In this article I wrote previously, I highlight the changes that need to be made and the need for support for those with dietary restrictions. I myself am severly allergic to dairy, and I do not eat most meat (I recently, in the last year, am starting to transition into a "limitied pescatarian", but I still face many challenges while trying to eat out).
As such, I am trained to read labels, ask questions, and to have an inkling of paranoia in the back of my mind when it comes to food. But not everyone is — especially those who develop their restrictions as a young adult or even later. For some, it's not about life or death (and I mean that literally). Furthermore, this becomes incredibly difficult when looking at menus in busy places, fast food places, school cafetrias. What if one has unique restrictions?
The screens/menus that resturants provide are sometimes, not always, difficult to understand and read. I even overheard a student who once said something along the lines of "I kept drinking [some soup] at [the chain resturant], even though it didn't have the little V for vegetarian. I was always confused, but figured there is no way [that soup] would have meat. And then I found out they made it with bone broth, and I was wrong the entire time."
And with each person different — why can't we create a program that will tailor how the consumer sees the menu?
That's why I created AllerGenie. A way to both simplify the experience, and bring trust to all parties invovled. It also boosts the customer experience immedieatly!
An excerpt of the purpose of the app is as so: "It’s straight forward: Allergenie provides personalized information and warnings based on your personalized profile. It also allows one to search for specific ingredients to see which menu items these ingredients appear in."
You can access the application here, where you can see the set-up for the school it was implemented at.
After that, it should be simple, sign up, input your dietary restrictions, and boom. You will see two personalized lists of foods to avoid and foods that are safe based on the menu for that day.
You don't want to create an account? You have more common dietary restrictions? That's fine. Hop over to Quick Search, and you can see pretty much all (if not all) menu items offerred, with common ingredients people avoid or have allergies to. You can search a specific menu item or search by allergen!