[url="http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070410/BUSINESS/7..."]http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070410/BUSINESS/7...
By PAT FERRIER
[email]PatFerrier@coloradoan.com[/email]
Gib's NY Bagels is changing the way it does business after a customer went into anaphylactic shock from a peanut allergy.
Lauren Anderson, a senior tennis player at Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins, ordered a spinach parmesan bagel with veggie lite cream cheese last week at Gib's, 2531 S. Shields St.
She ate it on the bus en route to a match in Golden.
"As soon as she finished the bagel, she had a sickish feeling in her stomach," said Lauren's mom, Jane Anderson.
She drank some water, chewed gum and felt a little better.
After her warm-up to get ready for her singles match, Lauren - who has suffered from a severe peanut allergy since she was a baby - said she felt her airway closing down and tingling on the bottom of her feet, a sign she was getting hives.
She told her mom, who was at the match, she was having an allergic reaction and they needed to get to the hospital.
She was treated at St. Anthony's Hospital in Denver and has made a full recovery.
The only culprit they can think of was the bagel from Gib's. Cross-contamination from a knife that had been used to spread peanut butter, got wiped off, then was used to spread the cream cheese on Lauren's bagel.
"They said they wiped off knives in between spreads but don't wash them," said Jane Anderson, who called Rachel Bradley, the store's co-manager.
"I asked politely if they would consider changing their policy regarding the use of peanut butter so we could assure it wouldn't happen again," Anderson said.
Within an hour, Gib's owner, Brian "Gib" Long called back with apologies and a new policy.
All jars of peanut butter were thrown out, to be replaced by plastic knives and packets of peanut butter - known in the restaurant business as personal containers. Customers who want peanut butter now can spread it themselves and avoid any cross-contamination.
Anderson said she was impressed with Long's quick reaction.
Great response by the bagel shop.
This just reinforces my decision to not have the bagel shop cut, toast, or put cream cheese on a bagel for DD. We buy a tub of their cream cheese and use a plastic knife to cut the bagel and spread the cream cheese.
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[This message has been edited by Sandra Y (edited April 12, 2007).]
They're lucky the reaction was that positive. I had a similar experience back when I could eat bagels and I was laughed at for making a stink. I'm glad someone got something changed!