Post by Tix Mascot on Dec 13, 2019 23:15:50 GMT
By Rano Tahseen, journalist at www.tv2.no (translated from Norwegian to English by me)
Inge Johnsen (50) is a cook at Lian restaurant in Trondheim. He is shocked by how many Norwegians that allegedly suffer from food allergies.
"It's different every year. In 2016, we had many requests for gluten-free food, in 2017, it was lactose allergy and last year, a huge number said that they had reactions to onions."
The cook wants to emphasise that his frustration is not directed towards those that are actually disgnosed with a real allergy.
As a peak to what Johnsen calls 'mass hysteria', he refers to one particular night when a party of 100 guests requested 30 specially adapted dishes.
"When we use so many resources on those 30, the 70 others will not receive top quality food, which is very sad," he adds.
One thing in particular frustrates Johnson: "When the dessert arrives, they help themselves generously from the pannacotta, despite having said that they have lactose allergy. That tops it all."
The cook from Trondheim thinks that he spots a pattern among his guests, where women and people with a higher education seem to more allergic then their opposite numbers.
"Maybe it's because they are more concerned about nutrition? If so, they may feel that it's more accepted to define themselves as allergic than to ask for adaptations to the menu just based on personal preferences. But it's disrespectful towards those with true allergies, since we strive to give everybody the best possible culinary experience," he says and continues: "Sometimes, when we have prepared specially adapted dishes, the customers think that the regular food looks better and seem to suddenly forget their allergy, which leaves us with lots of uneaten food."
Chief surgeon Tonje Reier-Nilsen at the department for allergies and lung diseases in Oslo Universitetssykehus (Oslo University Hospital) says to TV2 that a maximum of 2% of adults have a critical allergy that needs to be dealt with immediately.
"An increase in pollen allergy can implicate cross allergies, which can leave you with an itchy mouth. However, this is completely harmless and doesn't need a special diet," says Reier-Nilsen.
Cook Inge Johnsen (photo by TV2)
Inge Johnsen (50) is a cook at Lian restaurant in Trondheim. He is shocked by how many Norwegians that allegedly suffer from food allergies.
"It's different every year. In 2016, we had many requests for gluten-free food, in 2017, it was lactose allergy and last year, a huge number said that they had reactions to onions."
The cook wants to emphasise that his frustration is not directed towards those that are actually disgnosed with a real allergy.
As a peak to what Johnsen calls 'mass hysteria', he refers to one particular night when a party of 100 guests requested 30 specially adapted dishes.
"When we use so many resources on those 30, the 70 others will not receive top quality food, which is very sad," he adds.
One thing in particular frustrates Johnson: "When the dessert arrives, they help themselves generously from the pannacotta, despite having said that they have lactose allergy. That tops it all."
The cook from Trondheim thinks that he spots a pattern among his guests, where women and people with a higher education seem to more allergic then their opposite numbers.
"Maybe it's because they are more concerned about nutrition? If so, they may feel that it's more accepted to define themselves as allergic than to ask for adaptations to the menu just based on personal preferences. But it's disrespectful towards those with true allergies, since we strive to give everybody the best possible culinary experience," he says and continues: "Sometimes, when we have prepared specially adapted dishes, the customers think that the regular food looks better and seem to suddenly forget their allergy, which leaves us with lots of uneaten food."
Chief surgeon Tonje Reier-Nilsen at the department for allergies and lung diseases in Oslo Universitetssykehus (Oslo University Hospital) says to TV2 that a maximum of 2% of adults have a critical allergy that needs to be dealt with immediately.
"An increase in pollen allergy can implicate cross allergies, which can leave you with an itchy mouth. However, this is completely harmless and doesn't need a special diet," says Reier-Nilsen.
Cook Inge Johnsen (photo by TV2)
