Hotel Buffets and Allergens!

Ok, advance warning: this post is VERY different from other posts on my blog. It's a very negative, rant of sorts and I always said I wanted to keep this blog positive. But I also said I wanted to keep it honest, informative and true and that's what this post is.

I've just returned from an all inclusive holiday with a very negative experience of a hotel buffet. As a bit of context, I have a nut allergy. It's incredibly mild (and by that I mean not a severe, can't breathe nutty air kinda allergy) and I never tell hotels or restaurants about it. My 'chillness', whilst perhaps risky, has come from years of monitoring reactions, being able to feel them coming and manage them before they get serious, but most importantly developing an awareness of what I can and can't eat. In this day and age there are so many people with varying dietary requirements, food labeling (in the UK and USA in particular) is impeccable and there are many things I can just assume don't contain nuts (basic cereals, bread, milk chocolate, sponge cake...). Now I understand that this is incredibly risky but it's always worked for me. If I'm in a restaurant I can assume that Spaghetti Bolognaise won't contain nuts, whereas I'd probably check the Sticky Toffee Pudding...

Buffets are risky for allergy sufferers anyway and anyone who uses the same spoon for the chopped hazelnuts as they do for the gummy bears at the ice cream station is our worst nightmare (yes, think about that next time please)! But we still have to eat, and if your allergy is not serious like mine, you just make assumptions on what you can and can't eat. You'll read the label that says "Spaghetti Bolognaise" and decide that that's probably safe to eat. Yes, a child may have double dipped the tongs that may have had contact with something nutty, but that small contamination isn't gonna be a problem for an allergy like mine. I have been to hundreds of hotel buffets and always eaten this way and never had a problem because (and here's the key) most hotel buffets will not just label a dish "Sticky Toffee Pudding" but also label it "contains gluten, nuts" (for example).

This particular hotel had NO allergen labeling at all and on the first night my dinner was interrupted by an allergic reaction. I hadn't even made it to dessert! I hadn't eaten anything at all that I thought even may have contained nuts and at the point I felt my reaction building, I had only eaten the grilled salmon and tomato pasta, both of which I think you'd agree with me should not contain nuts. Now baring in mind what we know about my allergy, this being that it is not serious and not affected by traces, it lead me to try and figure out what it was that had affected me in this way. Was it that the salmon was fried in peanut oil? If so, firstly why is this the case when so many people have nut allergies these days and there are many alternative oils? And secondly, if this is the case, why wasn't this labeled?

When I ate in the buffet the second time I made sure I spoke to a manager who directed me to the executive chef who was able to give me the basics of what I could and couldn't eat. But it ruled out a lot of dishes just because he wasn't sure or because they may contain traces. I couldn't have any of the delicious looking cakes, or any of the cooked vegetables (why? what if I were vegetarian?). He was clearly incredibly busy and I felt like such a nuisance having to keep asking. It got to the point that I would dread going to meals as I was so anxious about having to ask about my dietary requirements.

Even in the sit down restaurants, where food choices were limited and freshly cooked, there was confusion as to what I could and could not eat. In the steak restaurant I was told that I wouldn't be able to eat anything fried...in a steak restaurant? So I'll just have salad? No, turns out I can eat the steak and chips but they'll have to be cooked separately? Again with the peanut oil? I already know a certain burger chain uses peanut oil to fry its chips...

Something as simple as eating was made incredibly stressful, but would have been so much easier if the food was labeled effectively in the first place. And by 'effectively' I mean, don't just label something "nuts" because the dish next to it contains nuts! I get that they can never be sure, there's always a risk of contamination etc. so by all means have a notice saying there's no guarantee, all dishes are prepared in an environment where nuts are used... Us allergy sufferers know that, we hear it everywhere we go!

Instead, ONLY label food that actual contains an allergen.

And in fact this shouldn't just happen in hotel buffets, it should happen everywhere!

Restaurants, bakeries, anywhere with food!

Where extreme cases involving deaths due to insufficient or false allergy labeling are becoming more frequent, surely it is vital that places improve their allergen labeling?

What for a hotel is an incredibly simple procedure of taking a little extra time to print their labels, or a sign reminding people to use the correct tongs provided, could significantly improve the experience for anyone with dietary requirements! And in severe cases it could save a life!

Now whilst I would be the first to admit that I have incredibly high standards for hotels and restaurants, and maybe I need to change and get better at asking for help in restaurants when choosing food too. In this day and age though, where so many people have dietary requirements, I think it is fair to believe that food labeling should be a basic requirement for any hotel, whether it be in a buffet or on a restaurant menu. Why shouldn't there be standards for allergens the same way there are standards for hygiene and safety? With a 'basic' allergy like nuts, I shouldn't have to ask if the grilled salmon contains nuts!

Like I say, I realise that this is a very personal opinion based blog post, but I also realise that with this blog I have a platform to raise awareness of an issue I've become increasingly passionate about.

So please, if you're a hotel or restaurant owner, LABEL YOUR FOOD CORRECTLY!

If you work in a hotel or restaurant, SPEAK TO YOUR BOSS ABOUT LABELING FOOD CORRECTLY!

And next time you visit a hotel buffet, THINK TWICE about where you put that hazelnut dipped spoon!

If you have any thoughts on this issue, or have experienced something similar, please, I'd love to hear from you! Drop me an email at travellingwithstyleblog@gmail.com or dm my Instagram @travellingwithstyleblog

Other than that, thanks for taking the time to read through this little rant and let's hope this is one small step for travellingwithstyleblog but one giant leap for allergen awareness!