Talking Allergies

Just saw that they were opening a new chain of restaurants in Ottawa (Kanata) called "Five Guys". Just to warn people with peanut allergies that this restaurant probably isn't for them. The restaurant does post warnings on their doors and their website that peanuts are served in bulk there and that they use peanut oil for their fries.

As they say on their website:

"Over the past 20 years, peanuts have become part of the Five Guys identity. We by no means want to exclude guests from our store, but at the same time we would not want to disappoint our peanut eating guests. We make sure that we have signage on our doors and in our restaurants about the fact that we serve peanuts in bulk containers as we would never want someone to risk their health by coming into our restaurants."

also "We use 100% peanut oil that is refined and contains only enough preservatives (less than .004%, so that the oil doesn't foam when we put our fries in!)"

but they also do not allow peanut to be eating outside (how they control this, I'm not sure):

"Although it is rare that a casual encounter with peanuts will cause an allergic reaction, we want to limit the risk of someone unknowingly coming into contact with peanuts."

Its too bad, seems like a nice chain but we won't be going there.

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Jacqueline Labossière-Jager
Stittsville, ON

son - born 1998, allergy to peanut, nuts, sesame, shellfish and kiwi; a bunch of allergies to plants, animals, etc. and asthma
daughter - born 2003, no known allergies

We had one open in Kingtson this year as well. They do at least post a warning sign on the window.

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Mary

I guess as long as they clearly announce this they can do as they please ..but...in the day and age of wanting to make $ and have a thriving business I have to ask why alienate ANY customers?????

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

I WISH I had remembered the name Five Guys from this thread but ...well, didn't. A couple weeks ago my husband and I went to go eat without the kids. A new place called, you guessed it, five guys, opened up nearby so we went to check it out. As I stood in the front entrance I just felt something wasn't right, allergy mom intuition. I look around and all I see is peanuts, peanuts on tables, peanut shells everywhere, the entire place decorated with burlap sacks of potatoes and peanuts. And then I sniff and realize...peanut oil! OMG !! I put both my hands in the air so as to touch NOTHING and leave. There was no sign out front, (oh yah , you betcha I looked afterwards!!!)
Oh, it felt like I'd bathing in peanuts and my husband and I both felt so icky leaving, as if the particles were all stuck on our clothes and in our hair. Not impressed! A SIGN would be nice as I wouldn't have even touched the door handle!!!!!!!!!!!

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

Les 3 Brasseurs / The 3 Brewers is exactly this kind of place. See my post here:

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=7629

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15-year-old son: peanuts, nuts, raw egg whites, asthmatic
Self: allergic rhinitis, fragrance/chemical sensitivities, oral allergy syndrome