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Did Pizza Hut Discriminate Against Mom and Celiac Son? - Celiac.com

Scott Adams

By Scott Adams
in Publications & Publicity

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Scott Adams
Posted

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Did Pizza Hut Discriminate Against Mom and Celiac Son?

Celiac.com

Celiac.com 01/20/2012 - Candi Smithson says her 2-year-old son, Preston, has severe allergies that present him from eating certain breads and dairy items, among other things. Celiac disease prevents Preston from eating anything containing gluten, ...

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ptkds Community Regular
ptkds
Posted

That's pathetic. I've brought outside food into restaurants a few times and I have never had a problem. People need to be more understanding to others with disabilities. It's not like they brought McDonalds in because they didn't want pizza. I'm sure that little boy would have loved to have eaten the pizza. It's people like that that make living with food issues so much harder.

Takala Enthusiast
Takala
Posted

Sorry, it's a private business, and they can do what they want concerning "customers" bringing in food from other restaurants. If the kid had gotten violently ill from the McDonald's, which is a very real possibility with cross contamination issues, and had perhaps gotten a soft drink from the Pizza Hut to go with it, it is people like that who then might sue both restaurants, or the wrong one for damages, because it can not be proven where the cross contamination or allergen came from. Keep in mind she's declaring the child has "severe" allergies. IMO, WTF is she doing taking her kid to a McDonald's in the first place? Or a Pizza Hut ? The crumbs of gluten would be littered all over the place ! It's not like she packed him a special, allergen and auto immune reaction- free lunch discreetly.

I think the mother is the one who is actually making this more difficult for the rest of us. They could have chosen to have the entire group dine at the McDonalds, which has quite a varied menu, or they could have gotten all the food to go, and chosen to have a picnic somewhere. They could have called ahead to the other pizza places in Muskogee (there are lots of them, I just checked.) Yeah, this bites that you just can't go waltzing into all fast food restaurants with food from other ones, but.... it is a fast food restaurant, they have the option of making up what rules they want for patrons, and therefore it is vulnerable to people doing all sorts of bizzarro- land behaviors.

They also could have gone up to Tulsa, which is the nearest major city to Muskogee, and found a LOT of gluten free dining options up there. Open Original Shared Link

Including pizza

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And before you complain about distance, I live out in the sticks, too, and it's anywhere from 45 min to an hour for me to get something gluten free. We have been known to drive 2 hours one way on weekends for a special gluten-free meal sometimes. That's the trade off you have to make for being in a rural area.

StephanieL Enthusiast
StephanieL
Posted
Keep in mind she's declaring the child has "severe" allergies. IMO, WTF is she doing taking her kid to a McDonald's in the first place?

Do you have children? I would assume with this attitude you don't (and I admit that's a total assumption). This line of thinking is a real slippery slope IMO. So if a kid had a sever allergy, should she/he not be allowed in public schools? They serve all kinds of food products there.

I do have children with extensive lists of food allergies. I often take food with us for them. I am discreet about it as can be but there are times going out is unavoidable. Also, there are times we CHOOSE to take them places even if they can't eat the food from said restaurant. Why? Because we want to try and be a normal family. I would like my children to know how to behave in a restaurant and the only way to do that is to take them to them.

I agree that this Mom seems pretty clueless. McD's fries have dairy IN them and most do not have dedicated friers but that isn't the point. What if it had been food from home? Would that change things?

FWIW, Pizza Hut corp. apologized for this and said it would re-educate it's staff. This is an older story and they have "settled" it.

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