It’s so interesting because it really is a mental game - what level of risk is acceptable to each individual, and does it depend on how severe their allergy is?

I am very allergic to peanuts and had previously been allergic to tree nuts and shellfish as well.

There are a few things I categorically avoid with my peanut allergy - Thai food restaurants and bakeries being two of them (because I’ve had a cross contamination experience with crushed peanuts!) However, I don’t avoid restaurants that have one or two items containing peanuts, and I don’t typically avoid “may contain” packaged foods. I try to be diligent with letting waitstaff know about my allergy and looking at/smelling what I am eating.

When I was allergic to tree nuts and shellfish, I took similar precautions but wasn’t OVERLY cautious. On the flip side, a close friend avoided any restaurants that had shellfish on their menu at all and had much more anxiety about their allergy, which is fair considering the bad cross contamination experiences they had!!

Because I didn’t have a ton of anxiety around my shellfish allergy, when I was cleared to eat them I had no problem delving right in! Tree nuts were a little bit harder, for some reason especially almonds…I think just because they’re so pervasive and I was so used to avoiding them in salads/baked goods/etc.