Life With Allergies - My story on starting May Contain

Do you know what it’s like to have a love-hate relationship with food? That’s life when you cherish every bite of emotion-inducing food you put in your mouth, knowing that one wrong bite could land you in the hospital, or worse. That’s life with an anaphylactic peanut allergy. 

Having an anaphylactic allergy is like walking through a minefield. Sure, you can walk on the designated “safe” path, and your risk of exploding to your death is small - but what if you accidentally step on the edge of the path? What if there happens to be a mine on the path that they didn’t know about? You’re always worried something unexpected might happen, your mind is on high-alert. It’s not just the risk though. As someone who spends their life avoiding any food that could potentially kill you, you constantly wonder… what’s on the other side of that minefield? What am I missing because of my allergy?

I’ve been treading carefully through the minefield of allergens for 25 years, and this is my story about my life with allergies. 

My name is Nathan, and I’m from Toronto, Canada. My parents had me allergy-tested as a baby, after being diagnosed with eczema and asthma, only to discover a grocery list of allergies. The king of that list was peanuts, that one could kill me because it was anaphylactic. The rest of them ranged from tree nuts to shellfish, with tons of fruits and vegetables in between. My mom transitioned from someone who’s favourite snack was a handful of nuts, into an allergy mom. And a damn good allergy mom if you ask me. 

My early childhood was spent eating (and loving) home-baked cakes and cookies. Mom’s recipe book grew and grew. She volunteered at my schools, and would ensure I didn’t eat Timmy’s birthday cake or Sarah’s cookies. As the only child with an anaphylactic allergy, she would encourage my teachers to consider allergy-friendly celebration options, such as my kindergarten class’ Chapman’s (nut-free) Ice Cream sundaes to celebrate birthdays instead of cakes. She would bring cookies and cake from home to family gatherings to ensure I had a great time, despite avoiding the delicious tarts, cakes and cookies devoured by all the other kids. 

I grew up as a red-faced kid who wore a fanny pack around his waist, carrying lifesaving Epipens. If the eczema and two-handed itching didn’t catch people’s eyes, the fanny pack did. Everyone around me needed to know about me. Too many people didn’t understand allergies. Whether they asked or if they were told, they needed to know that “peanuts could kill Nathan, and here’s the list of the other 30 things that will swell up his already-red face. His Epipens are in his fanny pack, call 911 immediately.” 

No one called 911 for me. Thanks to my parents’ vigilance, my allergies didn’t put me in the hospital as a child, 911 was never necessary. To this day, I’ve ended up in the hospital only once. We’ll get to that. 

I wore that Epipen fanny pack from kindergarten until the start of high school. As I grew older and gained more independence, my parents taught me the ways. Other kids were told “always look left and right twice before crossing the street.” In addition to that and the usual stuff, I was told “always inform the server about your allergies before eating at a restaurant,” and “always check the ingredients on the packaging before eating something. If you can’t see the packaging, don’t eat it.” I started learning the skills to take care of myself, and how to manage the few allergies that I would never grow out of, peanuts and tree nuts. I also started to experience the decision-making and risk mitigation that goes into living with food allergies. 

Taking off that fanny pack was big for me. I finally reached allergy maturity. I carried my Epipen in my pocket, I was in control of my allergy, I became my own first responder. I became responsible for assessing situations like buying food at the store, or ordering a meal at a restaurant with friends. I had to evaluate the phrase “we cannot guarantee that our food has not come in contact with peanuts.” This was a lot of responsibility, but I did my best. I started looking for jobs, and while many of my friends picked up jobs in local restaurants and bakeries, I couldn’t do that because the food industry was unsafe for me. Allergies created a lot of life restrictions, but after 15 years of living with them, I didn’t notice it anymore. 

As I became an adult, I transitioned into a lifestyle of silencing my allergy. I knew where and what I could eat, I knew the server would say “we cannot guarantee…”, and my allergies were mentioned to others on a need-to-know basis. I often forgot I even had allergies, I became so used to managing them. I no longer felt the *pang* of frustration when I’d be turned away from a restaurant, or when I’d be eating fruit while my friends or family are eating a spectacular 6-layer cake with “the best ice cream I’ve ever had.”

I didn’t know there were so many other people like me. I didn’t know there were groups where people shared best practices and favourite allergy-friendly places. I didn’t know there were people designing solutions and treats to make life easier and more enjoyable for people like me. I didn’t know until after March 31st, 2019. 

It happened. After 24 years of vigilance and luck, I ate peanut. I was in Munich Germany for work with my partner and colleagues. Language barriers were quite difficult to navigate, and despite the use of Google Translate, restaurants weren’t very comfortable with my allergy. After apparent confusion and miscommunication, I ended up eating peanut powder that was silently-substituted for miso powder in a Japanese ramen restaurant, where we visited after countless recommendations from locals. My colleague Beth also had a peanut allergy, and was eating the same dish. We both made a trip to a German hospital that day. 

The next day, we realized we needed help. We searched the web for solutions, and what we found was wonderful. We found allergy translation apps, Facebook groups providing recommendations, and allergy travel blogs. While these resources were helpful, they still didn’t solve our problem, despite providing some support. While some apps let people with allergies review restaurants, we couldn’t find any reliable information that covered our locations, or had any reviews. We couldn’t find safe restaurants to dine at in the locations we visited without calling and asking until we felt some confidence. We were hangry, confused, and frustrated.

People with allergies need help finding places to eat. After having this experience, I decided I no longer wanted to silently live with my allergies. My colleagues and I returned to Canada with plans to develop a platform to help people with allergies find safe restaurants, locally and abroad. We wanted to make something that could provide trusted information directly from the restaurants themselves, to save people time and stress, while opening doors for people to try foods they previously would have avoided. 

May Contain was born. Through May Contain, I want to make sure that kids with allergies can share awesome treats at birthday parties. I want to make sure that other adults like me will know if they can eat at a new restaurant before they walk in the door. I want to give people with allergies the tool they need to navigate the world, without feeling like they’re walking through a minefield. Since starting May Contain, I feel empowered to help the millions of people with allergies across the world. My allergies aren’t a challenge anymore, they’re a motivation. After putting together the first few prototype versions of May Contain, I’ve tried countless different allergy-conscious bakeries and new restaurants in Toronto. I no longer feel like my allergies are a risk that holds me back from experiencing the great things in life. 

I no longer feel like I’m walking through a minefield. 

I am the CEO and co-founder of May Contain, a company that connects people with food allergies to restaurants that can accommodate them. If you have allergies, connect with me and sign up to get first-access to May Contain! If you know someone with allergies, consider sharing my story with them - May Contain could change their lives. If you're interested in supporting May Contain or learning more, I'd love to chat - feel free to reach out, connect, or follow me on Instagram! Thanks for reading my story, and stay tuned for more updates about May Contain on Instagram, and my entrepreneurial journey.