American Girl Boutique & Bistro Experience

This past weekend, Abigail, a friend, her friend's mom and I took a road trip to Alpharetta, Georgia to the American Girl Boutique & Bistro in celebration of Abigail's 8th birthday. What a great experience!

We had lunch reservations at the Bistro. Just a hint, you need to make them weeks if not months in advance. The online reservation system asks about food allergies so I was able to indicate that there was a nut and wheat concern.  Abigail's friend has Celiac disease and cannot eat anything with gluten.  As an extra precaution, the friend's mom also called the Bistro in Alpharetta directly and spoke with the chef.  She felt comfortable that there were going to be options on the menu that our daughters could eat.

After all of us, including the dolls, were seated... late (which is my only negative comment), the chef came out to talk with us personally. He went over the menu to let us know what items were peanut/tree nut free and gluten free. The bakery they use for most of their bread products also produces other products with peanuts. That eliminated several Starters and Main Course sandwiches. No problem there because Abigail had already decided she wanted the Macaroni with Lots of Cheese with a fresh fruit skewer on the side for her entree. She did want the Warm Pretzel Bites with honey mustard dipping sauce for her Starter, but the pretzels were from Pillsbury and had a warning label for cross-contamination. Instead, she got the Cheesy Cheddar Fondue with the gluten-free bread (which was surprisingly very good).  The gluten-free bread came from a different bakery and was peanut/tree nut safe.  Both girls ended up with the fondue. There were other options, i.e, the Very Veggie Platter, the Salad Skewers, the Fresh Fruit with Yogurt Dipping Sauce, etc., but they were deemed too healthy and not near as fun as fondue.

Abigail's friend was able to get the Perfect Picnic Time entree which is a mini hamburger and hot dog.  The chef subbed the buns with gluten-free bread and the curly fries with the fruit cup and yogurt dipping sauce.  For the adult Starters, we got the Fresh Fruit with Yogurt & Mini Muffins and the Warm Artichoke-Spinach Dip and shared it.  We were also going to share a sandwich and a salad for our main course. We managed to eat the Turkey and Provolone Panini, but were way too full to touch the Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing.  If you're wondering why we ordered so much food in the first place, the price for lunch is $14.50 per person and includes the Starter and Main Course.

Because it was Abigail's birthday, we also had to have a special dessert.  All of the cookie and cake desserts used ingredients from Pillsbury and were not peanut/tree nut safe.  There was one chocolate cake that was gluten free, but I chose to order each girl a Celebration Milkshake with birthday cake flavored ice cream, whipped cream, sprinkles and a cherry on top.  I was not expecting them to bring Abigail's out with a candle, but they did.  The waitresses also all gathered around and sang "Happy Birthday" to her which was really nice.  Abigail was more than a little embarrassed by the special attention.  I was pleased that they did so without me asking.  FYI, you can order a special birthday package meal that includes a tiara, certificate and special white "signature" cake and ice cream, but the cake is neither peanut/tree nut or gluten free so I didn't pay the extra.  I think that lunch runs $28.00 a child and $18.00 an adult.

We shopped, we ate and the dolls even got their hair done and ears pierced in the salon.  When we finished at the American Girl Boutique, we checked into our hotel, and the girls spent the evening swimming in the indoor pool.  What a fabulous adventure.  We've made memories to last a lifetime.

Cross-Contamination Concerns

The last couple of weeks, the peanut allergy message boards have been full of posts discussing companies' labeling policies.  One post that was concerning involved a teenager that had an anaphylactic reaction to Hershey's Rolo Caramels.  Someone responded to that post stating that she had spoken at length with a supervisor at Hershey's.  He told her that the majority of their products were manufactured on shared equipment with peanuts/nuts, and that the 1.5 oz Hershey bar was the only one made on a dedicated line.

The Hershey's allergen statement on their website reads as follows: "We take food allergies very seriously at Hershey and have strict procedures in place to prevent crossover of allergens into other products that do not contain the allergen. In instances where we have a concern about possible crossover by an allergen we take the added precaution of including an allergy information statement on the label."

Now my question is how many companies use shared manufacturing equipment, clean it and consider that they've removed all possibility of allergen cross-contamination??  It you believe Kashi's website information, it's impossible to remove all traces of peanut/tree nut..."Scientific evidence has shown that consumers with peanut and tree nut allergies can have a severe reaction to amounts that are below the current detectable limits based on existing technology."

I spent over 2 hours the other night searching the internet for some study or article that would validate either position, and didn't come up with much.  I did find the issue well stated in a 2008 study introduction published in the Journal of Food Protection, "Although allergen removal through cleaning of shared equipment or processing lines has been identified as one of the critical points for effective allergen control, there is little published information on the effectiveness of cleaning procedures for removing allergenic materials from processing equipment. There also is no consensus on how to validate or verify the efficacy of cleaning procedures."  Now, if I could only get access to the results of that study!

I found a ton of food industry articles on how to manage food allergens in the manufacturing processes as well as information on the type of tests available to test for allergen residue on equipment. A group from the University of Florida studied the effectiveness of commercial allergen test kits.  Their results were that the three common cleaning protocols regularly used in the food industry did not yield the same results. Some were better than others.  Does this mean that food allergy savvy parents need to ask what test kit a manufacturer uses to verify that there lines are clean and that there is no chance of cross-contamination?

In 2001, the Senior Health Policy Adviser for the Grocery Manufacturers Association offered testimony on the challenge of labeling food allergens. The speaker addresses the challenge of cleaning ingredients like peanut butter on manufacturing equipment.

Doughnuts....Just another reason!

I remember fondly back in college heading to Krispy Kreme for a late night study break. Seeing the "Hot and Now" sign lit up was a real treat. My friends and I would easily consume a dozen doughnuts before we even got back to our dorm room. After I got married, there were many Saturday morning trips to Krispy Kreme to celebrate the start of a weekend. That tradition continued until we moved to our current house only to find that there was not a Krispy Kreme within a 20 mile radius. Instead everyone talked about Dunkin' Doughnuts (I never could understand preferring DD over KK). It's just as well anyway, now that I'm "older", consuming 12 grams of fat in one glazed doughnut is not nearly as appealing.

Not thinking that doughnuts would be one of those items that she shouldn't have, Abigail has had both brands, usually as a special treat. In doing research though, both warn of the risk of peanut cross-contamination. Dunkin' Doughnuts warns of it right on the front page of their Nutritional Link..."Please be advised that any of our products may contain allergens, including peanuts. Please see nutrition details for specific products for allergen information."  I had to e-mail Krispy Kreme for their information.  Here's their response:  

We often receive questions from consumers like you about the likelihood of peanuts in our doughnuts. We recognize how serious peanut allergies can be, and are unable to make a "nut-free" claim for any of our locations or products. Let us give you a little background into why. While we currently do not knowingly add any peanuts or other nut derivatives to our doughnuts, we do purchase from some suppliers who do have products that are not nut-free. In addition, we are in the process of testing an ice cream concept in several stores throughout the country in which nuts may be selected as a topping. The final decision to consume Krispy Kreme doughnuts will always rest with the consumer. 

I've started a list.  Here's one more reason to make the 2 1/2 hour drive to Duke. She'll be able to make her own late night visits to Krispy Kreme!