Family Humiliated And Charged Hundreds After Vegan Claims To Have Life-Threatening Allergies

For those with certain dietary restrictions or allergies, it’s crucial that restaurant staff knows exactly what it is that they can’t consume. However, some places don’t care much unless it’s the latter scenario they’re dealing with.

That’s why this redditor decided to lie about having severe allergies so they would be served something vegan. But vegan food was not the only outcome of their lie.

Seeking to learn more about the effect lying about allergies can have on customers who actually suffer from them, Bored Panda has reached out to an award-winning dietitian, medical educator and researcher, and the British Dietetic Association Spokesperson, Dr. Duane Mellor, who was kind enough to share his insight on the matter. Scroll down to find his thoughts in the text below.

“Although all dietary requirements need to be met, it is important that people do not lie about having a food allergy as this can lead to people with food allergies and related conditions such as coeliac disease not being taken seriously. That can mean that they are not provided the food they need to stay healthy and may not even feel safe to go out to eat and enjoy the social benefits of eating out,” Dr. Duane Mellor explained.

“It is essential that people with food allergies are taken seriously and the food industry works to keep them safe, and this should be respected by people with other non-medically linked dietary restrictions and therefore they should not pretend their requirement is an allergy.”

Needless to say, food allergies are no joke, as they can cause all sorts of reactions ranging from unpleasant to life-threatening. (Nowadays, the estimated number of people dealing with allergies is 33 million in the US alone, roughly 5.6 million of which are children under 18.) Out of the adult population living with food allergies, more than half have experienced a severe allergic reaction.

The strong detrimental effects one might experience are why it’s important that people with allergies inform others about them in certain settings. For instance, when going out to eat, it’s crucial to not only make sure that the dish does not contain something they can’t consume but to let the staff know, too, so they take necessary precautions.

Taking precautionary measures is critical because skipping certain ingredients the person is allergic to is not enough; it’s necessary to prevent cross-contamination as well (which happens when an allergen is inadvertently transferred to the dish, by using a shared knife, for instance, or not changing the oil in the fryer). And while following protocol and doing everything they can to make sure the food is allergen-free can be troublesome for the staff, that is what they do to keep customers safe.

“We, as the food allergy community, have to be respectful of what the restaurant goes through and be thankful that they’re willing to slow down the entire machine on a busy Saturday night to address our needs,” the Boston Globe cited the founder of AllergyEats, Paul Antico, saying, in addition to pointing out that some people fake allergies, “and that stinks”.

While people faking allergies is irresponsible at best, many restaurant workers have unfortunately witnessed customers lying (which is not difficult to spot when a person who just had a terrible gluten allergy realizes they don’t like any of their options and decides that a little gluten won’t hurt all of a sudden).

Chances are, the person lying has certain dietary restrictions or food preferences—as well as unfortunate experiences in the past, as the OP did with the establishment—which result in them having to lie in order to be taken seriously. And while that in no way justifies the lying, some people do have to go to extreme lengths or give up visiting some places altogether if they want to stick to certain food-related practices.

Take vegans, for example. Nowadays, they reportedly comprise less than 1% of the global population; however, that translates to 79 million people worldwide, meaning that there are quite a few individuals who would hope to get their broccoli without butter and their iceberg lettuce salad without ranch.

“Being vegan or having dietary requirements which are linked to culture or religion may not be taken as seriously by some in the hospitality industry as they are not identified in food safety law and do not have the potential to represent themselves as potentially life-threatening or linked to significant litigation risks,” Dr. Mellor pointed out.

“This is despite veganism being potentially a protected characteristic under the Equality Act in the UK, and potentially different legislation in other countries, as it is often linked to belief, whereas dietary restrictions linked to religious or cultural heritage are clearly covered by similar laws. This is a matter of respect for an individual's food choices, whatever the reason and every attempt should be made to meet these requirements.”

According to last year’s data, there were as many people in the US following a vegetarian diet as there were vegans (roughly 1% of people in the country). The most popular diet, which roughly 18% of the US population swore by, was the high-protein diet, followed by mindful eating, clean eating, calorie counting, and intermittent fasting respectively.

“It is important that different dietary needs and requirements are taken seriously by the food and hospitality sector; people have good reasons for the way they have to or choose to eat,” Dr. Mellor said. “Ultimately the industry is providing a service and it is important they do this in a way that consumers feel safe and respected and not feel they need to lie to get what they need.”