A recent graduate is dishing up a taste of technology for Arizona State University students with food allergies to help them navigate eating on campus. Tristan Tierce has partnered with his alma mater to integrate his website Allergy Voyage into the university’s dining services.
“We are incredibly excited to partner with ASU. I am ecstatic to provide allergic students with more resources,” Tierce says.
The young entrepreneur successfully defended Allergy Voyage as part of his honors thesis for Barrett, the Honors College at ASU. His business hosts restaurant menus and rates restaurants with a “life preserver” system, according to their food allergy accommodations and staff training.
Users can log in and quickly check restaurants to see if there are safe menu options to fit their dietary needs, filtering results by the top 9 allergens. “It entirely revolves around providing useful information to people with food allergies,” says Tierce.
And now, Tierce is expanding Allergy Voyage onto ASU’s Tempe campus as of the fall of 2024. Students dining at Pitchforks Dining Hall will be the first to use the website to view menus and filter them for the top 9 allergens. Students who create profiles will be able to “favorite” specific menus and meals.
Because of the fast rotation of menu items for campus dining, the Allergy Voyage team will collaborate closely with the dining hall to ensure menu items are updated.
ASU registered dietitian Alison Ozgur says her team is excited to work with the young entrepreneur. “His website will provide great guidance for our students with food allergies.”
Tierce plans to bring Allergy Voyage to other campus locations, including popular chains such as Chick-fil-A and Subway. “My hope is to continue our partnership and expand to all ASU dining locations over the next year,” he says.
Voyage to Entrepreneurship
Tierce, who has multiple food allergies and Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE), earned degrees in art history and business entrepreneurship. His idea for Allergy Voyage emerged from a frustrating experience trying to plan a trip to Italy with friends before his sophomore year at ASU.
Having never traveled outside the United States, Tierce researched how he could navigate international travel with food allergies. He felt overwhelmed trying to find restaurant menus and allergy protocols, and didn’t feel safe traveling without enough knowledge. So he did not take that trip, but eventually made it to Italy the following year as part of an ASU study abroad summer program.
“That started me on the path of creating Allergy Voyage,” he recalls.
Allergy Voyage and Restaurant Input
Restaurant involvement serves as the basis for the business. Restaurants are the source of information, rather than user opinions, Tierce says. To become a “preferred provider,” they pay a fee to have the Allergy Voyage team meet with staff, review menus and assist with allergy disclosures.
The system also makes it easy for restaurants to update menu information on the site. Eateries that have at least one staff member complete the FARECheck training on food handling and safety practices for allergens, can achieve a higher rating.
“I want to help users understand which restaurants have a greater likelihood of accommodating food-allergic customers,” he says.
Tierce is optimistic about expanding Allergy Voyage. He is building his business, starting in the Tempe and Phoenix areas, along with the Dallas area near his hometown of Parker, Texas.
The team is also working with a restaurant group in Florida’s Boca Raton area. The goal is to test the ability to maintain menu accuracy in restaurants that are farther afield from Arizona.
But first, at his alma mater, Tierce hopes that his business will help students with food allergies.
“We are inspired by his tremendous work in the allergen technology space,” says Ozgur, who is ASU’s nutrition associate manager.
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