The food industry is a large and profitable business that many of its consumers enjoy with no worries and no cares. However, not everyone can eat whatever they want, wherever they want, whenever they want. Around 50% of the United States population is affected with food allergies. These allergies start when the immune system reacts to a foreign substance that it sees as harmful, causing the body to shut down and go into anaphylactic shock. The three most common allergies are peanuts, milk, and shellfish: three generic ingredients used everyday. Roughly 30% of the children population and 40% of the adult population have both mild and severe food allergies, yet restaurants and the food industry do not always take the precautions necessary to keep them safe (Food). Restaurants should clearly label dishes that contain major food allergens because it will induce responsibility in the food industry, ease the anxiety of eating out, and most importantly, it will save lives.

Labelling dishes that can cause food allergies will bring a newfound responsibility to the food industry. The carelessness of some servers has proven to be fatal for many people with severe food allergies. During May of this year, a man with seafood allergies named Simon-Pierre Canuel went to Le Tapageur, in Sherbrooke, Quebec, and ordered a steak tartare. Simon made sure that the restaurant was aware of his allergy by telling them he was deadly allergic to seafood, both at the front desk of the restaurant and while sitting down. When his tartare arrived, he quickly realized that the waiter, who did not write any notes, served him a salmon tartare rather than steak.“He didn't take the time to write down the order, he just wrote tartare without making it clear it was beef tartare” (Press). In not writing anything down, the recklessness of this waiter left Simon in peril as his epipen was in his car, and he was hurriedly rushed to the Hospital. Simon went into severe anaphylactic shock and cardiac arrest - then endured a coma for several days. It was a miracle that he survived, a near death experience all because a waiter decided his allergy was not important enough to make a priority. Simon, however, was lucky that he survived, this carelessness has occurred more than once. Many people have lost their lives due to the ignorance of the food industry. Shahida Shahid, an 18 year old girl in Manchester, England, went to a burger joint named Almost Famous on a Friday night. Not only did she suffer from severe asthma, but she had multiple severe food allergies. Because of this she made sure that the chicken dish she ordered would not contain or be in contact with any peanuts. Detective Inspector Chris Flint spoke out on the case, guaranteeing that Shahida told the server about her allergy, and the server reassured that there would be no allergens in her food. In his official summary of the case, Flint verified, “It is understood the dish did contain or was cooked in one of the ingredients she was allergic to” (Thompson). Shahida began to have her reaction a few hours later, but after using both her inhaler and epipen, nothing seemed to help. She then passed away due to cardiac arrest associated with her anaphylactic shock. Lastly, in 2015, a family takes a stand against the negligence of restaurants. Scott Johnson, a sixteen year old in Minnesota, passed away from a severe dairy allergy. The Johnson family were considered regulars at the Minnesota Nice Cafe, and Scott ordered gluten free pancakes that the staff assured were dairy free. “The complaint says Cindy Johnson asked the server if the restaurant’s gluten-free pancakes were also dairy-free. The server said, after checking with the cook, they were. Cindy then told the server the grill would have to be cleaned before Johnson’s pancakes were made” (Collin).  The family had many allergy scares in the past, but never one this drastic. After 3 days of lung failure in the hospital, Scott died at age 16, far before his time. In all these cases the victim made their server aware of their allergies, but  still perished due to the negligence of the restaurant, and this needs to stop. Consequently, restaurants need to take responsibility for their actions and make change.

Furthermore, this lack of attention can heighten the fear of eating out for people with allergies. Not only will this hurt the morale of the people affected by allergies, but it will hurt the food industry as well, so they should really pay attention. In almost all cases of near death or fatal allergic reactions, the affected person warned the restaurant of their condition. Does it seem like they listen? These stories are thrown around the news constantly, and to someone who does not have allergies, they are disregarded and ignored. This spurs anxiety and unrest when eating out. In the case of Scott Johnson, the boy had a few allergy scares in the past, so the family was extremely careful and wary of where they ate. Despite their troubles, it still was not enough to save his life. Even in a case like Simon-Pierre Canal where the victim survived, it will not be easy for him to go out and eat like he used to. People with allergies are perfectly in reason when they show fear of eating at restaurants.

Looking away from the viewpoint of the person affected by allergies, the stigma of eating out is detrimental to restaurant business. Making restaurants allergy safe will make them a more appealing option for families, “When a group of people is selecting a dining destination, chances are that the person with the special dietary needs will have the final say in where they end up going. If an establishment can prove themselves as a safe place for food allergies and intolerances, that will show in the gained customer loyalty and repeat business” (Willis). If restaurants take into consideration the thought process of the customers and listen to their customers, they may gain a bit of a following which is beneficial to business. Hearing these stories of people being severely incapacitated should be enough to bring attention to restaurants to take action, if at the least to improve their business. No one should have to be afraid to eat outside their home, and no one should be nervous that their life is on the line when they take the first bite of their  meal.

Most importantly this labelling of foods is inevitably going to save lives. Hundreds of people every year die from allergic reactions. A large portion of these deaths result from restaurants and carelessness, that number would shrink by a large margin if restaurants just clearly labeled and spoke of their dishes that contained major allergens. If Shahid's server would have taken the initiative and ensured there was no cross contamination and kept the dish completely clear of peanuts, maybe she would still be alive today, the same goes for Scott Johnson, he was sixteen and so young. If allergens are labeled on the menu, then lives will be saved because people affected by allergies will know what they can and cannot eat. Therefore it eliminates the option of irresponsible waiters and cooks and they know what they are getting from the start. The FDA has the Food Allergen Labeling And Consumer Protection Act of 2004, that does require the labelling of major food allergens like peanuts and shellfish (Food Allergen Labelling). Despite this, many restaurants fail to comply with the guidelines of the act and put people in danger.

One time while at a restaurant with my family, my brother who has a severe tree nut allergy, wanted to order a steak. But upon further inspection of the menu we saw that the sauce contained tree nuts. Because of that small label, my brother’s life was saved, and he knew what he could and could not order. It saved his life. The fact that people are not already appalled and educated on the issue when people are dying, shows that we need to put more focus on the deadly effects of both the allergies and the food industry. When people start losing their lives over easily fixable issues, there is a prominent issue.

Despite the oversight of many restaurants, it is not always their fault, in fact sometimes the blame can be attributed to the victim themselves. Many people fail to make it clear that they have allergies to their respective server or restaurant. People make mistakes and sometimes even a restaurant that do label their foods can slip up. However, this does not lessen the danger and anxiety people with food allergies face. My brother, Dane, a senior, has sadly experienced three different allergy attacks in his life. I remember I was working at my summer job at a bakery downtown when I got an urgent call from my mother. She informed me that my brother was in the ICU. Apparently my brother and a friend went to a bakery and he had an allergic reaction to a pastry he ate. To make matters worse, the clerk ensured my brother there would be no contact or cross contamination with tree nuts of any kind upon learning about my brothers tree nut allergy. Dane did not have an epipen on him. I later found out that my mother, while driving him to the hospital, had to use the epipen she had twice on Dane to keep his adrenaline levels high. He was unable to breathe and would pass in and out of consciousness. She rushed him to the hospital unconscious and immediately called me knowing I would want to know. I could not believe what happened, he has had 2 more reactions since then all caused by the same mistake. Dane always told people of his allergy. He knows his life depends on it, and I was astonished to find out it happened again. How could someone be so ignorant? My only sibling brother means the world to me, and it hurts to see someone I care about almost lose his life due to carelessness. Just because my brother thankfully survived multiple times does not mean the danger and anxiety are gone. Restaurants need to take this more seriously because people’s lives are in danger. Just because we are all human and make mistakes is no excuse to not take action and label their foods. Even if the victim did not mention their allergy, this is important because their lives could still be saved if they saw warnings in a menu.

Over 200 people a year die from food allergy reactions (Food Allergy Basics). Restaurants should be completely required to make further accommodations for people who are affected by both mild and severe food allergies. If a dish contains peanuts, there should be an obvious, explicit warning saying so. People should be sure to notify the FDA when restaurants and establishments do not follow the rules set out for them. These people do not control their immune system and cannot control their allergies. For restaurants to punish these people for something that is out of their reach is disgraceful and ignorant. The request is simple: label the major food allergens on your menu and ensure that people can eat safely without putting their lives on the line.

Works Cited
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Press, The Canadian. "Waiter Arrested After Seafood Nearly Kills Allergic Customer."
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Thompson, Dan. "Shahida Shahid Death: Teenager 'told Almost Famous about Her Food
Allergies before Eating', Inquest Hears." Men. N.p., 16 Jan. 2015. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.
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