Allergic Reaction at Longhorn's

Hmm good one here...I do see your point where you noted the menu fails
to mention MSG...but as others have asked did you make a point to ask
the waiter/waitress what might contain MSG? In addition, are you
perhaps allergic to other ingredients (common ones include Peanuts)??

My mom is lactose intolerant meaning anything with milk products or
byproducts (with few exceptions) she can't have without some reaction.
Yes this means when the grocery shopping is done you have to look at
the ingredients very carefully and also when we go out to eat she has
to ask if anything contains milk or dairy in it.

The point I am making is if you are aware of a reaction of some sort
(be it MSG, lactose intolerance, gluten intolerance), be sure to ask
your server when you order what might contain these potentially
hazardous ingredients. In addition, if you are not sure what you
might be allergic to, go in to your doc and get it tested...might save
you some grief in the long run.

As for the reaction you got from the manager, to be quite honest she
might be clueless on what to look for when it comes to
allergens...I've never been in that kind of position so I don't know
what kind of training these people have. I'm very surprised there
isn't some kind of disclaimer at the restuarant stating that foods may
contain certain chemicals/ingredients like MSG. I've noticed Dairy
Queen has this kind of disclaimer on nuts.

If she has had ranch dressing before with no reaction then it
obviously wasn't what caused the allergy. Furthermore, if someone has
an allergy to MSG, their choice of restaurants would be very limited.
MSG is very a very common ingredient in prepackaged foods, seasoning
blends and shelf stable sauces. All packaged ranch salad dressings
have MSG unless they are organic.

um did you ask or tell your server that you have msg alleregies. i
don't understand. restaurants do not post ALL the ingredients in their
menu. if you have severe allergies you ask or you let them know.
i am very allergic to shellfish. i make a point to let my server know
so that i can avoid future problems.

I've had dinner at Longhorn with my hubby, my kids, my father and my
19 year old brother in tow and have not spent $70.

You say you don't wish to be reimbursed for your hubby's meal, but
they already gave you $20 in gift cards and you're still complaining?

You also mention you "took something" for the reaction. This tells me
you KNEW you had some sort of allergies. Who carries allergen
blockers (presumably Benadryl) unless they know they have an issue?

I once had dinner at one of the restaurants at Disney World with my
family. There had apparently been a problem with their dishwasher
earlier in the day and there was some residue left on all the plates.
Some of the meals were served directly on the pewter plates, others
had a ceramic plate on top of the pewter one. Anything that touched
those pewter chargers tasted like poo.

Now thats not an allergy issue, but you can see how if there had been
something in the detergent any of us had an allergy to and we ingested
it because our food touched those plates what a problem that would be
- but is it the duty of the restaurant to tell us what's in the
detergent too just in case we ARE allergic to it?

If you knew you had issues with being allergic to certain things, the
resposnibility to check is yours. There is no way a restaurant can
list every possible ingredient and everything that your food might
come in contact with.

It sounds as if you indeed had an allergic reaction, however, how were
you sure it was caused by MSG? Have you had adverse reactions to MSG
before? If you're not 100% sure, I'd recommend talking to your doctor
about an allergy test to determine exactly what the problem was.
Contact the restaurant and get a listing of the ingredients of
everything in the salad you ate, then take that information to your
doctor so they can test for the right allergens. Allergic reactions,
especially food allergies which can hamper breathing, are nothing to
fool around with. It's better to pinpoint the problem safely and be
armed with that knowledge next time you go anywhere. Believe me, I
know. After going through one terrible night finding out the hard way
that I was allergic to spores (no more fresh mushrooms for me, boy
howdy!), it's important to be informed.

As a person who has dealt with a deadly allergy to peanuts and soy
their entire life, I too call "false" on this letter. Cindy, while I
completely sympathize with you, I do not believe you have a true
complaint here. If I even touch a peanut or peanut product, if someone
uses a fork to touch peanuts on one plate and then touches something
on my plate, I will go into shock and I will die. I fully disclose my
allergies to the staff of a resturant before I even reach the table.
If there is even a question, I leave. Now, it is completely possible
you had a reaction you did not expect and may not still be able to
identify. However, this is NOT the resturant's fault. I urge you to
seek an allergy test and confirm your allergy. In the meantime, the
resturant was more than accomodating for you by giving you the gift
cards. For more information on allergies, please visit the FAAN
website.

It is doubtful the MSG caused your reaction.

What is more likely is that sulfa-containing preservative ingredients
on the fresh produce in your salad triggered your symptoms.

Sulfites are commonly used to preserve produce in chain restaurants,
and in restaurant and grocery salad bars.

Sulfa is notorious for producing allergic symptoms in susceptible
individuals.

It's important that you be aware of this because sulfa is contained in
many prescription medicines, including commonly prescribed
antibiotics...and a future reaction could claim your life. You may
even need to not only carry antihistamine (bendryl) around with you,
but it might be prudent to wear a bracelet or carry an epi-pen.

Please bring this reaction to the attention of your physician.

Restaurants should be able to tell you if sulfites are used in their
salad ingredients. Most commonly announce it because of the
potential for rare but deadly reactions in allergic individuals.

I'm just finally calling shenanigans.

Fist, seriously, it just isn't LOGICAL that a spouse would continue to
eat his meal and "truly" enjoy it while his wife was suffering from an
immediate and severe allergic reaction.

Second, I concur with another poster (calm? jeffrey? I forgot who
pointed this out) who said that it sounds like you didn't even know
you were "allergic" to MSG, but that when you heard the ingredient,
you decided it was the culprit.

Third, I checked the salad menu at Longhorn's website, and there is
one salad with a "seven pepper" steak. I can see how THAT may cause a
reaction. I can't tolerate spicy foods, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE buffalo
wings. One week, I had them twice in the course of perhaps three days
-- and they were murder. I actually went to the doctor because I had
sores in my mouth. I hadn't made the connection to the hot sauce, but
my doctor did right away, and just told me to stop trying to eat spicy
foods (I blame being an Iowan for my inability to eat hot foods).

I sure didn't blame the restaurant for not warning me what might
happen if I consumed too much hot sauce.

I thought NO places are supposed to have MSG. I know usually whenever
I ate chinese I would get migraines. So my boyfriend suggested that it
was the sauce they put on it ( i'd get beef and brocolli) so he
suggested I try something else and see what happens, and to my
surprize, no migraine afterwards. But its a good thing your ok after
your reaction. My "reaction" isn't nearly as bad as yours was.

As someone with allergies, it is your responsibility to let the
waitstaff know, when you order, of any allergies you may have. If I
understand you correctly, you did not make anyone aware of your
allergy until after you had a reaction. Now you are blaming the
waitstaff for not knowing that there was MSG in the salad dressing,
and for not warning you ahead of time.

I work in a restaurant. If someone comes in and lets me know from the
start, "I'm allergic to xxx", I will let the kitchen staff and
management know, and the ingredients will be checked on all products
for xxx. If all the ingredients can't be determined, I'll go back to
the guest and inform them that a certain food is inconclusive for xxx
allergen, and that they should steer clear just in case.

Also, in a steakhouse, you need to let the waitstaff know if you are
sensitive to MSG, because most meats that are grilled or broiled at
restaurants are sprinkled with a seasoning (usually Montreal), which
usually contains MSG.

My brother had a friend with 206 allergies. That being said, you can't
expect a menu (or your server) to list off hundreds of things you
might possibly be allergic to. From now on, let someone know! You are
your own best defense.

Something about this letter rings false to me.I know that there are
people who are sensitive to MSG......and if you were truly sensitive
to it,my guess is you would know by now,since MSG is a common
ingredient in a variety of foods and it isn't always stated on food
labels that these food items contain MSG.
If I was having this kind of reaction to food in a restaurant,I would
have asked for immediate medical attention.I wouldn't have trusted
that the wait staff could do anything more than call me an
ambulance.....they are trained to serve food,not trained to help in a
medical emergency(unless one was an EMT or a nurse)
If,after going to the hospital and it was determined that whatever I
had eaten at Longhorn had caused this reaction,then and only then
would I ask for compensation from the restaurant.
The fact that your husband ate and enjoyed his meal makes me think
something is amiss from your letter.I may not have the perfect husband
myself but I know that if I was in any kind of agony,he would not have
enjoyed and finished his meal.

I don't think I really understand this letter. I mean by this that I
can't really tell what happened.

You don't appear to know what caused the reaction. You started out by
saying you had a "reaction to something", and then you "started asking
what could possibly be causing the reaction". So when you settle on
MSG and say "the wait staff didn't even know" it was in there, it kind
of seems as if you're not saying "I know MSG can be a problem for me,
and I asked whether there was any in the food I was ordering and I was
assured that there wasn't, but when I relied on that assurance it
turned out to be wrong" but rather "I didn't even think that there
might be a problem, but then after one happened I decided to blame the
MSG." I don't think the wait staff really needs to know what is in
all the dishes, so long as they're trained not to assume that if they
haven't heard something is in there, it's safe for everybody. They
can go to the kitchen and ask -- and I think I'd prefer them to do
that, given that it's always possible that the recipes may change, the
way the kitchen staff works may make cross-contamination likely, and
in any event that's a lot of memorization for people who aren't
expected to use the information regularly. It sounds as if all of
this was a total surprise to you.

On the other hand, since you "took something" I am wondering whether
perhaps you do know you're allergic to some kinds of foods. There are
certainly other reasons to have Benadryl on hand, but in my experience
not everyone knows that it can be used. Moreover, the bit about how
your husband finished his meal suggests that you didn't call an
ambulance, you didn't have your husband drive you to a hospital, and
so on, whereas if I had a serious allergic reaction for the first time
I think I would seek medical help quickly. If it's something you've
been living with for awhile, you might be better equipped to judge how
serious is "too serious".

But then if you did know that you have a problem with MSG, wouldn't
you be likely to know that it's not an actual allergy, if for no other
reason that your doctor wouldn't want you to think Benadryl would take
care of the problem if it wouldn't?

So I'm wondering why you're fixing on the MSG. What you describe
doesn't sound like a typical MSG reaction, and you don't even offer
any information to suggest that you have a reason to believe that MSG
is what the problem was. Is it possible that you're blaming the MSG
because you've heard about peanut allergies and MSG reactions but not
problems with many of the other possible ingredients (or contaminants)
in your salad?

Ultimately, unless you identified the substance to which you are
allergic beforehand, asked about it, and were assured that it wasn't
going to be in your food -- and not only does your story not mention
that, it has elements that strongly suggest that you left it out
because it never happened -- I don't really see why they're
responsible for you not eating your meal. They cannot warn everybody
about every substance that might be on their food that they might turn
out to be allergic to.

Sometimes bad things happen and it is not anybody's fault; if it is
not the restaurant's fault that this happened, they don't owe you for
it. And you got $20 bucks back on your share of a two-person meal
that cost $70 -- that's more than half of your half of the check for a
problem that really sounds as if it's not their fault.

If in fact you went in there, were up front about an allergy, asked
whether the allergen was in your food, and then started the salad
after having been assured that it was completely safe, then I think
you should rewrite this letter saying that.

If you went in there knowing you react to MSG and didn't say anything
because it wasn't written on the menu, then that's your
responsibility.

And if you went in there not knowing you had any problems with any
food, had a reaction, started quizzing everybody and diagnosed
yourself as having an MSG allergy, and then did not seek medical
attention, then it's just one of those things that happen in life and
in any case the restaurant has no reason to trust that your diagnosis
is accurate.

Especially when "allergy" is a word that is so frequently used to
suggest that a situation is dire when it really isn't that I am sure
restaurant workers hear the opening bars of "Peter and the Wolf"
whenever someone uses it.

And as I said in response to a different letter here about a man who
was having a severe diabetic reaction that airline staff didn't take
seriously and whose wife apparently didn't do anything about, at a
certain point (after, in the other case, the requested doctor was not
called -- so they were on notice that the situation was a big deal in
a way that the Longhorn staff don't appear to have been) the people
who don't know you are going to look at the people you're with for
cues. If your husband sat there and ate his salad and his entree and
paid the check before the two of you left (which is what it sounds
like in this letter), then I don't think it's a big surprise that the
manager doesn't believe that her staff negligently caused a
life-threatening problem, or even a problem that you mistakenly
believed was life-threatening, for you.

Personally, I think I'd be more pissed at my husbands apparent lack of
concern than that of the restaurants.

All my sisters and I are allergic to Penicillin. We each had a
progessively worse reaction. I was the last one to take it and ran
104 degree fever and was covered with a rash from head to toe. The
doctor told my younger sister to just assume she was allergic to it
also.

1 in 10 people who are allergic to Penicillin are also allergic to
Keflex so I was the only one who drew that card. Then came the
Levaquin. My problem seems to be that I'm slow to show a reaction. I
had taken a full course of the Penicillin and Keflex before showing a
reaction and I had an IV drip and 5 days of the Levaquin before I
developed the rash.

The first time I had a latex reaction was when we were doing some work
on our new (old) house. I was wearing glove to clean and when my
hands swelled, I just assumed it was because of the cleaning fluid.
Each time I wore gloves it got worse and worse and I finally ended up
in the ER with an Asthma attack.

many times prior. Then I was about two days into it, and noticed my
face swelled up, got red, and my eyelids got puffy. A pharmacist
convinced me (on a phone call) that I was not likely to be allergic to
Keflex, and that it must be something I was putting on my face. I
took benedryl, took another keflex later when I was due to, and woke
up in the morning with my eyelids sealed shut and redness throughout
my body. That did it for me. It was not my makeup. I was lucky. So
was he (hehe).

That sounds so typical with the latex gloves. It is one of those
gradual allergies, then suddenly it hits you. The only way to
describe how balloons make me feel besides the awful smell of them, is
a tightening in my upper respiratory. I always thought I was just so
repulsed by the smell of balloons which weirdly enough as we were
growing up reminded me of the smell of the vinyl in our 1970 VW van
when the sun hit it . (I always got sick to my stomach). I'm not sure
I remember what leviquin is but I have heard of it.

A quick internet search shows that one isn't allergic to MSG, but
rather, has an intolerance to it. The same is true of cigarette
smoke--a substances MUST have proteins in it in order to trigger an
allergic reaction, and smoke has no proteins. It's just a medical
fact.

If you truly had an allergy, you'd be carrying an epi pen or benadryl
or SOMETHING.

MSG is a very common food ingredient. If you're truly allergic, you
should be asking questions before ordering *anything* while dining
out.

I have an acquaintance who is allergic to corn and all corn
byproducts. Eating out is rare and done only after thorough research.
Imagine how many items contain corn syrup, corn starch, etc. But he
takes responsibility for his allergy and is pro-active. I suggest you
do the same, or you could be even sicker the next time!

I'm sorry this happened to you but if you have an allergy to something
as common as MSG, it is up to you to question the ingredients in your
meal. Unless a menu specifically says that they don't use MSG, it is
safe to assume that it may be an ingredient in part of your meal.
This goes for anyone who has food allergies. Restaurants are not
required to post the ingredients of every dish like the food labels in
the supermarket.

I'm suprised that your husband continued to eat while you were having
such a severe reaction!

You got two $10 gift cards, what more do you want? It's not the
restaurant's fault you have an allergy.

First of all, to echo everyone else's feelings- I am so very sorry
about your meal and the condition afterward.

I am allergic to MANY things and can usually only eat at certain
restaurants and certain meals. I always have to ask before I order
something new, because I don't trust what's written. My good friend
has a peanut allergy and is terrified to eat anywhere at a salad
buffet that has peanuts.

I think the restaurant, 'dropped the ball' on not specifying MSG on
their ingredient listing, (but then again I can't remember seeing MSG
specifically listed anywhere else on any menu.) I know when we go to
Chipolte, (sigh- yum.) It's listed that they DON'T use MSG. I don't
know if Longhorn would want to advertise that they used MSG in their
products, but I believe it's their job to do so. (And your job to
always take care of your health and double check.)

I've had severe allergic reactions before and I used to pop 4 tablets
of benedryl in my system immediately if I didn't have an epi-pen with
me. You should always call and find out from your family doctor what
to do in the future in case of allergic reaction.

The blisters in your mouth sound more like a burn than a chemical
reaction, in that case- you were very smart to drink milk to cancel
out the acidity of whatever you ate.

You have to take care of yourself, first and foremost. I'm so sorry to
hear that you had such a bad experience. I also wanted to mention that
I don't believe just because your husband, "truly enjoyed his meal,"
that he neglected you. I think you stated that because he ate his food
and you didn't want a refund for his portion- which is reasonable.

You probably felt insulted because 2-$10.00 gift cards hardly 'fix'
being sick for a couple days and the fact that the MSG was left off
the menu. The manager should have been more supportive. I think 85% of
customer service problems can be fixed if a manager really listens to
the complaint and realizes the effect the bad situation had on the
customer.

Good Luck in the future. :)

I'm in agreement with the other posters here.

Even by your own letter you admit that your husband was not very
concerned and enjoyed his meal.

I would further think that YOU would have taken enough time to make
sure you were not being served something you seemed to be aware you
were severely allergic to.

Based upon all this information, $20 in gift cards seem most
appropriate.

It's sad that this happened to you and I'm glad you were prepared with
"something" to help ameliaorate the symptoms, but even then, how can
you be absolutely sure it was only MSG and that you didn't become
allergic to any other ingredient since you knew MSG was an issue for
you?

At the risk of sounding crude, why would someone with a severe
reaction not immediately inform the manager to get medical assistence
dispatched? A glass of milk was a risky thing to do, perhaps you're
lactose intolerant and not know that as well? Your husband, I guess,
enjoyed his half of the meal and didn't seem overly concerned with
rushing to your aid.
The gift cards, while insulting to you, seems about right considering
the manager had no medical report or record (I'm guessing...it isn't
mentioned, just your word two and a half days later.

As someone who has a sensitivity to MSG (no allergies, I just have a
blinding headache that lasts about 2-3 hours), I understand your
situation somewhat.

However, I have to wonder rather than staying at the restaurant, why
did you not seek medical treatment? I think that providing proof that
you had a serious reaction might have gone a lot further with the
manager rather than receiving the attitude she gave you.

To be honest, I'd rather go to Lonestar than Longhorn any day. They're
way too expensive.

I'm wondering how your husband truly enjoyed his meal, while you were
writhing in agony across the table from him. Your first bite caused a
severe reaction, yet he made his way all the way through dinner. And
he had a wonderful meal. I don't understand.

I'm sorry this happened to you, and that your dinner was ruined.

If I knew I was allergic to something as common as MSG, and that the
reaction would be so severe, I wouldn't eat anything without asking
first. I think it's safer to assume food DOES contain MSG. Just
because it isn't specified on the menu doesn't mean it isn't used.

I also don't understand why you didn't speak to a manager before
paying the bill. I'm sure something would have been done, and it
would have saved you the trip back.

I agree with you that they should have msg listed on the menu. Not
just that but milk ingredients and peanuts or peanut oil.

That being said, if a person has some kind of allergy and they're
eating food that someone else prepares that person should ask if msg
or whatever is in the food.

There's one thing I don't understand. Why didn't you speak to the
manager that night?