eathing out with soy allergy?

[altoidmandy]

Hi! I'm a long-time lurker, first-time poster. My 19 mo old son has moderate eczema and we have been trialing eliminating different foods for about two months now. We have had huge success with eliminating soy and are pretty sure that soy is the root of the problem. However, I am having a hard time completely eliminating it from our diets (he is breastfed so I am also eliminating). He seems to react to soy lecithin and soybean oil (he was eating a lot of processed foods at daycare; we do mostly whole, organic foods at home). I think I have found most of the hidden soy in our diets, but I am stuck on eating out. I have no idea where to start as far as finding info. I know we should avoid the obvious (soy sauce, miso, etc) but is there a lot of hidden soy in the foods restaurants serve? Is anything safe? We travel a lot and need to eat out sometimes while traveling, and I have no idea of where to start. We have been trying to frequent local places that seem to cook from scratch, but he seemed to have a reaction from pizza from our local pizza place the other night so now I am confused. Thanks!

[spedteacher30]

when my son's soy allergy was at its worst, we didn't really eat out at all except at restaurants where we knew the cooks/owners well enough to be able to read ingredients and quiz them about everything.

chain restaurants are really good about listing all their ingredients, but they are also really bad about using processed things which are heavy on soy.

he can now handle trace amounts of soy--including soy sauce, but not soy proteins. we can eat out at most places like normal people now.

[AFWife]

Research, research, research...and don't be afraid to call and ask to speak to the head chef and/or manager.

[kjbrown92]

We avoid soy, corn, gluten, and dairy and we still manage to eat out at times. Whole Foods is very good about labeling all their ingredients in their hot/cold food bars (we ate there for lunch every day when we traveled to Las Vegas last year). We've eaten at Outback Steakhouse and Red Robin. Whenever I go to a new restaurant I look at what "might" be safe, and then I say, "I need to avoid xxx. Can you find out if this is safe for me/us?" I know that Red Robin actually writes the allergies on the ticket and they change serving utensils in the kitchen, etc. But I wouldn't try to do it by guessing. I always tell them exactly what we're avoiding, which is why I don't do buffets.

[MotheringRubyJo]

We've got a highly reactive soy allergy in my household. My 6 year old can't even handle products made in factories that make other soy products even if they claim they segregate products. We also travel extensively and eating out was part of the adventure. Yes, I said that past tense. At this point, we have only had success with pizza places that make their own dough. We have yet to find a place that uses pre-made dough from a supplier that has soy-free dough. Supplied dough=soy. You also have to make sure they aren't using oil with soy or spray oil on pans. EVERY spray oil I have ever encountered contains soy. When we first were eliminating soy, that was one the I missed. I didn't think to check the organic olive oil spray. Second was fish oil supplements. HUGE amount of soy.

Another difficult thing is a product may be listed soy-free such as Wendy's chicken nuggets, but then they cook it in an oil blend that includes soybean oil. Very tricky! Always check the oils. We learned about that one the hard way.

Anywhoo, I'm sorry I don't have a magic answer. I have spoken to countless chefs/managers at countless restaurants all across the US. There isn't an easy answer and it's a question you have to ask each individual restaurant every time you eat there. Even if you deem a place safe, you have to check each time to make sure something hasn't changed and check the food process from prep to pan use to plating. People don't realize how sneaky soy is and they are surprised to learn there is soy in almost everything. I've had several times where I cleared things with the chef a day in advance, then have things be completely different when we actually arrive due to shift changes and a less-than-understanding chef on duty. Check and re-check!

My child's soy allergy has definitely changed our family's activities and we can't be spontaneous in the eating out department, but we are eating significantly better and saving some money. Our outings have to be planned around food and I always carry a basket of soy-free snacks in my car in case we are delayed or something changes. My child has had numerous meals of crackers, chips and fruit. It has an adjustment period though. We are just getting to a place of acceptance after 6 months. In private, my husband and I long for the days of eating out as a family, but it makes eating out on date night that much more exciting.

Good luck on your allergy journey!

[xeniphia]

I personally have found luck with Subway subs, Turkey on whole wheat (though we've done white with no issues), no condiments (and no cheese as we have a dairy allergy as well). Even with Subway I'm not sure what else I could eat, but that's our go-to if we have to eat out, especially last minute.

[LaurieG]

We have a highly reactive soy intolerance here too. Red Robin and Ruby Tuesdays are both good for eating out - they have menus that they print out with everything you can eat for a particular allergy. Still, I always make a point of telling the server that the meat, for example, needs to be grilled on a clean grill. If I'm getting the vibe that the server doesn't get it I will ask to talk with the manager too.

You can not just guess, and most places even if they say the food is soy free will have issues with cross contamination. I have not had any luck with any fast food restaurant. DD even reacts to Arby's which uses corn oil. I'm guessing cross contamination. The exception is Jimmy Johns. I get an unwich there and DD seems okay. We also have a milk intolerance and I don't know if the bread has milk or soy or both.