Need Advice on eating in Canada

[brownie]

We are traveling to Toronto on Wednesday for the First Lego League Tournament in Toronto.  They have told us they are getting pizza for the opening party Wednesday, and asked us to submit any dietary restrictions that would keep us from eating the pizza.  We are TNA/PA...would you trust the pizza in Canada if they told you to?  We wouldn't here in the U.S...

Also, what about labeling...they said their was a Whole FOods within walking distance of the university.  What are the labeling laws?  Cross contamination labeling is not required here in the U.S.

Thanks!
Brownie

[LinksEtc]

Here is some info on Canadian labeling:
http://www.anaphylaxis.ca/en/daily_living/food_labelling.html


I'd be cautious about restaurants regardless of country.


I hope you have a good trip!

[spacecanada]

Panago pizza is safe franchise-wide for PN/TN and we've never had any issues.  We eat their pizza more often than I'd like to admit.  It is widely available in Alberta and BC, with several locations in other major cities.  Toronto has a few locations.

www.panago.com -> look at their nutrition and allergen charts

Definitely avoid Famoso, Pizza Hut, and Little Caesar's.  A small pizza shop where I live has almonds as a topping and another small place has Thai pizza with peanut sauce, and despite their best efforts, I've reacted to pizza from both places.  As for other franchises, I'm really no help because I've never called or visited them.  Would I trust them to give me cross-contamination details over the phone, maybe... but I certainly wouldn't take an organiser's word that it would be safe without checking myself - too many big name pizza places aren't safe for PN/TN allergies.

[nameless]

We are traveling to Toronto on Wednesday for the First Lego League Tournament in Toronto.  They have told us they are getting pizza for the opening party Wednesday, and asked us to submit any dietary restrictions that would keep us from eating the pizza.  We are TNA/PA...would you trust the pizza in Canada if they told you to?  We wouldn't here in the U.S...

Also, what about labeling...they said their was a Whole FOods within walking distance of the university.  What are the labeling laws?  Cross contamination labeling is not required here in the U.S.

Thanks!
Brownie

I was recently in Toronto and wandered up to the UT area --- many many McDonald's and a Chipotle. So --- if you are worried then maybe it's less stressful to just count on a McD's or a Chipotle meal (both PA/TNA safe).

?

[QsMommy]

We live east of Toronto and eat Pizza Pizza regularly. Lots of Franchises in Toronto.

According to their website they do not have peanut/nuts in their products.

Enjoy Toronto!!

Ali

[candyguru]

Swiss Chalet is another option.  We go there quite often .. the quarter chicken dinner is a good choice.  The fries may contain wheat so we order corn for my daughters.  The kid's meal dessert is Kinder chocolate eggs (peanut-free). Swiss Chalet is at Yonge & Gerrard, and also a take out on Bloor near the university.  Many Swiss Chalet locations in Toronto.  Whole Foods is in Hazelton Lanes on Avenue Road just north of Bloor near the university too.

Can you find out which pizza chain they use?  Then you could check at their website .

Swiss Chalet allergy info is at their website:  https://www.swisschalet.com/nutrition-allergies

[brownie]

So correct me if I'm wrong, but it doesn't look like Canada labels for cross-contamination necessarily either?  If not, which companies are reliable.  I am thinking Hershey & Nestle as far as candy.  Quaker... anything else?  The kids definitely want to stop and pick up some peanut safe candy.  DH did that for them before.

Also, can I count on food to be TNA free if they have the peanut free label and no TNA warning?  My understanding is that it is just so much harder to check for TNA contamination due to the sheer number of possibilities so they do not use the label often.

Thanks!

[LinksEtc]

So correct me if I'm wrong, but it doesn't look like Canada labels for cross-contamination necessarily either? 

Canadian cross-contam warnings are voluntary.  They are not required.

--------------

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/label-etiquet/allergen/precaution_label-etiquette-eng.php

Precautionary statements are made by food manufacturers and importers on a voluntary basis above and beyond the basic ingredient and nutrition labelling requirements stipulated in the Food and Drug Regulations (FDR) and other related legislation. There is no regulatory requirement for, or prohibition of, precautionary labelling.

[spacecanada]

So correct me if I'm wrong, but it doesn't look like Canada labels for cross-contamination necessarily either?  If not, which companies are reliable.  I am thinking Hershey & Nestle as far as candy.  Quaker... anything else?  The kids definitely want to stop and pick up some peanut safe candy.  DH did that for them before.

Also, can I count on food to be TNA free if they have the peanut free label and no TNA warning?  My understanding is that it is just so much harder to check for TNA contamination due to the sheer number of possibilities so they do not use the label often.

Thanks!

Cross-contamination labels are not required in Canada.  We don't trust Quaker's labelling any more, since we discovered that their instant oatmeal is (or was?) made on shared lines with their nut flavours but not declared as such.  I'm not sure how reliable their granola bar labelling is, but avoid them as well since they label for peanut-free but not always for tree nut cross-contamination (at least not when I called last, in 2012.

We trust Dare labelling and Chapman's ice cream is trusted by everyone I know who isn't avoiding dairy. 

The peanut-free label does not mean tree-nut free.  Many people get confused by this.  The peanut-free emblem only means peanut-free.  Some may say nut-free with the same emblem, or both peanut-free and nut-free, so check the wording that comes with the label - there's almost always an allergen statement by the ingredient label justifying the emblem.  If not, I call or avoid. 

Maynards (candy) and Sun Rype (100% fruit snacks) also have excellent labelling.  No Name brand (from Superstore) has reliable labels with quick and fantastic customer service (by phone).  Our Compliments brand (from Sobey's) is another brand we trust, with quick and reliable customer service (by phone).

Hope that helps.

[brownie]

Thank You!  After inquiring about allergy issues, the planners did not get back to us on the safety of the pizza, and then it was unclear where the pizza came from.  We had a Pagano's right across the street from our hotel.  I checked their website.   DH walked back from the U, got pizza for ds, and walked back. Took an hour, but ds was safe and happy. 

Tonight we got McD's for dinner.

Tomorrow will be more challenging as we need to get to the baseball game, making dinner tight.

We will do a candy run at Walmart before we cross back into the US

[SilverLining]

Has anyone mentioned DARE?  They have safe candy too.