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Comment by themodelplumber | Hacker News Reader

That is funny. I had a kind of opposite experience, when I was struggling with a bad reaction to gluten. My wife and I went to a burger joint in Utah called "Mooyah" where I ordered a burger on a gluten-free bun. As soon as those words left my mouth, the cashier asked, "allergy or preference?"

Stunned and wondering if I was being criticized, I said "allergy" only to learn that if you say that, they have to clean all possible traces of gluten off of their equipment before they make your burger.

"Allergy!" Then the action started. As I watched two employees vigorously wipe down all this stuff just to make one burger, I felt alternately shocked, amazed, well-served, and embarrassed. Others in the restaurant looked at me like I was from another planet.

Anyway, that was one of the best gluten-free buns I've ever tasted.

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And that's exactly the reason why people are total inconsiderate assholes if they claim alergies for something they just dislike. I look with disdain and revulsion at scuh idiots!

Imagine a busy restaurant, Saturday evening, 8:30 and you claim to be alergic to something. The kitchen must pull a five alarm drill in the middle of their busiest time. Make sure that all cutting boards are replaced, for example, everything must be cleaned thoroughly and they must be damn sure that there's no cross contamination whatsoever.

And all because an asshole lied and claimed to be allergic, while in reality she dislikes pineapple.

If you are really allergic to something please, please call ahead and talk with the restaurant, so that they can make appropriate preparations, without having to essentially lock down the kitchen for 15 minutes.

The worst is that people that claim allergies, or gluten intollerance without this being true hurt other people, who really cannot tollerate certain foods.

So your story makes total sense and the place really seems to care. But just imagine the same action in a full blown restaurant kitchen with a number of lines, which all need to be decontaminated during their busiest time.

I was on a work trip once with a colleague who was both gluten- and lactose-intolerant. While there, we went to dinner at an Italian place in northern New Jersey. I wish I could remember the name. When she asked the waiter about dishes that she could eat, they brought out a whole menu full of stuff. Turns out one of the owner's relatives had the same killer combo. My colleague - no softie, far tougher than I am in many ways - was almost in tears. She couldn't just find something. She got to choose among many dishes that she actually wanted to eat. For people who truly for-real have these kinds of issues, that can be an unimaginable luxury.

"Allergy or preference?" is an interesting question. For many people the answer would be neither: they suffer physical pain if they eat a significant amount of wheat - half a slice of bread might be enough to produce symptoms, for example - but it's not technically an allergy and it's not life-threatening. You don't need to use different equipment for these people, but you should carefully check the list of ingredients.

I wasn’t aware an allergy had to be life-threatening to be classified as such. In fact, double-checking with a dictionary confirms it isn’t defined that way.

I grew up allergic to chlorine (swimming pools). The allergic reaction was/is eczema. This was not life threatening. For the past 12 years I’ve suffered from pollen allergy annually. Also not life-threatening.

I think that's what they're trying to get at with "preference", but I agree that word's connotations are a bit too weak.

To be clear, it often takes a hell of a lot less than a half a slice of bread. That much gluten is a nuclear bomb for me. I'm fucked for days.

Some people have celiac disease, which is immune-system related (though not technically an allergy), and can be sensitive in the low ppm, not slices

In many states, the answer (or even whether one was sought/given) is going to mean a lot in terms of law, liability, and insurance.

Yes, that's called gluten intolerance.

Most proper places will ask since people saying preference are okay with a bit of cross-contamination.

I saw a burger place do a full cleandown because someone was allergic to something in one of the sauces, it was the most coordinated thing I ever saw.

You can see this when you say seafood allergy at good sushi places too. If you say allergy, they say "New cutting board, new gloves" to the chef. Sushi is a bit easier for allergy orders :-)

That's amazingly considerate.

As a celiac, I wish it were more common.

Celiac in the US shockingly misunderstood. The current gluten-free fad doesn't help.

Of the places I've visited since being diagnosed, Italy was BY FAR the best for eating out while celiac. Rome has some of the best gluten-free pizza. Florence was no slouch. And if a restaurant is not comfortable serving you (small kitchen, impossible to clean properly, not trained, whatever), they'll tell you up front so you can go elsewhere.

The current gluten-free fad doesn't help.

And that's exactly why this pisses me off so much. It massively hurts people like you, who really cannot tolerate certain food stuff.

I think its legally required in many places. In others it is about not being sued. And for all kitchen staff it is fairly important not to poison people!

Would you entertain the idea of a database of verifiable gluten sensitive people that the seating host validates upon check-in which affords this 'clean glove' type of dining experience across all sit down establishments? You maybe enroll in this service through a physician so it's legit and they can't question you about it along the lines of not being able to question the need for a service dog.

I think this would lock out all the people who ruin it for the ones that need it most and lower the burden on the kitchen staff. Thoughts?

It sounds good in theory. In practice it would probably turn out like mmj cards where anyone sufficiently rich can get a five minute gluten certification. And people without regular healthcare can't, but hey they're poor and shouldn't be going to restaurants. And tourists. Add to that the extra bureaucratic load on the restaurant workers.

Maybe restaurants could contract out to a dedicated GF meal service? Or have some fancy frozen GF meals available?

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