It’s not easy feeding our child who has a food allergy to more food than not, especially when we are on the go.
Everywhere we travel, even as short of a trip as school drop off and pick-up, we have to be prepared and pack a cooler of food because of the unknowns which could happen on our trip.
What if we’re in a car accident? What if we breakdown? What if school needs us to stay and volunteer? What if there is some other type of emergency that prevents us from going straight home where his safe food is at?
Specialty food stores which typically carry his safe foods are not on every street corner like Target, Walmart, Safeway or other grocers are. But what if there was a place that served safe food for our son to eat in case of an emergency that was easily accessible? It wouldn’t have to be healthy food, just something somewhere that could satisfy his appetite if needed in an emergency.
Mc Donalds french fries are NOT food allergy safe, at least not for our son.
Last year I wrote this article questioning whether Mc Donalds french fries were safe for our son with multiple food allergies. This question stemmed from a conversation I had with a mother whose child has similar food allergies as our son, and who can safely eat Mc Donalds french fries.
The information I found in my research suggested that our son should be able to safely eat Mc Donalds french fries. The only true test though would be an oral food challenge which we finally did a couple of weeks ago.
The results of our oral food challenge were not good. Our son flared within a day after eating french fries from Mc Donalds. I don’t know why he flared, it could have been the ingredients or a cross-contamination problem, but whatever it was, was enough for us not to take the chance of him eating there again.
Burger King Rules!
Our family was traveling one day and we decided to treat our older children to Burger King for lunch. I didn’t want our son with multiple food allergies to feel left out so I quickly checked my Allergy Eats (an online guide to allergy friendly restaurants) iPhone app to see if there was anything our son could safely eat.
To my surprise, Burger King has a 4 out of 5 star allergy friendliness rating. Along with the rating, I found this blog post from the Allergy Eats website with information on Burger King’s new french fries.
The new french fried contain none of the top 8 allergens and their french fries are fried in dedicated fryers.
(Note: 90% of Burger King restaurants are owned by franchisees, NOT Burger King itself. While the franchisees are required to follow the strict rules and protocols set out by the parent, there is always a chance that some do not adhere to every detail.)
After a quick discussion with my husband (we were in the drive-thru after all), and confirmation with management that this Burger King location uses dedicated fryers, we decided to give the Burger King french fries a chance and, I am excited to say, our son has safely eaten Burger King french fries on more than one occasion with no food allergy reactions. (Yay!)
What are your go-to restaurants where you feel safe letting your child with a food allergy eat? Would you try a new restaurant based on a recommendation from a fellow parent of a child with a food allergy?
About Stacy Molter
