Did the Customer Lie? You be the Judge!

[AccountingDrone]

Peanuts are different from nuts. Peanuts are legumes, whereas nuts are not.

I have a nut sensitivity. It's not a true allergy, but it does make me itch like the dickens. I frequently won't bother asking if something has nuts, but if it does have nuts, I'll politely ask them to re-make whatever was contaminated.

Or I'm an idiot and I screw up and eat it by accident.

I have a friend who is ok with peanuts, but is allergic to tree nuts. i made her peanut baklava once

[EricKei]

What do you think?

Well...Sometimes you feel like a nut...Sometimes you don't.

The one is highly allergic to cashews. Ate them for years, but one day he just suddenly puffed up and had to go to the ER.

Something like this happened to my brother. As a teen, he could scarf down a big bag of honey-mustard pretzels in the blink of an eye...then one day, he *touched* one with his bare fingers and broke out in hives all over his body, and had trouble breathing o_O The hospital fixed him right up and confirmed that he had developed a mustard allergy. An odder SET of allergies he developed was to the powder used in some disposable foodservice gloves....and also to the latex in the gloves themselves (tested for both separately; allergic to both)!

The opposite happened to Mom. Desperately allergic to cats as a youth; she loved them but had to avoid them. Then, one day after she was in her 50's, a neighbor's cat jumped in her lap and she had no adverse reaction whatsoever. Said neighbor was giving kittens away, and Mom took one home that day =^_^=

[Zoom]

Brazil Nuts can be sexually transmitted for the purpose of allergies

Ain't that a kick in the nuts?

[Dark Psion]

Ah the wonderful world of botany.

Tomatoes are fruit, technically berries. As are Peppers and Cucumbers.

Strawberries, Raspberries and Blackberries are not berries, but are Aggregates, a cluster of tiny little fruits.

Almonds are also fruit, cousins to Peaches.

Cashews are Drupes, the same kind of fruit as Cherries and Coconuts, but with cashews you are eating the pit.

Cashews are cousins to Poison Ivy, the nut is the only part of the plant without the oil.

Poison Ivy is not poisonous, the Urushiol oil triggers an allergic reaction. People who are highly allergic to Poison Ivy are also allergic to Mangos.

[Mel]

My father is deathly allergic to almonds. He says it's somehow tied to his asthma. Same as his aspirin allergy.

You can bet if he was ordering something that might be cross contaminated with almonds, he would speak up BEFORE ordering.

The woman was probably lying.

[PepperElf]

I'm in the almond nu allergy/sensitivity category. I get hives from almonds, almond oil, English Toffee, a kiss from my sweetie after he's eaten almonds, etc. I didn't develop this allergy until 23, so I know exactly what I'm missing. Doesn't stop me from pre-dosing with meds and scarfing a handful of hot toffee roasted almonds at Faire every year. That's some good scratchin' afterward.

My point is, in the situation from the OP, I probably wouldn't make the allergy known ahead o time I I were ordering non-nut toppings. Doesn't mean the look on the lady's face was OK though.

I'm laughing cos that's one of my former coworkers for you. He is allergic to bananas but he can't get enough of banana chips.

To the point where I think he almost enjoys the way this throat itches after he eats them.

[i4wolves]

Nut

I have a nut allergy, not peanuts as they are not a nut. But every time I go some where that their could be a possibility of nuts getting into my food, I let them know ahead of time. A little bit will not hurt me my lips just swell a little bit.

Of course one time I did forgot to ask because I was in a hurry, (and it was a place I visited often and I went on auto pilot and forgot to ask because what I ordered normally does not come with nuts) and they put nuts in it. I threw it away and asked for another one, but and they asked why and I told them I instated that I would pay for it as it was my fault that I did not let them know ahead of time, and I was not thinking about it as I was in a hurry, but they said not to worry about it and made a new one. But I was nice about it because it was my fault for not letting them know ahead of time and I was perfectly willing to pay for it again since it was my error not theirs.

[AccountingDrone]

Poison Ivy is not poisonous, the Urushiol oil triggers an allergic reaction. People who are highly allergic to Poison Ivy are also allergic to Mangos.

No. Not always. Every person is different. Rob is so allergic to poison ivy that he can go from exposure to inflammed and infected on 80+% of his body in 24 hours. He also eats mangos as enthusiastically as I do. I need to peel said mangos, as the *skin* has oils that are similar to urushiol, but the fruit pulp inside is just fine.

[actually we joke he can pick up a case of poison ivy just looking at a picture of it. I can squat for a piss in a patch and nothing happens to me, I just give it to him if I don't strip down, toss the clothing and get a shower.]

[Misty]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I realize now that I was probably being too harsh. There's a good chance the woman's daughter was allergic to nuts; giving her the benefit of the doubt, I'll say she wasn't a liar, just inconsiderate.

Let this be a public message to anyone with any kind of allergies. Whenever you eat out, please let your server know your dietary restrictions up front; as it's been mentioned, some dishes may contain ingredients you're not aware of, so play it safe. You may think your allergy isn't a big enough deal to mention, but if you have to send your food back because it contains the thing you're allergic to, then it is a big deal. Please just save everyone involved some time and money.

Of course, if you don't mind a little swelling or itchiness, then go nuts It's your call.

[Mictor Veldrew]

My missus is allergic to capsicum peppers and we always check to see there is none in any food we are about to buy in a shop or to order in a restaurant. Sometimes we still have an epic fail though. We once went into a pub that is part of a large UK chain. She liked the look of a fish dish on the menu, so when I ordered it at the bar I asked if it contained any red or green peppers. The girl went to check and when she came back she said that she had carefully checked the list of ingredients on the container as the meals are pre-prepared and delivered chilled in bulk, and there were definitely no peppers. When the meal arrived, it was covered in the offending ingredient and we got the manager involved. It turned out that the person who prepared the meal (I won't give him the title of chef as I doubt that someone who heats pre-prepared meals can be classed as such) had decided that it lacked some colour and chucked on a handful of peppers. Dohhhh!

Another time we were in a cafe and ordered carrot & coriander soup. Didn't bother going through the usual spiel as this wouldn't be made with peppers. She took a mouthful and immediately spat it out as she could taste peppers. I took a taste and sure enough they were in it as well. Good job her allergy is not too bad and doesn't result in anaphylactic shock. Her lips and mouth just stung for a couple of days. If she does accidentally eat some, she will be violently sick (as in the film "The Exorcist") an hour or so later.