Dear Editor,

Thank you for your article on Thursday, February 17 regarding dietary restrictions and food allergies. As a graduate student, much of my time is spent on Pew Campus and having food allergies makes eating on campus is not only a challenge, but a risk as well. I have 14 different food allergies including wheat, soy, some nuts and a variety of different fruits and vegetables. At least a handful of these could kill me. In high school, I went into anaphylactic shock after taking a bite of pineapple. It was terrifying. Mom was out of town, and Dad’s “Um, take an aspirin?” didn’t help the swelling of my tongue, throat and face or make the rash go away. It felt like I had a butcher knife in my lungs and was breathing through a coffee filter because I was going into respiratory arrest. A quick call to the neighbor, a nurse, identified my symptoms as anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction. She advised that I take antihistamine and go to the emergency room. I ended up drinking an entire bottle of children’s liquid allergy medicine and sleeping for about 14 hours instead.

I have since learned to strictly avoid the many foods I am allergic to, but it is not easy. I mostly try to avoid eating on campus because I honestly don’t trust the kitchens. I’ve seen workers cross-contaminate spoons and knives at different dining locations on campus, including the smoothie shop in Kirkhof, and I can’t imagine what they are doing where I can’t see them. Whenever I have asked staff to check ingredients or if an allergen is in something, I generally get blank stares. When I explain I am allergic to whatever I am asking about, they either don’t take me seriously or are confused but try to find out. At this point, I’ve pretty much given up. I have worked in food service myself for over a decade and learned a lot over the years. It’s not a matter of laziness or not caring; it’s about education and proper food safety.

Last year, I wrote a letter and hand delivered it to a manager at Pew Campus Dining which expressed my issue and asked that they please put labels on items, noting that food allergies and Celiac disease are serious and becoming more and more common. I got an email saying it was a matter they took seriously and would look into or something like that. Nothing was ever done. I’ve written comment cards, too, but at this point I don’t feel like anyone cares. I do not understand why on earth it would be so challenging to have labels on food items. Or how about a sign by the soups with an ingredient list—I’ve asked this of numerous staff and every time they react like they’ve never heard anyone ask that before.

What the faculty and staff at Campus Dining, as well as most of the world, don’t realize is that their lack of food safety or inattention to detail in food preparation and labeling could literally kill people like me.

A friend in my program has Celiac disease and she is terrified of eating on campus most of the time. I’ve met other students with allergies or gluten intolerance that simply avoid buying food on campus. But being on campus for hours at a time makes bringing enough food for the day a challenge and let’s be honest, a side salad really doesn’t cut it for dinner before a three hour class. The campus dining representative quoted in the article made it sound like we never speak up—either the people we talk to don’t share our concerns with Campus Dining or those you interviewed are out of touch. Maybe there is a difference between the campuses? Don’t get me wrong, the staff at Pew do a great job in other areas; I love the chicken and rice soup and those sandwiches and wraps look tasty, even though I can’t eat them. I just wouldn’t trust them with my life.

For more information on Celiac Disease and food allergies, check out these websites: http://www.celiac.com/ and http://www.foodallergy.org/