Category Archives: Allergies

Episode II: Crapplebee’s Writes Back

Posted on by Standard 1

Did you read my Crapplebee’s post, and the AllergyEats blog post that it referred you to?  (Really, check out all the comments, especially from AEPaul about the posts at aceliaconthemove.blogspot.com!) Okay, then you’re ready to read this.

Well, maybe read one more thing… the latest blog from AllergyEats with the response from Applebee’s.  It’s awesome to know that there are others out there that share my affinity for writing letters/emails to companies and getting stupid responses.  I encourage you to let AllergyEats know that you want to see it pursued further.  I want to encourage you to pursue it yourself.  Write emails, write letters, write blogs, make phone calls, blog, tweet,  Digg it, post on Facebook or to the 3 people left on MySpace that aren’t bands, Tumblr, re-blog, re-tweet, re-Tumblr this until it gets out an annoys everyone and not just Applebee’s.

While Paul at AllergyEats dissects the message in his own way, I would like to translate the response as I read it:

Dear AllergyEats Subscribers,

“Dear people that we could really care less about,”

We recognize the importance of making sure our food-allergic guests have safe options they can enjoy at their neighborhood Applebee’s.

“We’re saying that we recognize that the food-allergic need to have safe options, but we don’t feel the need to mention any specific allergies or options.  While we recognize the importance, we’re also not saying that we’re doing anything about it.”

Food allergies are a serious concern, and we are working to improve how we accommodate the needs of our FA-guests.

“We’re telling you that food allergies are a serious concern, even though they’re clearly not because it hasn’t yet affected our profits.  We’re also telling you we’re ‘working to improve’, and again failing to mention any specifics”

Depending on the food allergy, we do offer different menu items that are appropriate options, or that can be prepared without the allergic food.

“We obviously didn’t read your blog, because you were told something quite different by your server and manager, about how there was butter all over the grill & absolutely no way to accommodate you.”

We recommend that you talk with your server or restaurant manager about the allergy, and how your meal is prepared, to help ensure your dining experience is safe.

“This is another way of letting you know that we didn’t read or comprehend your blog… or don’t have all that great of a grasp on the English language, because you already tried what we just recommended, and it most certainly did not work out for you.”

Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention — we value the safety and enjoyment of all our guests.

“We’re not going to follow up with the server & manager from that store who are obviously unaware of our apparent policies, because we really really really don’t care.”

Sincerely,

Applebee’s

“Full of Shit, Applebee’s (The newly sentient restaurant chain, now capable of writing letters.)”  –  Seriously.  They couldn’t even sign their name or provide some contact information for a follow up?

I think I may just have to write to Applebee’s myself.

Crapplebee’s

Posted on by Standard 2

So, I read an infuriating post yesterday on The AllergyEats Blog.  It was a post from someone who has an allergy quite unsuccessfully trying to find a meal that won’t kill them at Applebee’s.  The poster is much more adventurous than I am.  I do as much research as possible before setting foot into a place, even down to emailing or calling ahead to can see what I can eat that hasn’t touched any death-fish.  I wouldn’t even go into an Applebee’s because they cook shrimp on the grill & in the fryer in there.  A sample of the text…

I ordered a hamburger, but explained my dairy allergy and politely went through my usual requests – no butter on the bun, no cheese on the burger, make sure the burger is cooked with no dairy, etc.  The waitress immediately told me that they “couldn’t do that.”

What?  You can’t stop yourself from slathering butter on the roll?  All of the burgers come pre-packaged with cheese on top?

I was actually shocked because the staff had always cheerfully prepared my dairy-free food in the past.  Did they change their attitude along with their menu?

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, then you may have seen this link.  I felt it was worth posting again, as my W(aL)D instincts took over and I ended up tweeting a link to the blog to the people at Applebee’s…

@Applebees Wow – “#foodallergy F-you: http://bit.ly/9UeUvz (via @AiXeLsyD13)” –  What do you have to say for yourself?

&

@Applebees Check out @AllergyEats, they’re the ones who blogged the situation: http://twitter.com/AllergyEats/status/21397851915

Apparently I got their attention, and they’ve contacted Paul at the Allergy Eats blog. Hopefully they can offer up some sort of formal apology, but more importantly start the steps to put a process in place where they not only recognize people with food allergies (and their families) who might want to dine out and need a safe place to eat, but implement training and procedures to become that dining safe haven.

At any rate, the comments on their blog have blown up, and get more & more interesting with each posting.  (Apparently the AllergyEats Facebook page is kickin’ with comments too.) Some of the stories share are appalling (& remind me of my original Subway-related rant and the recent “dog turd” one).  Thankfully AEPaul doesn’t seem to mind me sticking my proverbial nose into this Applebee’s mess, but apparently I just can’t help myself.  The internet makes it so easy to be crazy and so easy to contact people.  But really, this kind of stuff can’t go unaddressed.  Applebee’s has a responsibility to make it right.

I keep pounding on this, but for next year’s Food Allergy Awareness Week, we need to concentrate less on legislation and government and more on the people who are in a better position to actually do something about it.  I really feel that better accommodations can be made to those with food allergies when it’s consumer driven, versus having to make those accommodations because of government regulations.  Regulations provide no incentive to exceed the guidelines passed along.  Beating the chain restaurant across the street is incentive.  Word of mouth (or free viral social media  advertising) from people with food allergies and their families would be a hell of a boon to any business, and would most certainly generate some positive press.

Please post, re-post, tweet, re-tweet, tumblr, or Vulcan-mind meld this blog or the original blog (or both) to everyone that you can.  Let Applebee’s and other chain restaurants know that this is not cool.

W_a_L_D

  1. @Applebees Check out @AllergyEats, they’re the ones who blogged the situation: http://twitter.com/AllergyEats/status/21397851915 12:20 PM Aug 17th via web in reply to Applebees
  2. @Applebees Thanks, it wasn’t my experience. I just read about it here: http://bit.ly/9UeUvz 12:11 PM Aug 17th via web in reply to Applebees
  3. @Applebees Wow – “#foodallergy F-you: http://bit.ly/9UeUvz (via @AiXeLsyD13)” – What do you have to say for yourself? 10:19 AM Aug 17th via web
  4. @negative13 Tuesday is the day for war & law. 10:16 AM Aug 17th via web in reply to negative13
  5. @BrandiCarter @subway @subwayfreshbuzz… did the egg whites have any “seafood sub” filling splashed on them? 4:11 PM Aug 16th via web in reply to subwayfreshbuzz
  6. Amusing McStory from “braincell” who commented about the West Liberty Ave. @McDonalds: http://bit.ly/bQuCWC #McDonalds @Kty_McD @Kim_McD 4:09 PM Aug 16th via web
  7. What kind of sauce would you like to see bottled & sold? http://wp.me/pwqzc-k6 @Arbys @Wendys 4:07 PM Aug 16th via web
  8. @ChickfilA Those little mini sandwiches drive me crazy. If I passed CFA on the way to work, I’d be a much fatter man. 11:22 AM Aug 10th via web in reply to ChickfilA
  9. @FoodNetwork any taco without fish or shrimp in it… 11:21 AM Aug 10th via web in reply to FoodNetwork
  10. @kevinpollak Which one did you get? Cheese Steak, Cappacola, Corned Beef…? 2:02 PM Aug 9th via web in reply to kevinpollak
  11. @Bathroom_Reader …are all the noses in the same place? 2:01 PM Aug 9th via web in reply to Bathroom_Reader
  12. @SSSUBWAY What do you think re #foodallergies, cross-contamination, & lack of good responses from your CS people? http://wp.me/pwqzc-gH 2:00 PM Aug 9th via web in reply to SSSUBWAY
  13. What do you think re #foodallergies, cross-contamination, & lack of good responses from your CS people? http://wp.me/pwqzc-gH 1:59 PM Aug 9th via web
  14. @FredSubwayCEO What do you think re #foodallergies, cross-contamination, & lack of good responses from your CS people? http://wp.me/pwqzc-gH 12:10 PM Aug 9th via web in reply to FredSubwayCEO
  15. )xxxxx[;;;;;;;;;> 10:42 AM Aug 9th via web
  16. @subwaytechtweet @Subwaydeals What do you guys think about #foodallergies & cross-contamination? http://wp.me/pwqzc-gH #subway 9:13 AM Aug 9th via web
  17. @TheRealSubman @springfieldsub What do you guys think about #foodallergies & cross-contamination? http://wp.me/pwqzc-gH #subway 9:12 AM Aug 9th via web in reply to TheRealSubman
  18. @JohnstownSubway What do you guys think about #foodallergies & cross-contamination? http://wp.me/pwqzc-gH #subway 9:06 AM Aug 9th via web in reply to JohnstownSubway
  19. @SubwayEatFresh … so, do you Tweet at all, or what? http://wp.me/pwqzc-gH 9:04 AM Aug 9th via web

Herbivoracious | Understanding Deadly Food Allergies – This Post Could Save A Life

Posted on by Standard 4

The title says it all.  Saw this thanks to Twitter this morning.  This article is extremely well-written and the title says it all:

Herbivoracious | Understanding Deadly Food Allergies – This Post Could Save A Life

Please, check it out… and pass it on as it asks.  As I look through to try & grab a nice important point for a quote, I find multiple points to be profound.  Rather than re-posting the whole thing, just go read it!  You won’t be sorry.

Excerpt below…

For the purposes of this article, we aren’t talking about the “it gives me gas” allergies or personal dietary preferences, we are talking about deadly serious stuff. Every restaurant has its own policy on how to deal with food preferences, and we can argue all day about the best way to handle that. But when a customer tells you they have a very serious allergy, there are only two ethical choices you can make. You can serve the customer, making every feasible effort to ensure their food doesn’t contain the allergen. Or you can refuse to serve them. Any other choice puts that customer at grave and undue risk. It also threatens your reputation, finances and insurance, and your ability to sleep at night. Do you really want to risk poisoning your clientele?

Assuming the answer is no, the rest of this article is divided into three sections, for chefs & cooks, front of house, and management / owners. You should read all three sections so that you can understand each other’s responsibilities. This is geared toward folks in the restaurant industry, but home cooks can learn important ideas for when they entertain guests with food allergies.

:: AllergyEats/AllergyFreeShop :: Can Restaurants Be Made Safe For The Food Allergic? ::

Posted on by Standard Reply

I read an article this morning that I really enjoyed, so I thought I’d share.

The AllergyEats blog sums it up best…

I think it is a valuable read for those of us who live with food allergies every day, but I also believe it makes a great primer for someone not familiar with food allergies – a grandparent learning about your newly-diagnosed child’s allergies, the mom-and-pop restaurateur that just doesn’t “get it,” the school administrator who is in denial, etc.

So, without further babbling, on to the main article:

Guest post – Can restaurants be made safe for the food allergic?

Or you can check out the original article here:

Can Restaurants Be Made Safe For The Food Allergic?

The most astonishing thing for me “6.9 million – number of Americans with seafood allergies”.

Where the hell are the rest of you?

Food Allergy Buzz | Shellfish Allergies at the Beach

Posted on by Standard 2

Just saw a cool tweet this morning, linking to an article from Food Allergy Buzz called Shellfish Allergies at the Beach.  It excites me because 95% of the time I see a food allergy related article, it involved peanuts or wheat/gluten, and the other 4% of the time it’s tree nuts or lactose intolerance.

Basically, it’s asking those of us afflicted about our beach fears.  I hope it sparks some discussion, and I’d like to find more of us out there!

I had never really thought about the possibility of swallowing a brine shrimp while in the ocean or being pinched by a crab and what might happen…  Heh.  I know I have handled hermit crabs without incident, and even went crab fishing when I was younger with no issues…  I just can’t eat the things.

My issues with going to the beach (besides being a bit overweight and a pasty/chalky white under my T-shirt line) mainly revolve around finding places to eat that don’t serve some kind of shrimp, crab, lobster, oyster, clam, mussel, or calamari dish.  It’s damn near impossible… whether it’s a bar, a road-side or boardwalk stand, or (of course) fine dining… it’s inescapable.

Anxiety over potential cross-contamination is a normal issue for me, but it goes up to 11 at the beach.

AllergyEats | Allergyism?

Posted on by Standard Reply

I know “allergyism” isn’t a word, but it ought to be.  I haven’t blogged directly about food allergies in a while.  In this case, I don’t even really feel the need to rant.  It’s done with a touch more class by the people at AllergyEats, so I just wanted to share a link to their blog, along with a few excerpts…

…how do I handle a wait person’s rudeness when he or she tries to belittle my request in a loud enough voice to catch the attention of the rest of my dinner companions? (“Oh, it only has a little butter – what’s the worst that can happen?”)

Death.

“Bottom line: if you have a sensitive allergy that will send you to the hospital or kill you, don’t eat out.”

Yes.  We should also be chained in the basement, not fed after midnight, kept out of bright light and not allowed to get wet.

“Allergens are proteins.  People are not allergic to potatoes and tomatoes.  This is just neurosis.”

Would you like to speak with my Allergist?

Making people feel special through this kind of a**-kissing is one of the services that a restaurant can provide to people who need it, but it’s not a service that I want to provide… Some people tell me that they’re deathly allergic to something and that I have to make sure it’s not in their food.  I kick them out.  I don’t want to be responsible for anyone’s life-or-death situation.  I tell them they should go eat at a hospital.

That guy is an assclown.

At any rate, check out the article, and the NY Times article that it’s talking about.

LIES ABOUT POTATO CHIPS

Posted on by Standard 8

Today, I checked out a link on the Yahoo! site because it was simply titled “The Best Potato Chips“.  Well, I like potato chips… so I had to see what was up.  Well, the first annoying thing was that it said that there’s a list of 21 chips… but there are only 7 listen on the page… then the “Continue Reading…” link takes you to a slide show.  I hate slide show lists.  I want to see it all, right there in front of me, right away.  This isn’t a meeting, I don’t need a power point presentation.  These aren’t your vacation photos, I don’t need a slide show.

Turner Dairy | Chip DipThey did manage to recognize the awesome that is plain old ordinary Ruffles.  When I want to eat Turner’s chip dip, this is the chip that I must have.  Just ask anyone who works at the Rite Aid by my house.  I’m always there buying ruffles & Turner’s dip.  Really.  Just ask them…  “Is there a weird guy in here with crazy sideburns buying Turner’s Dip and Ruffles all the time?”  They’ll totally, be like “Yeah!”  I’m telling you.

As for the rest of this list though, it’s a lie.  Don’t believe it.  If the list had any credibility beyond being able to recognize the top of the line “ordinary” chip, it would have included Beer Chips or Snyder (of Berlin) Honey BBQ Chips.  There is just no excuse for these glaring omissions.  Shame on you, Shine From Yahoo!.  Shame on you.

BEER CHIPSI’ve written of Beer Chips before, here in my blog and at PittsburghBeat.com.  Why?  Because they’re awesome.  They’re next to impossible to put down.  I’m sure I could eat an entire bag without thinking about it, and probably have.  If we break them out when people are over, the bag disappears.  Kudos to the Beer Chips people on distribution, as I’ve seen them in places from Giant Eagle and Market District to Aldi.  You may have guessed that Beer Chips are chips somehow cooked with beer.  If you haven’t guessed this, then just stop reading, as all of this will be most likely lost on you anyway.  They’re sweet, they’re salty, and they do have a hint of a beer taste… but it’s ever so slight.  Of course, they also go great with a nice bottle of Yuengling, Straub, or Penn Pilsner in my experience.  Just writing this, I may have to stop at the store to get these next time I’m out.  They are that powerful.  I mean, I have beer in the ‘fridge, but how can I enjoy it now without Beer Chips?  I can’t.  That’s how.

Snyder of Berlin | Honey BBQ ChipsOn to the Snyder of Berlin Honey Bar-B-Q Potato Chips.  First off, I love honey BBQ in general.  Gooski’s Honey BBQ wings are one of my favorite foods ever.  You just  generally can’t go wrong with Honey BBQ.  I think my first experience with these was at camp.  They were out as a snack one night and I think I ate most of the bag.  I couldn’t stop.  Again, these have that incredible sweet/salty combination that is a win every time.  I know you can generally get them at most Sheetz locations, but it’s hit or miss if they’re there in Giant Eagle or wherever I happen to be grocery shopping.  If I see them, I just unconsciously grab them and only realize they’re in my hand or the grocery cart when I go to check out.  Now, one must beware of the Herr’s and Wise imitations.  Well, I don’t know who was really first… but for my own personal tastes, Snyder of Berlin is the standard Honey BBQ chip to which all others ought to be measured.  Actually, the Herr’s is an acceptable substitute if necessary, but the Wise ones are just inferior chips altogether.

Speaking of imitations, one of these days I need to get down to the Snyder of Berlin vs. Snyder’s of Hanover thing.  (There’s even a creepy Facebook group about the rift…) They each have that ominous and almost vindictive disclaimer on their packaging that they’re not associated with the other. Too weird.

Herr's | Ketchup ChipsThere are, of course, a few others worth mentioning…  Herr’s makes some bad-ass Ketchup flavored chips, some Salt & Pepper ones, and a bunch of other cool/weird flavors.  Utz makes a bunch of flavors and are quite decent chips.  (Is it “uhtz” or “ootz”?) Although, I see a “crab” flavor, and that scares me a little.  I may have to write to them about that.  Snyder of Berlin also has a ton of interesting varieties, another of my favorites being the kettle-cooked Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper chips.

You may thank me that you’re now more informed on the subject of the best potato chips than the average Shine From Yahoo! reader.  I’d be interested to see if you agree with me or if you’re just wrong.  Please feel free to talk about your favorites in the comments section!

Dog Turds and Toothbrushes

Posted on by Standard 9

Amused & annoyed by the lack of formal response from Subway, I decided to reboot (again with editing help from Dave).  I sent a new message via the webform (luckily this time it fell within their character limit), and also via snail mail:

Hello Friends!

This message is less about a specific Subway location, and more about Subway practices in general.

I hear from recent news reports that Subway has their cheese tessellation issues under control and will assert a more correct cheese placement this July.  Independence for dairy goodness!

Although I was worried about the cheese triangle issue, I am still more concerned about food allergen and cross-contamination awareness in Subway Employees and Sandwich Artists.

Are you aware of how many people out there suffer from some sort of food allergy?  I believe it’s 11% of the population.  Myself, I’m affected with a severe allergy to shellfish.  I can’t eat in your fine stores unless they’re the small ones in places like Wal-Mart that don’t serve the deadly dreaded seafood death sub.

Not only does the creamy death-inducing concoction reside right beside the other meat, the cheeses, and toppings; it often spews all over the open containers when it’s scooped out with that poor miserable ice-cream scoop.

Then we have the community knife.  If one were to cut someone’s seafood sub with that knife, wipe it off, then cut my sub, there are STILL allergens on that knife, enough allergens to kill me.  Do you want me to be thrown in to an Anaphylactic fit?  I doubt it.  Well, at least, I hope not.

Think about this – do you share your toothbrush with everyone in your household?  Would you with everyone in your office?  Would you share it with everyone that you pass on the way to work in the morning or with everyone who’s eating lunch with you at the same place where you’re choosing to dine?

Yes, it sounds gross, but those potential germs that you’re no doubt currently horrified of are the same as the very real allergens that will most certainly throw me into instant death.

If that didn’t do it for you, imagine I put a giant dried dog turd on the sandwich board, cut it in half, wrapped it, wiped off the knife, and then cut your sandwich.  By Subway’s current logic, that knife is clean and contamination free.  This is most certainly not a pretty picture to you, my friend.  Is it?

I really am looking forward to your thoughts on this issue.  I hope to have a continued dialog until the issue is brought to the attention of those in charge of such things.

I thank you in advance for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon!

Blowing your mind,
-Eric

P.S. – I was wondering, when you work in an office for Subway, do you have an in-office Subway in which the employees receive (or make) their own lunch?  Or, is there a Subway nearby where you get free or discounted food?  Or, are you all too sick of Subway to eat there?

Letters to Subway

Letters to Subway

I had to resort to snail mail to see if I get a better response.  Emails are sadly all too easy to ignore.  Unless you’re persistent, I guess.  I did get a response from Paula Gomez again, this time in direct response to the above message sent via direct email, not the webform:

From: Paula Gomez gomez_p@subway.com
Date: Thu, Jun 24, 2010
Subject: Subway & Allergen Cross-Contamination
To: world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com

Dear Mr Aixelsyd:

Thank you again for your time and sharing your comments. We value the input of our customers and take this as an opportunity to improve our business and satisfy our guests.

The Company policy directs our independent restaurant owners / operators to take all necessary precautions to prevent the possibility of cross contamination. This includes the policy of washing all utensils and containers after each use. Each restaurant is independently owned and operated and is the responsibility of the franchise owner to implement and enforce the policy.

We will ensure that this important message is reiterated with each restaurant to ensure that proper procedures are followed.

Again, I appreciate you taking the time to contact us. SUBWAY® looks forward to your continued visits.

Sincerely

Paula Gomez

***DISCLAIMER***

The information contained in this e-mail and attachments, if any, is confidential and may be subject to legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not use, copy, distribute or disclose the e-mail and its attachment, or any part of its content or take any action in reliance of it. If you have received this e-mail in error please e-mail the message back to the sender by replying and then deleting it. We cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage arising from the use of this e-mail or attachments and recommend that you subject these to your virus checking procedures prior to use. Thank you.

Well, at least she remembers that I contacted them before… but I don’t think she remembers her previous responses.  I think I was assured that they all go through training.  I asked about the training, and didn’t get any solid replies.  Now, it seems to be all on the responsibility of each individual owner/operator.

Sadly but not surprisingly, my postscript about the in-office Subway situation went unanswered.  I’m guessing that’s what puts it over the top… even though I had previously mentioned the thought of a community toothbrush and a dog turd in a food prep area.

I’ll wait for some other responses (if I get any), and try to ratchet this up a notch or two.

Subway Subway Subway

Posted on by Standard 1

Recently, with news of Subway finally bowing to the cheese tessellation pressure, I decided to re-visit my earlier efforts with them using one dirty disgusting deathfish-laden knife to cut all of their sandwiches.

Well, my last correspondence from Subway went like this:

On Mon, Nov 23, 2009, asksubway@subway.com wrote:

Dear Mr Aixelsyd:

First, allow me to apologize. Secondly, I would like to thank you for taking the time to contact us and share your comments.

At each SUBWAY® restaurant, it is the goal of every owner; manager and employee to produce each sandwich and salad properly made to order.

Our customers provide us with valuable input, which we use to improve our operations. Your comments were shared with the regional office in your area as well as the owner of the SUBWAY® restaurant that you have visited. Since all restaurants are individually owned and operated it is the owner who would be the person to contact you in response to your concern.

I have gone ahead and copied our Training Department so that further lessons can be addressed with owners and their employees on proper handling.

Again, I appreciate you taking the time to contact us. SUBWAY® looks forward to your continued visits.

Sincerely,

Paula Gomez

On Tue, Mar 9, 2010, ERiC AiXeLsyD world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com wrote:

Hello Ms. Gomez,

Have you had any feedback from the training department? I’m interested to see what kind of changes are going to be (or have been) implemented, if any. In light of new allergy awareness laws passed in New Hampshire, I hope it “wakes up” chains like Subway where a simple thing like using the same knife to cut a seafood sub & meatball sub can cause a severe allergic reaction in someone like me.

Thank you once again for your time, I look forward to our continued dialog!

-Eric

From: ERiC AiXeLsyD world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com
Date: Tue, Jun 15, 2010
Subject: Re: Subway / Re: Subway [Customer ID: 1918316]
To: Paula Gomez gomez_p@subway.com
Cc: Anna Marie Seeley seeley_a@subway.com, “Bridenbaker, Mack” m.bridenbaker@sfaft.org, Kevin Kane kane_k@subway.com, asksubway@subway.com

Hello Ms. Gomez,

I was recently going through old emails and discovered that after all this time, my query has still gone unanswered. Poor customer service, indeed! I’m Cc-ing some of your fellow employees in the hopes of getting a response.

Recent news and blog reports about Subway have shown that you have finally got your cheese tessellation issue in order. Congratulations! It has apparently taken only 45 years to figure out that the cheese triangles need to be tiled instead of on-top of each other. (This is assuming you had cheese triangles at the founding of Subway in 1965.)

I am wondering how long the allergy awareness will take to sink in? Creamy seafood death chunks fall all over the adjacent meat, vegetables, and aforementioned cheese triangles when the sandwich artist sculpts a sandwich, and even if they don’t… the same dirty knife is used to cut all sandwiches. Are you aware of what a food allergy is, it’s severity, and of the term “cross-contamination” and what it means?

Now that Subway is taking responsibility for total even cheese coverage, shouldn’t you tackle more serious issues?

Still looking forward to a continued dialog,
-Eric

I also blitzed a ton of other Subway addresses, and got a few out-of-office replies, giving me more addresses…

From: ERiC AiXeLsyD world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com
Date: Tue, Jun 15, 2010
Subject: Fwd: Subway / Re: Subway [Customer ID: 1918316]
To: m.luby@sfaft.org

Hello Ms. Luby!

Perhaps you’re the helpful point of contact that I’m looking for! I obtained your mail address form an out-of-office message via Mr. Worth. It’s quite difficult to get a hold of a person who will actually reply and/or continue a thought over there at Subway, isn’t it?

Would you be able to review the correspondence below, and give a succinct thoughtful answer on Subway and food allergen cross-contamination training (if such a thing really exists in the first place)?

Inquisitively,
-Eric AiXeLsyD
world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com

…

From: ERiC AiXeLsyD world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com
Date: Tue, Jun 15, 2010
Subject: Re: Subway / Re: Subway [Customer ID: 1918316]
To: b.pingarron@sfaft.org

Hello Ms. Pingarron!

I thought Ms. Luby would be the one to help me, but apparently she is out of the office with Mr. Worth. His OOOAR* directed me to her, her OOOAR* directed me to you. I’m starting to see how my question has gone unanswered for so long, and have no hope for my cause.

Could you please review the correspondence below (if you’re in the office) and let me know what you think?

Thank you for your time!
-Eric AiXeLsyD

*Out of Office Auto Reply

Eventually I just sent the above two auto-replies out to an ass-load of Subway email addresses, prefaced with this…

Can YOU help?

And, I did at least get this…

From Privacy Officer privacyofficer@subway.com
to ERiC AiXeLsyD world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com,
franchise@subway.com
date Thu, Jun 17, 2010
subject RE: ReFranchise@Subway.com: Subway / Re: Subway [Customer ID: 1918316]
mailed-by subway.com

Dear Eric,

I have reviewed the information with respect to your complaint. However, as the Privacy Officer for Franchise World Headquarters, LLC, an affiliate of and service provider to Doctor’s Associates Inc. (“DAI”) the owner of the SUBWAY® Restaurant System and the SUBWAY® Group, I am only able to handle matters dealing solely with a violation of privacy. I will forward this on to Customer Care where they may be able to handle your complaint. I thank you for your time in reporting your concerns.

If I can be of any further help to you, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind Regards,
Privacy Officer

Privacy Officer
SUBWAY® Group
Franchise World Headquarters, LLC
325 Bic Drive
Milford, CT 06461
Phone: 1-203-877-4281
Phone: 1-800-888-4848
Fax: 1-203-783-7479
Email: privacyofficer@subway.com

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Apparently no one at Subway is interested in writing back, except the privacy guy. Perhaps it’s time for a new start with the webform?

Food Allergy Awareness Video

Posted on by Standard 1

This just in from the Food Allergy Initiative, a cool (albeit somewhat creepy) 30-second informational spot.  Doing my part and spreading the word…

…but reminding you that adults suffer from food allergies too.  Ha ha ha.

For more information on allergies in kids & adults, check out these sites: