I hereby give everyone whose food restrictions restaurants have not taken seriously permission to claim it's a food allergy. that's the magic combination of words -- "food allergy" -- to unlock the message getting through that this customer Cannot Have This Ingredient
it doesn't ALWAYS work but it works far more often than trying to explain your whole medical history to someone making below minimum wage just to get them not to put sesame seeds in your food. "food allergy" is something they can write down, something they can pass to the people making the food. it is something they (ought to) have protocol for
hell, I have crohn's disease, and I've told servers I have an allergy to capsaicin (the component that makes foods spicy), because I know just how many people roll their eyes at a lily white millennial with a midwestern accent claiming they can't have spice in their food
you're having a reaction to the food. it may or may not be an allergy (the definition is broad, look it up if this notion bothers you) but it's close enough to use the shorthand
