With an eye on the food allergy community as a unique group of consumers since 2008, we're on a quest to find and share ways to continue enjoying the good things in life.


18 January 2015

Food Allergy Fright at Orange Julius

Here is a truly frightening story that happened only miles away from me. A young boy had a drink at Orange Julius at a local mall, after his father specifically verified with Orange Julius staff that the drink contained no egg since his son suffers from an egg allergy. The child began to drink, and it soon became obvious he had been exposed to eggs, for he was suddenly covered with hives and was experiencing a progressive anaphylactic reaction. The parents immediately went back to Orange Julius, where the worker then checked the package of flavoring only to discover that the flavoring actually did contain egg white. The parents--both ER medics--drove the child to a nearby hospital and thankfully he was ok. What a horrifying and unnecessary ordeal! The parents are pushing for better education of restaurant staff, and some changes have been made at the local Orange Julius, but this just underscores the need for better food allergy education of restaurant staff. Keep in mind this took place in Massachusetts, generally viewed as one of the leaders in food allergy friendliness in restaurants due to the Food Allergy Awareness Act of 2009! Yipes!!

Please watch this video of the local news report.

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