Food for Thought

 

This week, our podcast centers around ice cream, and we take a fun and imaginative dive into everything from our favorite flavors and brands to what those flavors say about our personalities and even how ice cream is a great metaphor for goal-setting. I didn’t want to bore you with more of the same, so I thought I’d look at it from a different perspective. As I was typing up this week’s Heard it on the Podcast post, I needed to create a recipe for one of my family’s favorite flavors of homemade ice cream. I’ve made this recipe for years (since I was in high school!), but I never really thought about sharing the list of ingredients with my family and guests before they ate it. I started to wonder if maybe I should.

The recipe in question is for Butterfinger Ice Cream, a dairy and egg-loaded concoction laced with peanut butter and chocolate. In other words, an allergic reaction waiting to happen. On top of that, the recipe is based on my grandmother’s base recipe, which used raw eggs, something we are often warned about due to the risk of salmonella. Now let me assure you that in 40+ years of making and serving this ice cream to hordes of friends and family, no one (to my knowledge) has ever had an allergic reaction or gotten sick in any way. Whew! But as I typed up the recipe, I decided to add a disclaimer about the eggs, which prompted me to do a little research on how to make the recipe safer (which I also added). The recipe made me think of several other times when I’ve made dishes that should have had warning labels.

The first incident I recall was during a house party more than 20 years ago. Neighbors and friends gathered for Memorial Day, Labor Day, or a similar celebration. My neighbor, Todd, had brought over some deep-fried alligator tail that everyone was noshing on when another friend asked, “What kind of oil did you fry it in?” Of course, the go-to oil for deep-frying around here is always peanut oil because it has a high smoke point and it doesn’t impart a lot of flavor to the food like some oils can. We were all shocked when our friend stated that her son couldn’t eat it because he was allergic to peanuts. Wait! What?! 

This was major news to all of us, as she continued to reveal that he had always had a peanut allergy. What’s worse is that I had been feeding this child my home cooking regularly for 5-6 years, including peanut butter sandwiches and other treats as well as homemade cookies, cakes, and dinners cooked with, you guessed it, peanuts and peanut oil. It’s a wonder that I didn’t kill the kid! Now you’ve probably heard the saying, “God looks out for little children and fools.” I’m not sure who was the bigger fool, me, who was cooking everything in an undisclosed allergen, or his parents, who never bothered to tell us about his peanut allergy.

Years later, I happened to have a friend who converted to Messianic Judaism. This religious group adheres to the traditional dietary laws against consuming non-kosher foods.  Our group of friends often shared a potluck dinner, but I had never thought about providing warnings about pork, shellfish, or other foods until she mentioned it one day. After that, I always tried to remember to list the ingredients for the dishes I brought, just in case. I don’t think anyone else did, and I don’t know if my friend was careful about what she ate, but I would have felt terribly guilty if I had caused her to break her religious edicts unknowingly. Not to mention that shellfish, chicken, and other foods are known allergens. 

I’ve always been very careful about making sure meat is properly cooked and everyone in my kitchen has clean hands and uses proper cooking and cleaning techniques. I’ve often asked guests about likes and dislikes when planning meals, and I’ve learned to ask about common food allergies. I am immensely thankful that no one has ever gotten sick from food that I cooked (as far as I know), but I’m back to that question about where the responsibility lies. Is it up to the host/cook to make sure that everyone knows every ingredient in the meal? Or is it up to the person who’s eating it? When a person with allergies is invited for a meal, should they alert the cook ahead of time? I think it's certainly the parents’ responsibility to alert the caregiver about any potential issues for children with food allergies. Still, it seems a bit ridiculous for a potluck with potentially dozens of different cooks. I don’t think there’s any one right answer, but it has certainly made me more aware of the risks involved. Hopefully, it’s given you something to think about, too.