a dig, sometimes it is difficult. Most places don’t make _absolutely everything_ from scratch. There are various sauces and bases that they outsource, and keeping track of all of the allergens is difficult. I have found that the small restaurants do go above and beyond to _find out_ if they have an allergen. Once I had an owner call two suppliers to check the ingredients for a particular sauce they were using and had mixed in to a lot of the entrees. But also, I’ve had horrendous experiences, from being purposely served croutons (“gluten isn’t real”) to arguing that a dish lacking milk did not mean it was gluten free (turns out there was barley in it and my wife got sick). Homogenization has definitely made _our_ lives easier, although I do believe there is something lost in it.

by pomian 5y ago

rufus_foreman 5y ago

Nobody takes it seriously, they just think you are on some sort of fad diet. The chains don't take it seriously either but since they're standardized you know what makes you really sick and what makes you less sick.

hn_user82179 5y ago

I imagine it comes down to risk. Anecdotally I did food prep for my college dining hall and we had a decent number of people asking for sandwiches on gluten-free bread, but we only had one who asked for a very strict protocol (had to be from a new bag of gluten-free bread, new gloves, sauces were squirted on only (no spatula that could have touched glutenous bread)). We knew the customer by sight so were used to going through the process - I'd guess it'd be tiresome to have to explain the whole process at every new restaurant. That said, I'm doubtful a fast food restaurant would do much better for a dietary restriction that severe. I too miss local and independent restaurants and am a little sad to have missed the "golden age" of road trips in the US.

dfinninger 5y ago

It’s like playing roulette. Will they know what’s inside of the food they make? I don’t mean this as a dig, sometimes it is difficult. Most places don’t make _absolutely everything_ from scratch. There are various sauces and bases that they outsource, and keeping track of all of the allergens is difficult. I have found that the small restaurants do go above and beyond to _find out_ if they have an allergen. Once I had an owner call two suppliers to check the ingredients for a particular sauce they were using and had mixed in to a lot of the entrees. But also, I’ve had horrendous experiences, from being purposely served croutons (“gluten isn’t real”) to arguing that a dish lacking milk did not mean it was gluten free (turns out there was barley in it and my wife got sick). Homogenization has definitely made _our_ lives easier, although I do believe there is something lost in it.