Warning about "Dairy Free" Mac and Cheese

[Betty Rohrer]

There is ZERO excuse for an allergy menu to be out of date. None. That is life threatening. If it out of date, you pull the menu and you do not take a chance. Using an out of date menu defeats the purpose of it being an allergy menu.

what is in date today could be out of date tomorrow by supplier being out which would not be known until that day and I am not saying this taking life threatening allergies likely. plus the serving staff might not even know it is out as they do not know something changed. this would also defeat the notebooks at counter serve/carts. it is the best that could be done better than nothing most times. restaurants are at the mercy of suppliers.

 

[Allison]

what is in date today could be out of date tomorrow by supplier being out which would not be known until that day and I am not saying this taking life threatening allergies likely. plus the serving staff might not even know it is out as they do not know something changed. this would also defeat the notebooks at counter serve/carts. it is the best that could be done better than nothing most times. restaurants are at the mercy of suppliers.

That is not an excuse. If the menus aren't accurate, you pull them or go through each menu and mark the item in some way. It was known this wasn't accurate. You take steps to address it.

I know all about how restaurant food suppliers work. It is not relevant to this situation. The establishment has the right to refuse the product or not use it in the dish that is changed or the dish is temporarily unavailable.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

That is not an excuse. If the menus aren't accurate, you pull them or go through each menu and mark the item in some way. It was known this wasn't accurate. You take steps to address it.

I know all about how restaurant food suppliers work. It is not relevant to this situation. The establishment has the right to refuse the product or not use it in the dish that is changed or the dish is temporarily unavailable.

if we refused the special order food there would most likely not be any in the park where I work as we are only allergy food stand as we call them. we have had parents complain when we were out of allergy food because it did not come from supplier. in the park i work at you are not allowed to bring food in other than baby food or small snacks. you would have to go out the gate to picnic area for your meal even for allergy food. some times security will let allergy food in but that depends on who is at the table that day

 

[Allison]

if we refused the special order food there would most likely not be any in the park where I work as we are only allergy food stand as we call them. we have had parents complain when we were out of allergy food because it did not come from supplier. in the park i work at you are not allowed to bring food in other than baby food or small snacks. you would have to go out the gate to picnic area for your meal even for allergy food. some times security will let allergy food in but that depends on who is at the table that day

Lol. It doesn't matter if you have the food if it doesn't actually meet the needs of the allergy sufferer. Better to be without it than to give it to someone who can become sick from it.

Bottom line-What happened here is not okay.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

It's is so difficult these days to make processed meals free of *insert ingredient* I wouldn't trust anything if I had an allergy. Forgive my cinicism.

 

[DisLiss]

Ingredients change, and that's understandable. But to keep handing out an incorrect allergy menu is completely irresponsible and dangerous.

 

[gypsy_at_heart]

I understand supply issues, I run a business that operates a kitchen and sometimes things are shorted or we get something other than ordered. Mistakes happen. HOWEVER, knowing that they aren’t getting that Mac and cheese anymore or that something different came in, you need to prep your servers to advise people or create a note for the menus or figure something out. It’s an allergy menu, particularly printed for people with allergies to take guidance from because they don’t want every ‘common’ allergy sufferers bothering the chefs all the time. I can’t have gluten or soy, and until a recent medication change, I wasn’t allowed dairy. Even with three issues, when I email special diets they referred me to the allergy menus as my point of safe eating in the parks. If that is your go to for people with serious allergies, they need to be correct or you need to have a back up plan.

I get not being an unreasonable customer, but it is not unreasonable to expect that something ordered off an allergy menu won’t put you in the hospital. I’m shocked anyone thinks this is ok. This is Disney’s chosen practice to deal with allergies, they need to get it right and have some back up plan for these situations.

I don’t think anyone cares if an item isn’t available - if you have food allergies, you learn to be flexible. And honestly, for the most part I think Disney does an amazing job with most dietary restrictions. I’ve sung their praises on many many occasions in which they’ve went above and beyond for me. But this particular situation for the OP is scary and dangerous, maybe someone just dropped the ball but I think letting someone know so that some re-training can happen is a great plan.

 

[rdaky]

Followup: I did contact guest services and got a response. The person who responded thanked me for contacting them, and that this information was immediately shared with their Food and Beverage Leadership so that they can correct the menus. (There is no way for me to know when menus are actually changed, but I am hoping that it is immediately) She also stressed that I always speak to a chef or manager at EVERY location to make sure that everyone is safe.

 

[FCDub]

She also stressed that I always speak to a chef or manager at EVERY location to make sure that everyone is safe.

This is, in my mind, COMPLETELY unacceptable. While there's ABSOLUTELY a need for parents/guardians to make sure the food their kids are about to eat is safe, one would hope to be able to literally trust something marked as dairy free and not need to hunt down someone from the back to confirm such a basic claim.

 

[rdaky]

I don’t think anyone cares if an item isn’t available - if you have food allergies, you learn to be flexible. And honestly, for the most part I think Disney does an amazing job with most dietary restrictions. I’ve sung their praises on many many occasions in which they’ve went above and beyond for me. But this particular situation for the OP is scary and dangerous, maybe someone just dropped the ball but I think letting someone know so that some re-training can happen is a great plan.

Yes to this! We are so used to having to be flexible and find something our child can eat. The range of options are more limited and sometimes there might be just one thing on the menu that she'll eat (combine allergies with a picky 3 year old and that always makes it more challenging)

And I'll say again that the chef was wonderful and willing to make all sorts of things for her that weren't on the menu. But I would also think the servers should know that the menus are incorrect. Our server had no idea. Or better yet, go through and cross that option off of the menus with a big sharpie if you can't print some correct ones.

 

[rdaky]

This is, in my mind, COMPLETELY unacceptable. While there's ABSOLUTELY a need for parents/guardians to make sure the food their kids are about to eat is safe, one would hope to be able to literally trust something marked as dairy free and not need to hunt down someone from the back to confirm such a basic claim.

I agree with this. This sounds incredibly more time consuming. So now I should basically not trust that the "allergy friendly" hamburger is dairy free, either (another option my child ate a couple of times) And now we should just wait an additional 15-30+ minutes to speak with a chef at every single restaurant. What's interesting is that my husband initially thought that I was being paranoid. The menu said that the Mac and cheese was dairy/soy/gluten/nut free. The waitress said that it was dairy/soy/gluten/nut free and even said that it was Amy's (one of the few suppliers of dairy free Mac and cheese).

Again, the chef here was super. But I'm going to be honest and say we have had less than great interactions when we asked to speak to a chef. On a previous visit last Summer we had a question at Be Our Guest and the chef was less than enthusiastic to speak with us. And as I mentioned earlier, we walked out of ABC Commissary because we couldn't get anyone to speak with us. So telling me to find a chef at every location sounds dreadful.

 

[KrazeeK120]

what is in date today could be out of date tomorrow by supplier being out which would not be known until that day and I am not saying this taking life threatening allergies likely. plus the serving staff might not even know it is out as they do not know something changed. this would also defeat the notebooks at counter serve/carts. it is the best that could be done better than nothing most times. restaurants are at the mercy of suppliers.

No, it’s not “better than nothing.” In fact, it’s worse than nothing. It’s providing people with misinformation that could LITERALLY kill them. If the information on the menu can’t be counted on to be reliable, it should not be handed out to patrons.

OP, I’m so sorry this happened to you. My niece has the same dairy allergy (in addition to sesame, tree nuts, and unbaked egg, and her sister is allergic to wheat and peanut). I know everything we go through to make family gatherings safe for these little girls...I can’t imagine what people like you and my sister-in-law go through on a daily basis to give these kids normal lives while also keeping them safe!

 

[Betty Rohrer]

No, it’s not “better than nothing.” In fact, it’s worse than nothing. It’s providing people with misinformation that could LITERALLY kill them. If the information on the menu can’t be counted on to be reliable, it should not be handed out to patrons.

OP, I’m so sorry this happened to you. My niece has the same dairy allergy (in addition to sesame, tree nuts, and unbaked egg, and her sister is allergic to wheat and peanut). I know everything we go through to make family gatherings safe for these little girls...I can’t imagine what people like you and my sister-in-law go through on a daily basis to give these kids normal lives while also keeping them safe!

that is also why I would even with allergy menu ask each time to be sure I would not depend on just the menu as I know from working in F & B that nothing is for sure that is printed. I remember the one mother at my park we serve mac & cheese so she was sure we could just make plain mac for her child. I understand allergies but our Mac & Cheese comes already made just heat and serve. I could not make her understand I couldn't do what she wanted. I didn't have the plain to give her. took my manger bring out a frozen bag and asking her what she wanted us to do. she was like you don't have plain mac. think of all the recalls that are happening recently and some are for thing not listed

 

[KrazeeK120]

that is also why I would even with allergy menu ask each time to be sure I would not depend on just the menu as I know from working in F & B that nothing is for sure that is printed. I remember the one mother at my park we serve mac & cheese so she was sure we could just make plain mac for her child. I understand allergies but our Mac & Cheese comes already made just heat and serve. I could not make her understand I couldn't do what she wanted. I didn't have the plain to give her. took my manger bring out a frozen bag and asking her what she wanted us to do. she was like you don't have plain mac. think of all the recalls that are happening recently and some are for thing not listed

But, not everyone has worked in food and beverage. If someone is handed an allergy menu, they SHOULD be able to trust the information. If the information can’t be relied on, why even have it in the first place? They would probably be in a HEAP of trouble if someone dies because they trusted the information on the allergy menu.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

But, not everyone has worked in food and beverage. If someone is handed an allergy menu, they SHOULD be able to trust the information. If the information can’t be relied on, why even have it in the first place? They would probably be in a HEAP of trouble if someone dies because they trusted the information on the allergy menu.

I bet if you look hard at allergy menu in small print is something that would cover that things could change. I have not used the menus but I bet it is there

 

[KrazeeK120]

I bet if you look hard at allergy menu in small print is something that would cover that things could change. I have not used the menus but I bet it is there

Then I’m back to my point of...why even hand out the menu if it can’t be relied on to be accurate? Everyone with a food allergy would need to speak to the chef to confirm ingredients anyway.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

If you can't trust the info on the allergy menu, there's no point in having it. This has nothing to do with knowledge of the food and bev industry or being flexible with changes. Disney implemented these menus to make their lives easier because so many visitors come to them with varying levels of food allergies and intolerances and it was getting overwhelming for food service CMs.

While they aren't regulated the way food companies are with their labeling, you're fooling around with people's lives if you fail to provide accurate allergy information and it's nonsense to think that your guests are going to question every single thing if you've taken the time to make allergy friendly menus. I mean...how many guests are going to insist they talk to the chef to reconfirm that a particular danish really is safe for people with nut allergies, even though it says it right there on the menu? Heck, I've even had chefs get bothered when I had questions about the allergy menu...and this was a more legitimate clarification (not a please confirm that the menu really means what it says). If Disney can't keep up with changes on their allergy menus due to product/supply changes (for whatever reason), they need to go back to the old way where guests are left to question everything and speak to someone in the know.

 

[cmwade77]

Also, seen an email to special.diets@disneyworld.com

And to George K (I know his email address I on here).

 

[cmwade77]

If you can't trust the info on the allergy menu, there's no point in having it. This has nothing to do with knowledge of the food and bev industry or being flexible with changes. Disney implemented these menus to make their lives easier because so many visitors come to them with varying levels of food allergies and intolerances and it was getting overwhelming for food service CMs.

While they aren't regulated the way food companies are with their labeling, you're fooling around with people's lives if you fail to provide accurate allergy information and it's nonsense to think that your guests are going to question every single thing if you've taken the time to make allergy friendly menus. I mean...how many guests are going to insist they talk to the chef to reconfirm that a particular danish really is safe for people with nut allergies, even though it says it right there on the menu? Heck, I've even had chefs get bothered when I had questions about the allergy menu...and this was a more legitimate clarification (not a please confirm that the menu really means what it says). If Disney can't keep up with changes on their allergy menus due to product/supply changes (for whatever reason), they need to go back to the old way where guests are left to question everything and speak to someone in the know.

Exactly, either allergy menus should be a curate or eliminated completely.

 

[cmwade77]

if we refused the special order food there would most likely not be any in the park where I work as we are only allergy food stand as we call them. we have had parents complain when we were out of allergy food because it did not come from supplier. in the park i work at you are not allowed to bring food in other than baby food or small snacks. you would have to go out the gate to picnic area for your meal even for allergy food. some times security will let allergy food in but that depends on who is at the table that day

They were not saying to refuse special orders, they were saying to refuse the items from outside vendors that don't meet their standards.

And you can bring in outside food and drinks, if anyone at security says otherwise, they are wrong. The only thing you can't bring in are things that have to be prepared or heated. But you can bring in premade sandwiches for example.