Victoria and Alberts with multiple allergies

[clanmcculloch]

I hope that if you do go that you'll post a detailed review afterward. I'd love to see the kinds of foods they come up with. I'd love to eat there some day but I also worry that they won't have enough interesting options to come up with a meal that'll be worth that hefty price tag.

I have seen four levels of allergies and I'd like to make sure I understand the severity of them.

The four levels are:
Level 1: I'm allergic to this because I do not like the taste, texture etc. Dietary choice.
Level 2: I'm allergic to this because if I eat a lot of it (or eat it regularly) I will not feel so good and therefore I limit my exposure. (Some people with dairy allergies are like this.)
Level 3: I'm allergic to this because if I eat it I will have a mild allergic reaction, therefore I try to avoid it, or take medication to help fight off any reaction.
Level 4: If I eat even a tiny amount ws in my food, or if my food touched this item, I'm going to the hospital due to severe allergic reaction.

Question: which level are you?

As a child....I really really really really hated tomatoes. The smell, taste, texture will ruin my appetite. No ketchup, none sliced on salads, no dried tomatoes, nothing. But if someone sneaks it in my food (like a small piece on a burger) and somehow I did not notice...it won't really hurt me.

Now as an adult, I actually eat pizza in small doses but I order light sauce and there better not be any chunks or even have a heavy tomato taste. I still do not eat anything else with tomatoes, and because most of the food is not acidic, if I eat a lot of pizza it does not sit well. My hubby tells people I'm 'allergic' but I'm not really. I'm a level 1.

My niece has a peanut, tree nut and shellfish allergy. in my little list, she is a level 4.

The reason I ask is because some many people say they have 'allergies' but they are actually more like me with my distaste of tomatoes. (There is no allergic reaction, just my dietary choice.) Nothing wrong with that at all, just that it could help a chef understand what they need to do to keep you comfortable.

Another example is gluten - for some it is an allergy, but for many it is just a dietary choice. Dietary choice means they can use the same pan to cook your food or cook it near the allergic ingredients, allergy level 4, they need to use a new pan, different cooking utensils like spoons, forks, knives and separate cooking/prep area to avoid any possible cross-contamination.

If you are a level 1-3 you should be fine, pretty much everywhere in WDW - level 4 at V&A...you should be fine....WDW is an exception when it comes to allergies...they excel in this!

if you are a level 4 for all of them, I wonder if you are able to go to most resturants outside of WDW with that list. My niece's family has a hard time finding places that can handle her her 3 allergies.

Count me in as somebody who finds the list offensive. MANY of us with food allergies and intollerances have reactions much more severe than 3 but not bad enough to be hospitalized (4). Medication isn't sufficient and we're impacted for days and for some of us even weeks when exposed to certain foods (no I'm not exagerating when I say weeks; my migraines hit at just under 2 weeks after gluten exposure and until that point I'm going through a variety of symptoms that severely impact my life). You're trivializing those of us who don't end up in the hospital. Our reactions ARE real and we do have to avoid all forms of cross contamination and treat our allergies the same as those with severity 4 from this list.

Somebody asking a question like this wouldn't be going to this trouble because of simple preferences. It takes a lot of work and time to live with an extensive list of allergies. OP has been hospitalized many times due to her allergies and would likely give her right arm to be able to eat what she wants and just pick off or avoid things she doesn't like. Questioning a person who is asking a question in this way is basically asking if they're telling the truth or not and there's no need for that.

I don't think it was offensive at all as "level" 2-4 affect me personally (several food intolerances and allergies), and through working in the food industry I have met SEVERAL people who claim they are "allergic" to something simply because they dislike it. See the gluten-free fad as a prime example. For something I have an INTOLERANCE to, I would simply try to limit my tastes of it but not avoid entirely. For my peanut ALLERGY, I stay far away.

Most of what my kids and I call allergies are actually intollerances. That does NOT mean we can consume even trace amounts of these foods. All 3 of us can get very sick from trace amounts. Please do not assume that everybody's intollerances are the same as yours.

Excellent Post. It is so frustrating and potentially dangerous when parents come into the school and say their child has a milk allergy but can have ice cream and cheese. Nope, you child just does not like milk. My PA child will stop breathing if he eat peanuts and until recently would have ended up in the ER and might have stopped breathing if he ate eggs. THAT is allergic. It is hard to make people really understand that and people misusing the term makes it harder. People do react differently with allergic reactions and some are more sever than others but every expose can worsen the allergy and if there is a true medically documented allergy, the allergen must be avoided at all times.

Are these parents asking for the classroom to be completely free of allergens? I can't imagine that a parent in the scenario you're describing would ask anything of the class or other parents. I'm not saying that claiming an allergy when the child can safely consume the food is right, but frankly I don't care what others do or don't do regarding how they feed their kids if it's not impacting me or my family. My child having allergies in no way impacts you or your child. Just because my children and I don't stop breathing from consumption of our allergens and intollerances does not make them any less real and again, in no way are we impacting you. Please stop judging those of us who have different situations than you do.

Wow - what a thread. OP, as a mom of a child with an extensive list of allergies I'm sorry thus thread took the turn it did. I abhor when people start loosely dropping the term 'allergic" when they are not genuinely allergic. And yes, yes, yes! When a picky eater calls themselves allergic then eats some of the "offending" food it just makes it harder for people with true allergies to stay safe!

And that list is a tad offensive. Level one is ridiculous. Call a spade a spade. Level one is just a picky eater. As far as the other levels go... I only imagine two other levels. #1 - my body has some sort of reaction that lays me out, or #2 - if I eat it I will die.

OP - V&A is really expensive. If you want to eat there I'd fill out the res form and request a call ASAP. When you get the call request a menu to be faxed to you. As you can eat many meat/protein sources & cooked veggies you may be pleasantly surprised. Dessert may be impossible.

For the record, you did actually say that you are allowed to cheat for a week at Disney as needed. Here's the link to the post where you said exactly that;

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=48385296&postcount=26

I think you're misreading this. I take that to mean she can take a vacation from the requirement to eat organic meats and is extra vigilant with carrying Benedryl and epi pens just in case this causes problems. She does NOT take a vacation from her actuall allergies. The purpose of her eating organic meat is to try to avoid some of the allergens and chemicals comsumed by and pumped into the animal as even this has the potential to cause a reaction. I can see how people could mis-interpret her comment but this is very much a context based statement.