ENID, Okla. — Young basketball players eat pizza together at a restaurant in Enid, except for one team member who is left in tears with nothing to eat.

Despite the careful preparation made by Jase Dershem’s mother to ensure the restaurant could provide food that would not harm her son, who suffers from Galactosemia, she found the situation at the restaurant to be similar to other dining experiences where allergen menus were not available. 

While Jase Dershem may not have an immediate allergic reaction, consuming lactose or galactose causes damage to his body. Permanent brain damage.

Currently, four states and two cities, Massachusetts, Michigan, Rhode Island, Virginia, New York City and St. Paul Minnesota all have food allergy awareness laws in place for restaurants, according to foodallergy.org.

Some restaurants in Enid, Oklahoma are “behind the times,” Jessy Dershem said.

“Luckily, now, in (Oklahoma City), when we go to the city, all restaurants provide the food allergen list,” she said. “You can just step up to the counter, say, ‘You know, we have a food allergy.’ They hand you a book or a list, and then the liability is off of them. Now, you’re the one looking at the ingredients and deciding for your child what they can and can’t have, which is how it should be.”

When the family went to Florida for a Galactosemia conference, Jessy Dershem found restaurants in the state had black books provided when a customer asks for ingredients. 

Jessy Dershem does not expect to tell someone her son can’t have lactose or galactose and have them reply with what he can have at a restaurant. She just wants the information provided to her so she can determine what is safe.

She has been trying to get in touch with the health inspector at her county health department, in an effort to do something in Enid.

Currently there are no state rules on food allergies, Oklahoma State Department of Health spokesman Tony Sellars said. There are Food and Drug Administration regulations, but those only apply to packaged foods and not restaurants.

“However, FDA advises consumers who are allergic to particular foods to ask questions about ingredients and preparation when eating at restaurants or any place outside the consumer’s home,” the FDA regulations state.

The Oklahoma Food Code, in regard to restaurant inspections, does not require food servers to suggest options to customers but does require them to be trained on awareness of major food allergens, Sellars said.

More than 50 percent of food allergy incidents happen in restaurants, Jessy Dershem said she has learned through research.

 “There are places that are willing to really help you,” she said, but the majority are not. “My fear is if I can’t even deal with the managers or people that work there, how am I supposed to let my child — when he turns 16 — go out to eat with his friends by himself?

“It’s like my child can never go eat out on his own, as a teenager, if something like this isn’t solved by that time.” 

Miller writes for the Enid, Oklahoma News.

If a restaurant is part of a chain of 20 or more establishments, they’re legally required to post nutritional information on menus, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.