So, I just needed to rant. I went to Oranje Julius to get a smoothie. The sign specifically says: Orange juice, strawberries, banana, and ice, Dairy Free. So I order it, and ask for the one with no yogurt, because I don't want dairy (I'm vegan). The mix is premade, so I couldn't tell what she put in it. She hands me the smoothie, and I leave. I'm sipping it and realize it tastes creamy, like milk. I even made my boyfriend try it to make sure I wasn't crazy. So, I go back and tell the lady that I'm allergic to dairy, and is she sure that there is not any yogurt or anything in it. Again, she says no. I figure I'm wrong and don't ask for a new one. After the foam settles (which should have told me it had dairy), I smell it carefully, and yep, smelt like milk. There is no question that it was milky, so I just threw it out.:wall: All I wanted was a FRUIT smoothie, and I couldn't even get that without milk. I mean, what if I was allergic, like I said? I think I'm gonna write and complain. And to think, I even tipped her a dollar! I was so pissed.:furious: Guess I'll just stick to making it at home. Ok, rant over.

Ugh, I feel you. I ended up in the emergency room fighting for my life once because of a smoothie. Of course, I didn't know that I was allergic to bee pollen, but isn't there supposed to be an allergen warning on stuff? Anyway, now I am VERY explicit every time I get a smoothie, especially if it comes with a premixed formula. I've made an employee actually show me the package that mixes came in many a time. They hate doing it usually, but hey, it's my life. The times that they have refused to show it to me, I have said, "I will DIE if there is bee pollen in this. I will lose my life." or just walked out if that didn't work. I'm still a little nervous every time I get a smoothie. Needless to say, I make most of my smoothies at home now. ;)

I've noticed the same thing other places too. I think that sometimes an employee assumes that because THEY didn't actually place that particular ingredient in your food, it can't be in there. I went through the same thing with MSG at Taco Bell. I did some research and found out that many impatient, ignorant employees had been lying to me about the presence of MSG in their food, since the MSG was already in the food before it was ever delivered to the store.

Hello, read a label.

Orange Julius uses a soy protein powder and coconut solids and hydrogenated oils to get some of their drinks creamy.

However, if it's a pre-made mix, you have no idea what's in it, and they can't very well take the milk OUT of the mix... in that case why take your chances? It's not the employees fault, she didn't "add" any dairy to the mix, and doubtful that she knows what whey or casien or other dairy derivitives are.
Don't buy something where you can't read the label first or see every individual ingredient that's added as it's made.

If there WAS dairy, (and there may not have been) it was already in there, it's stupid to blame the employee or even call the restaurant "unreliable".

Just because something "tastes like milk" does not necessarily mean there is milk in it. Did you actually see a label? if you didn't, then don't blame anyone but yourself.

i do a lot of reading the labels on stuff too- in restaurants, or anywhere where i'm eating out (which i don't do much). its difficult otherwise, because many people working in the catering and food industry just don't know as much as they could about ingredients. so they'll look at something for you and not see the words milk, cream, butter or yogurt, and come back to you and tell you its ok- when there is whey powder, casein, and lactose in something.
i've made food and drinks that taste really creamy and milky before, using tofu, soy, bananas, rice milk, coconut milk, vanilla, etc, so it could be that this was the case here. is really worth actually asking to see the ingredients on the package before you eat or drink anything, that way you'll be sure.

http://www.orangejulius.com/en-US/Menus+and+Nutrition/default.htm

They have disclaimers posted that they make some drinks with dairy and soy and there is the risk of cross contamination even for drinks that are supposed to be "dairy or soy free".

This basically means, if you have severe allergies, you need to watch out for yourself and not buy their product.

Don't expect them to cater to you - they have many, many other customers who could care less about ingredients, and it's the company's job to make money, not jump through hoops for the occasional "special request".

I agree to an extent, at a place like that your 5 bucks aren't high on their priority list, but at restaurants it should be about the customer. Having been a server for years and now opening a restaurant I can tell you, it may bug me to cater to special requests but if you do happily they will come back again and again. ;)

I work in a bakery. Sometimes people ask me if the M&M cookies contain any peanuts, being that the ingredient label pringing is very small and often difficult to read. I really am not sure, so I tell the customer right off the bat, that if they have an allergy to peanuts, I would not risk it, because I cannot be positive, since the cookie dough comes in frozen, and we don't make it. All we do is bake. This covers me. Perhaps employees should do the same in a given situation. It might be a good idea to tell the customer that the mix comes in premade, and might not be able to be sure.

I agree with Tofu-n-Sprouts. People who have severe food allergies are pretty much on their own when it comes to eating out. And many of them don't, because "they may lose their lives."

If you are very strict about your diet, then you have to assume that eating out will pose a problem if you can't read the entire label yourself. Those kids who work in the "fast food" type places, are making minimum wage for a very monotonous job, and don't need extra grief from customers. Really, if you don't feel that you can trust people to tell you what is in a product they are serving you, then you are better off just eating at home.

I agree with Tofu-n-Sprouts. People who have severe food allergies are pretty much on their own when it comes to eating out. And many of them don't, because "they may lose their lives."

If you are very strict about your diet, then you have to assume that eating out will pose a problem if you can't read the entire label yourself. Those kids who work in the "fast food" type places, are making minimum wage for a very monotonous job, and don't need extra grief from customers. Really, if you don't feel that you can trust people to tell you what is in a product they are serving you, then you are better off just eating at home.



I agree, but I feel that even if you're working for minimum wage in a crappy job, you still don't need to LIE about whether or not an ingredient is present. You need to say, "I don't know." Still though, just not eating out where there is a danger of your allergen or other restricted substance being present is really all you can do. It's not really a big deal for me, and I don't miss bee pollen at all. :)

I agree, but I feel that even if you're working for minimum wage in a crappy job, you still don't need to LIE about whether or not an ingredient is present. You need to say, "I don't know." Yeah, I have noticed that on this board people often make excuses for people NOT doing thier jobs well, which I find inexcusable! Hell, if you don't like your job, GET ANOTHER ONE! If you lack the skills, GO TO SCHOOL/GET TRAINING! If you can't do any of that, DO YOUR JOB WELL and STOP MAKING ME (the customer) PAY FOR YOUR MISERY!!! :mad: :stinkeye:

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:lol:

AHIMSA :yes: I could always tell I was getting sick of my job and needed either a vacation or a new one when I started getting a lot of complaints about my service!

I work in a bakery. Sometimes people ask me if the M&M cookies contain any peanuts, being that the ingredient label pringing is very small and often difficult to read. I really am not sure, so I tell the customer right off the bat, that if they have an allergy to peanuts, I would not risk it, because I cannot be positive, since the cookie dough comes in frozen, and we don't make it. All we do is bake. This covers me. Perhaps employees should do the same in a given situation. It might be a good idea to tell the customer that the mix comes in premade, and might not be able to be sure.


I wish more waiters/restaurant workers were like you! I agree that it's a hastle, and I know, as a restaurant worker myself, most people just want to make their money and go home. But restaurants are (ideally...) supposed to cater to their customers. Just like someone said above, your $5 isn't worth that much of a hastle to them, so why not tell your customer not to risk it? You're not losing much by not getting their $5, if their $5 wasn't worth the effort in the first place, right?

Yeah, I have noticed that on this board people often make excuses for people NOT doing thier jobs well, which I find inexcusable! Hell, if you don't like your job, GET ANOTHER ONE! If you lack the skills, GO TO SCHOOL/GET TRAINING! If you can't do any of that, DO YOUR JOB WELL and STOP MAKING ME (the customer) PAY FOR YOUR MISERY!!! :mad: :stinkeye:

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I worked in fast food when I was 18-21 while I was getting my university degree. It was the only kind of work I could get, since I don't speak French (I grew up in a town where the training was not available.) I couldn't afford to NOT work since I was paying my own way. Sometimes it's not that simple.

That being said, it's not cool to lie to people about stuff if you know otherwise. I agree with what others have said- if you don't know the answer, just say you don't know the answer. Or, try to find out if you can.

I personally just choose to eat a very few places, only ones I can trust because they're vegetarian/vegan, or I know the owner, or have been completely satisfied that I am able to get what I want vegan. When in doubt, I don't eat out.

The ingredients did not come out of a package, they just already had all the ingredients mixed in a blender, so I didn't get to watch her put it in. (They had a bunch of blenders already filled with the proper ingredients). Nothing came out of a package, it was just so supposed to be fresh strawberries (or preserves ), bananas, and orange juice. I wanted to watch, because I know most of their drinks come with yogurt, and people tend to forget to not put it in. I figured they had it prepared because they get so busy, and they only had one person working. The reason I got so annoyed is because I specifically asked her if it had yogurt, she said no, and when I got it, it tasted like it had yogurt in it. I even came back and asked again. Of course it's possible that I was wrong, and it was the correct drink, but milk products really have a certain taste, espeically when you haven't had it in a while. And it really tasted and smelled like yogurt. It's not that there was slight dairy, or it was contaminated. It's that she made me the wrong drink. I wouldn't eat anything without seeing the package first, but it was supposed to be all whole ingredients.
Also, I work in food service, and don't make a whole lot of money. I am very careful about making people's drinks, etc, and I was even before I became vegan. When someone asks for a certain drink, they get it. Especially if they tell me they have an allergy. Just because someone doesn't make a lot of money in their job does not make them miserable, and does not excuse sloppy behavior. I was nice to the lady, I didn't even want a special drink. The one I wanted was on the menu! When I go out I expect to be treated the way I treat people at my work. I don't think the lady(not a kid BTW) was a jerk or anything, she just messed up. And it sucked because I didn't get my damn smoothie, and I had dairy after trying so hard to avoid it.:brood:

Yeah, I have noticed that on this board people often make excuses for people NOT doing thier jobs well, which I find inexcusable! Hell, if you don't like your job, GET ANOTHER ONE! If you lack the skills, GO TO SCHOOL/GET TRAINING! If you can't do any of that, DO YOUR JOB WELL and STOP MAKING ME (the customer) PAY FOR YOUR MISERY!!! :mad: :stinkeye:

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I had jobs I hated while I was going to school to get better career. Why did I work? To pay for school. None the less, I tried to be sure I made chicken or stocked shelves the best way I could. I am happy to say that I eventually got a job in a computer store while in college, but that took quite a while. And even then, I managed to secure a job as a software enginner before I got my degree, but yet again, it took a while.

I had jobs I hated while I was going to school to get better career. Why did I work? To pay for school. None the less, I tried to be sure I made chicken or stocked shelves the best way I could. I am happy to say that I eventually got a job in a computer store while in college, but that took quite a while. And even then, I managed to secure a job as a software enginner before I got my degree, but yet again, it took a while.
Yes, we all have had jobs we didn't care for and would not have chosen if we could do otherwise...the difference here is you did YOUR BEST and were probably one of thier best workers. That's all I am saying...do your job and do it well or don't do it at all, ya know? I just tire of people making excuses for the shortcomings of others in these situations. Who hasn't had a crappy job that was dehumanizing at times? No one, unless they had a silver-spoon upbringing or were incredibly lucky. We all gotta do what we have to do to get by and so we might as well take a little pride in our work, be accountable for our actions and do a good job at whatever we may be doing :-/

I worked in fast food when I was 18-21 while I was getting my university degree. It was the only kind of work I could get, since I don't speak French (I grew up in a town where the training was not available.) I couldn't afford to NOT work since I was paying my own way. Sometimes it's not that simple.Even though you worked fast food with a lower wage than you would have liked, I am sure you were a friendly person and a good worker. That's all I expect of people (I don't ever go to any fast food place but YKWIM).

I understand what it's like to have it hard. I have been on my own since 16 and worked out of the home at jobs since I was 8 years old. No one has *ever* made anything easy ofr me or paid for my way. I had no family support (no family, really) and I still don't!

Working my way through my childhood, I had to do many jobs I would have rather not done. I firmly believe that having a good attitude, taking pride in one's work and being accountable for one's actions is not too much to ask of someone being paid to work at a job.

doesn't orange julius also have egg whites in their drink? i thought i heard that a long time ago...