I guess I don't blame manufacturers and restaurants just writing us off by saying they cannot guarantee eating their products are safe, so don't eat our product! They don't want a lawsuit on their hands if anything happens to a person while consuming their product. But as a parent of a PA child, or a PA adult, isn't this response frustrating?? As the previous post said, they have eaten at the Olive Garden without a problem, but after being told not to, what do you do??? Will you go back?
[This message has been edited by ConcernedMom (edited May 27, 2001).]

Same with me - no problems at all. I ate at the Olive Garden in New York City (Times Square).

I had lunch at Olive Garden a couple of days ago with my PA DD (in Roanoke, VA). The waitress was very helpful. We are avoiding seafood as well in the hopes she won't develop that allergy so I had deal with that in addition to PA. I ended up getting her steamed broccoli, which they said is steamed in individual packets, and penne with butter and some parmesan cheese.
She said they no longer use pine nuts (avoiding tree nuts too). She also mentioned that she had a nephew with many food allergies who is now in college, so she was aware of the seriousness. DD also ate the breadsticks without any problem.
I have added this to my list of safe restaurants (which is very short). As long as I have a couple of things I can order her, she then at least feels that she'a eating the same thing we are.
Shannon

Here are some other experiences...
[url="http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/Forum10/HTML/000165.html"]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/Forum10/HTML/000165.html[/url]

Here's another Olive Garden experience!
Woman Gives Birth In Olive Garden Bathroom
POSTED: 9:12 am EST December 9, 2004
UPDATED: 1:01 pm EST December 9, 2004
BOULDER, Colo. -- It wasn't your typical order to go. An employee at an Olive Garden in Boulder had a baby in one of the restaurant's bathrooms.
Co-workers say the pregnant woman had locked herself inside the restroom for nearly three hours.
An employee called police as soon as managers became aware that the woman was locked in the bathroom.
Steve Coe, a spokesman for the Italian food chain, said while the circumstances may be a bit unusual, their concern is with the mother and her new son. Both are said to be doing well.
Police say the woman speaks Spanish and authorities are having a little trouble learning why she didn't seek medical help.

Ha! Ha! Hey everyone, it looks like food isn't the only thing we have to look out for in restraunts! Watch out for women having babies in restrooms next time you go out!
o.ooook! I do hope the woman and baby are well and doing fine.

Can I ask what you ordered for your child at Olive Garden? Would love to try and go there but was told not too.

I order her grilled chicken, steamed broccoli, and fettuccini. Which is really a big enough meal for me [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img] The meal normally comes with spaghetti, but she doesn't like it. I read the labels for the breadsticks, the pasta, marinara, and alfrado sauce. Everything looked good and she did not have a reaction.

We're in MA and my DD eats at Olive Garden often with no reactions. She has taken a liking to the fettuccini alfredo (kid size) but has also had the chix fingers and spaghetti with sauce.

We are dealing with egg allergy too. Did you happen to notice if any of the items contained egg? Thanks Nancy