A new franchise that hosts cooking classes and birthday parties for children/teens.
Here is their website...
[url="http://www.youngchefsacademy.com/pages/home.html"]http://www.youngchefsacademy.com/pages/home.html[/url]
We've been invited to a bday party there.
Here is the response in regard to my inquiry on the products/ingredients they use...well...I'll post my email to them also. If there is a better way of approaching these things please let me hear it. I try to get right to the point. Maybe that's not the best way.
Hi Sarah,
I'm very concerned with your daughter's life threatening peanut/tree nut allergy in our facility. We use those products almost daily in our facility-- cooking, utensils, ovens, etc. I regretfully feel Young Chefs Academy could potentially be harmful to your daughter's allergy and don't advise her to attend our party. I'm truly sorry we cannot accommodate for this type of allergy. I would be more than happy to send an extra party bag home with the the guests for your daughter.
Thanks for the heads up,
Andrea Stein
Owner
Young Chefs Academy
[url="http://www.youngchefsacademy.com/millcreekwa"]www.youngchefsacademy.com/millcreekwa[/url]
425.379.CHEF
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:
To: [email]millcreekwa@youngchefsacademy.com[/email]
Subject: Birthday Pizza Party
Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2007 12:02:11 -0700
Hello. My child has been invited to a party at your location and has a life threatening peanut/tree nut allergy. I would like to review your ingredients and manufacturer/allergen information for the products used at the party. I am concerned about products used in the facility in general, even if not at the pizza party in regards to a peanut and tree nut allergy and possible cross contamination with counters, utensils, ovens, etc.
Any help that you could give in this regard would be appreciated.
Thank you
**********************************
OK....she now just sent me a legal waiver that specifically refers to allergies.
Does this...
[url="http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/business.htm"]http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/business.htm[/url]
not pertain to PA? Since we use section 504 in regards to schools...would the ADA not pertain to restaurants, etc in regards to PA?
Honestly, you may be technically in the right, but in my experience, you just won't 'win' here. You approached it in the right manner.... but you have to be willing to accept the answer, too.
I'd be extremely grateful for her candor and her excellent level of awareness about the risks posed by cross-contamination. She seems to be genuinely concerned-- the offer to include your child in the goody bag suggests that to me.
As far as 'legal accommodations,' this standard applies as long as you are not asking a facility (which must offer access to the general public) to substantially alter the NATURE of its programs. In a 'cooking' class of any kind, [i]this is one you CANNOT win.[/i] IMO, of course. But I think you would be unwise to even try.
What did you expect/want from them? She was honest with you, and clearly is uncomfortable with the liability. Restaurants and other businesses can impose arbitrary standards for service, as well.
Not everything [i]can[/i] be 'made safe' for our kids, and this [i]is[/i] fundamentally a private, optional activity.
Sorry. I understand it is disappointing.
ETA:
I saw the waiver posted on their website.... were you sent something else?
Because the one I saw was quite general.... basic [i]you-can't-sue-us-for-anything-whether-or-not-we-or-you-could/should-have-seen-it-coming[/i] form. No mention of allergies specifically, though it is probably implied.
Truly-- if a [i]restaurant[/i] told you they use your child's allergens and don't recommend her eating there, would you insist and tell them they are 'excluding' her? Should even a Chinese restaurant that obviously uses peanuts and peanut oil have to 'accommodate' a PA child?
(Matter of opinion, I suppose, but IMO, no.)
[This message has been edited by Corvallis Mom (edited August 22, 2007).]
Here is her next response...
**********************************
Attached is our pizza recipe. This is the recipe the kids will be making the day of the party.
Again, we use peanuts all week during classes so our facility is definitely contaminated with dust. Currently we have peanuts in our kitchen cabinets.
When is the party your considering? Should you feel your son will be safe in our kitchens I will need a release signed, which you'll find attached.
Thanks,
******************************************
CVmom.... I guess my thoughts are that here is a facility geared toward children and they have the knowledge to produce an allergy waiver - so they recognize the problem - I would think that removing peanuts/nuts (which are not an essential ingrediant in PIZZA) would be easy, would gain them more business and would not degrade their product in any way. Perhaps at the least an offer to clean, use new utensils, etc would have been nice. My thought was that he could participate but not eat the pizza ??? (we are avoiding dairy and wheat at the moment - but not for LTFA)
I know you recognize my emotions here and the frustration that my son's best friend would do this....we took tomorrow off school/work to have a play date with her and I'm sure she'll tell him about the party which he can't go to. So yes this hits me on many levels. Perhaps enough to call my lawyer....I don't know. When I read the ADA it sure sound like restaurants/facilities like these are required to make accomodations. It had never occured to me before.
lets see if I can do this..
CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE AND RELEASE OF LIABILITY
I represent that I am the parent or legal guardian of the minor child named below and hereby
consent to such child using one or more of the Young Chefs
OH...this is realy gvmom's fault for getting me all riled up! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img] That other thread has be flipping from side to side like a fish in a boat.
But no....I would not expect a Chinese Restaraunt to not use peanuts/nuts as they are part of the quisene....
but this is not the Peanut Palace.
Quote:Originally posted by Sarahb:
[b]OH...this is realy gvmom's fault for getting me all riled up! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img] That other thread has be flipping from side to side like a fish in a boat.
But no....I would not expect a Chinese Restaraunt to not use peanuts/nuts as they are part of the quisene....
but this is not the Peanut Palace. [/b]
no, you are right...it's not the Peanut Palace. it looks like it's just a great, little business with a unique and fun idea for kids. "leave it be" would be my advice. not everyone everywhere can (or should) accommodate our children.
sorry. just my 2 cents.
I would DEFINITELY question the use of a 'special' liability waiver for a child with a disability. Any disability.
Double check the one listed on their website, because I [i]really[/i] don't think it uses the same verbiage.
And [i]that[/i] WOULD be a big No-No.
But seriously-- think carefully about what you are saying there. Just say, for a moment that they [i]should[/i] accommodate a child with a LTFA to peanuts by 'eliminating them from the rest of their programs.' Just because I [i]can[/i] pay to use my local gymn (even on a drop-in basis) doesn't mean that I am entitled to have changes made on the basis of a pre-existing physical disability I might have that makes most of the facility inaccessible to me. KWIM?
And what about the next family-- like MINE? The one that says, "But it is [i]easy[/i] really, to make pasta without egg. We'll just need a new pasta machine. In fact, we live without eggs. Why can't you just eliminate them?"
I [i]do[/i] understand your feelings-- I wish it were not so, but there will be plenty of times when [i]you won't even get the invite[/i] because of things like this. Or when the proprietress/proprietor is so clueless about FA that they say, "Ohhh-- SURE! Pizza doesn't have any peanuts in it." (Leaving you to dose your child with Benadryl and albuterol from the horribly contaminated environment.)
Businesses [i]DO NOT[/i] need to meet the same standard as schools and government-funded entities for inclusion. As unpleasant as it is, you [i]do[/i] have equal 'access'-- just not equal ability to use it. That isn't the same thing.
(This assumes that they aren't offering YOU a totally different waiver than the one for the general public.)
They're a private business, and a private business that doesn't receive federal funding in any way is not required to make the sort of accomodations for disabilities under the ADA.
And while a place geared towards kids might do well to be peanut free, this place IS a cooking school, and looking through their extensive offerings of classes I can see why the woman you corresponded with is concerned for your child's safety. They certainly aren't a nut/peanut heavy place, but they offer classes in all kinds of regional cooking that use nuts. I'm sure they meet whatever legal standards are required for cleanliness, but the woman who wrote to you seems to be very aware about cross contamination, dust on surfaces that the pizza might touch, etc. I think she was very honest with you, and as accomodating as she could be, but to make the place truly safe she'd have to change a substantial part of their curriculum and I think that really is asking too much in this case.
Sarah
I can no longer access their downloadable waiver-- though I [i]know[/i] (95% certainty) it wasn't the same as what you posted here. I suspect this means that your inquiry has resulted in some modifications.
Oh well.
Quote:Originally posted by Corvallis Mom:
[b]I can no longer access their downloadable waiver-- though I [i]know[/i] (95% certainty) it wasn't the same as what you posted here. I suspect this means that your inquiry has resulted in some modifications.
Oh well.[/b]
I never saw one on the website and can't find one now. Where was it?
I also didn't see any nut type foods on the website but obviously you guys are seeing it.
CVmom- in regards to the egg thing....my thought was that they probably use peanuts as a sundae topping and nothing more. So an easy switch and cleaning up shouldn't be all that hard.
If this were just some kid in his class I wouldn't be as upset. Should I wait until we are at her house tomorrow and let his friends mom tell him that he can't go....I just see this as the tip of the iceberg....dh says I read too much on here.
[img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/frown.gif[/img]
Quote:Originally posted by Sarahb:
[b]
I also didn't see any nut type foods on the website but obviously you guys are seeing it.
[/b]
I'm betting that "ballpark popcorn crunch" under "All American Cuisine" contains peanuts. Waldorf salad, of course, contains walnuts. And there were some baked things (sticky buns, blonde brownies, mud pie brownies) that likely contain nuts too.
Sarah
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