Accommodating food allergies

MrsAJL

Do you go out of your way to accommodate friends' children who have food allergies? For example, at DS' first birthday I made the adult sessert. Knowing that one of my guests has a dairy allergy, I made the cake and frosting dairy free. It was easy and allowed her to enjoy the party. Routinely, I make sure I have snacks on hand that all the. Bildren can eat.

MrsAJL

Sorry for typos. Posting from phone.

rssnlvr

either you're drunk or typing on your phone. Totally giggling at the typos in this one.

And yes. If I'm having people over who have dietary restrictions, I try to make sure I have something there that they can enjoy.

katattack

We left the nuts out of our wedding cake because we knew one of the guests had an allergy.  I only have a couple of friends with food allergies, and they don't live here, so I don't do anything at home to have safe snacks, per se. 

JayandJack

I have one friend who is gluten free and another who's son is allergic to red dye. Yes, I make sure to have something that either can eat but it's usually a planned activity (girls night or a birthday party) so it's easy to make substitutions. I did make the son a special cup cake that didn't have red dye in the icing last time they came over but in all fairness I had two options for cupcake flavors and one didn't have red in it.

carlinlp

Being on the other side of it, we do not expect it at all.  I always bring food that is safe for my kids when we go out.  Birthday parties are really, really difficult but it is getting easier.

misjenn

We have friends that have a dairy allergy, glutten allergy, and nut allergy. I always try and accommodate everyone. I make special cupcakes so that the kids don't know that they are different. I feel that if I am inviting them I need to do everything to make my guests at home.

mcgee+mike

misjenn:

We have friends that have a dairy allergy, glutten allergy, and nut allergy. I always try and accommodate everyone. I make special cupcakes so that the kids don't know that they are different. I feel that if I am inviting them I need to do everything to make my guests at home.

Ditto this. I always err on the side of caution, and if I'm inviting someone over to eat for the first time, I always ask if there are any dietary restrictions. One of Meredith's dear friends has a peanut allergy, and I am always careful when she comes over. My own kids aren't offered anything that has nuts in it when this child and her family visit.

My sister had a very severe lactose intolerance, so by age 6.5, I was reading ingredient labels at the grocery store looking for obscure things like sodium casein and caseinate. Plus I had to be on an extremely limited diet due to food allergies as a small child, so I try to accommodate whenever possible. 

brooke152

Definitely.  I treat it like friends who are vegetarian, vegan, whatever...if I am inviting someone over I make sure to accomodate any special needs in their diet. 

mcgee+mike

I will add this though - it becomes REALLY hard to accommodate if you have a bunch of people over at once with lots of dietary restrictions. My old employer used to have potlucks at the office, and we had vegetarians, vegans, gluten-free people, nut-free people, dairy free people, people who only ate Kosher and more. Oh, and we were an international organization, so we couldn't serve pork if our India office staff was in town, etc. Catering a luncheon was a NIGHTMARE. I had to plan a series of meetings for all of our local and international staff, and the menu planning SUCKED.

HSartteach

I haven't really thought about it until recently.  For some adults that I know don't eat certain things--like my neighbor that doesn't eat red meat, we always have chicken for him--I try to accomodate that.  Now that it has been brought up here, I will be more aware of it when I am having children over. 

Abrooks

If I know about it, then yes.  I don't really think it's that much different than having friends over who are vegetarian. I just make sure I have enough food so there is something they can eat.  And since I've had to go dairy free for Baby N, I will also say that while it's great if someone remembers, I don't expect them to and always am prepared to not be accommodated.  

joyco

Oh gosh, now you're making me wonder if I should have prepared more for the boys' b-day party!  I made sure to select the cupcake flavors that don't have nuts in them and I'm not serving actual nuts, but hadn't considered gluten or lactose-intolerance.  Gosh, that's a lot to think about!

thethomps

Yep - since I have a dairy allergy, I always ask guests if there are any food allergies I need to take into account when preparing a meal.  And it's always appreciated when someone makes something dairy-free that I can eat when eating at a potluck or someone else's house. 

MrsAJL

rssnlvr:

either you're drunk or typing on your phone. Totally giggling at the typos in this one.

And yes. If I'm having people over who have dietary restrictions, I try to make sure I have something there that they can enjoy.

What? You don't eat sessert? My bildren love it.