Living with Food Allergies, 2013 and on

[GoingNuts]

Wow, that's awful SL.  I have to say I rarely even see peanuts anymore at Citifield.  I think they've upped their food game there so much that there are far better choices, LOL. 

[SilverLining]

I made sure I told them about the person throwing peanuts. That is not allowed and the person working that section should have stopped it. I have only once seen anyone throwing food before and they were stopped immediately. They were given one warning and told if they did it again they would be escorted out.

I am not interested in the employee getting in trouble. I want them informed what was going on and retrained.

[Macabre]

Oh wow. That is stressful.

I find going to anything where people eat peanuts stressful—live athletic events, rodeos, etc.

[SilverLining]

We usually go to 3-6 games a year. The last time we had to move seats was at least 4 years ago. But that time there was an empty section near us so we just moved.

And last year as we were leaving a game I walked through a pile of shells and started reacting. Once I got away and had a drink of water it stopped. I only looked down after I started reacting, so I know it wasn't just in my head. (For me, that is a legitimate question...is it a real reaction or is it all in my head.)

It probably took about 3 innings before I stopped shaking though.

~~~~

The first employee I spoke to, the one who should have stopped the guy throwing them in the first place, actually told me they do have peanut free sections and why didn't I just buy them. I just looked at her and she took a step back, away from me. Pretty sure there were flames shooting out my eyes. I told her:

• it limits what games I can attend
• it is always more expensive
• the seats always sell out quickly
• peanuts isn't the only allergy people deal with
• nobody should be throwing food around anyway

[PurpleCat]

 

[spacecanada]

Yikes, I experienced first-hand why I never take water at running race aid stations.  And a caution for others with allergies running at race events... don't take the water!

I volunteered at a local triathlon yesterday.  I was with a group of eight people handing out water and electrolyte beverages to racers on the run course.  That sounds all fine, I would guess nobody with allergies would take an electrolyte drink they haven't had before - sure.  But I was made very aware of a cross contact danger: the people filling and handing out water cups were munching on mixed TREE NUTS.  Lots and lots of nuts.  Everywhere.  I freaked out and wouldn't let one person unpack the cups from their packaging after I saw him eating a big bag of nuts, and he is a good running friend of mine and went and washed his hands without me asking, which was great. (I was in full hyperawareness panic/guarded mode at that point, and not overly polite...) Throughout the four hours we were there, six of the eight volunteers were all eating nuts or peanut butter sandwiches!!  It's a healthy portable snack for athletes, I get it, I don't expect the world to be allergen free, or even those around me.  And everyone volunteering at our aid station were multiple Ironman racers, except me.  At least the word got around and nobody eating nuts was near me (I asked for two metres, and they were very respectful of that.)  But all those cups were contaminated in some way with tree nuts, wheat, and/or peanuts at the very least.   

Just a warning for anyone who participates in sports events, and races in particular.  Those little water cups could be contaminated with allergens. 

That being said, on my last triathlon I wasn't planning to take water from aid stations and I had plenty of water at my transition stop, but I was having an exceptionally bad day and it was hotter than expected, so I risked it and took water - and was ok.  I'm considering myself lucky after that, considering yesterday's experience.   

[spacecanada]

Another encounter this morning: athletes love their tree nuts and peanuts. *sigh*  I left and went home early, skipping the big celebration full of nutty finger foods. I was ok with them having cake, but once someone brought out peanut butter treats I left immediately.

[spacecanada]

A perk to food allergies: most non-allergen food recalls are often processed foods we would never be able to eat in the first place.

[GoingNuts]

Quite true, SC. 

[Janelle205]

The couple of people that gave me mean looks when I told DS no apples can go choke on an apple core. 

[spacecanada]

People need to remember that even when something sounds ridiculous to them, they don't know the whole story.  Like the mother telling her child he couldn't have milk or apple juice, only pop, at a restaurant.  I was quick to judge, and then later scolded myself for doing so.  For all I know the kid could have a new milk or apple allergy, or maybe the parent did, or maybe the child was diabetic and they could only have fake sweeteners in diet pop.  Or a hundred other scenarios.  Or, maybe the parent did want their child to have unhealthy habits, but it's not my place to judge them either way.  People are all too quick to judge.  I hope some of the ones scoffing at you took time to reflect on their actions afterwards and consider that they could have been wrong. 

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I wish so many 'allergy-friendly' and 'gluten-free' recipes would stop using 'allergy-friendly alternative to X ingredient' or 'gluten-free all purpose flour' as an ingredient.  Not all alternatives or gluten-free flours are equal, and I don't even have a safe all-purpose flour at the moment, so what the heck?  Give me a real ingredients list, not some 'we made this allergy friendly by telling people to figure it out on their own because we're too lazy to do so' nonsense. 

I the Enjoy Life and Erin McKenna's (babycakes) cookbooks for this reason, though I have not had any success with the recipes form the latter.  I use the Enjoy Life ones with great success... though their recipes are limited.

[spacecanada]

I had a nice experience at my local pool on Friday.  There's a lifeguard I see often, and when I put my Auvi-Q on the floor by the first aid kit on deck, he came up to me, said he would move them to a place that is less likely to get wet (he clipped them to the first aid kit handle) and then when it was time to rotate lifeguard positions, he let the new lifeguard know about the Auvi-Q and who they were for (me).  Yay for attentive and nice lifeguards.

[GoingNuts]

That is so nice SC.   

[PurpleCat]

I love to hear positive nice stories!  There are good people out there!

[SilverLining]

Not sure where to post this.

We were at our son's for dinner yesterday. No one in their home has food allergies.

As we were leaving I noticed a teal pumpkin by the front door. So I turned to dil and asked what she was giving out for Halloween. She said she gives out candy and always has some non-food treats for kids too.