Avoiding soy can be a difficult task. Avoiding soy at restaurants can be almost impossible. Our children have soy (and peanut) allergies. DiningWithoutSoy.com is the collection of our notes we’ve made while figuring out what our kids can eat at restaurants.
Needless to say that we’re having to do an awful lot of research and making a lot of phone calls. My notes were starting to get awfully disorganized. I figured that if I’m going to go through the trouble of organizing my notes, I might as well publish them online in case it can help anybody else. This site is a product of those efforts. If you’ve got notes about a restaurant’s usage of soy, please forward them to me and I’ll add them to the site.
Thank you thank you thank you! My 3 year old daughter was just diagnosed and it has been such a difficult month. She is doing a great job with being patient and understanding, but I want her to enjoy things too. This is so helpful. Thank you!
I am 80 years old and I have found out this year that I am allergic to soy. I break out in hives. I have done everything the Allergist told me todo. That is take Claritin everyday, but this does not keep the hives away. I need to take stock in Benadryl.
I know that Culver’s is a regional chain, but it is growing and it is very popular. My wife is insensitive to soy, and so we check very carefully before going to a restaurant (we are SO grateful for your website!!). Culver’s allergen guide is very good and does seem to recognize sensitivities as well as allergies. Has anyone had an experience, good or bad, at Culver’s? Thanks for any advise
We have had good experience at Culver’s. They will pull a manager to go over allergens is needed in most cases
Hi,
I have had a soy allergy for the past 10 years and it has gotten worse as food producers are using more soy in their foods. Anytime I go to a restaurant I have to ask what type of cooking oil they use and most don’t know. Most say vegetable oil then I tell them to read the line on the box which normally is Soybean oil One steak place by us must marinate their steaks in soy as within a couple hours I have to hit the bathroom and it cleans me out better that a colonoscopy prep. Most rotisserie chicken and turkey is injected with soy to keep it juicy. Thankfully my wife likes to cook and we use real butter and olive oil watching all ingredients in foods from stores. What a challenge so that companies can get rich!
So glad I found your blog. My youngest has had to go to the emergency room twice and one of those times by ambulance because of a reaction to soy. We have a ln allergist appointment in a few days to find out but it is hard to explain to a toddler that she can’t have certain snacks or foods because they have soy in them. Reading every label has shocked me because so much products have soy in them.
I just got put on beta blockers because I have chest pain and tachycardia and I’m only 30. I’m thinking now it’s the soy…. I had allergy testing done a few days ago and I knew I was allergic to soy to some extent but a 10/10…
Why do so many restaurants and food have soy in it?
I have POTs which causes chest pain and tachycardia as well as heart palpitations. I discovered that soy, even something as small as soy lecithin, greatly exacerbates my symptoms. Worth discussing with your cardiologist!
I just found this site and I’m so happy! I found out I was allergic to soy a year ago and cutting it out has changed my life. I started to have manic depressive mood swings after eating soy and heavy spotting. I’m a very happy person, so that’s not normal for me. If I’m on my period, I start cramping and hemorrhaging and get very sick. I got so anemic that I couldn’t move without heart palpitations (I’m late twenties-way too young for that nonsense.) Not all reactions are obvious and it took me a very long time to figure out that a soy allergy was making my life miserable.
Maybe this will help somebody, but for a year I had to cut out cheese and dairy and eggs because they use a soy based rennet to make most cheeses and feed cows And chickens soy food. I have slowly (over the past two years) worked on my gut and overall health and now can eat cheese and drink raw, organic milk. I can even sometimes accidentally eat something low in soy and then drink a kombucha or take a probiotic and not have as bad of a reaction as I once did. Allergies are developed and they can be cured, but it does take a lot of time and work and label reading-so thank you for this website!!
Hey, I have a soy allergy too. Why did you mention kombucha? I’m curious because I’ve been avoiding kombucha because I noticed having a reaction while drinking it but didn’t know why. Do you know why??
I need to know how to cure soy allergy . I’m allergic also but moderately, but I’m still affected .
I just developed a soy allergy, my daughter is starting to not tolerate dairy. She’s 17, and never had a food allergy, but I have had them for a while now. I am also allergic to peanuts, tomatoes, avocados and bananas.
Hi, weirdly enough, Im now 42yrs old and 2 yrs ago, I was told I am allergic to peanuts. This year in 2020 I believe I am now also allergic to soy of any kind of form except Low Sodium Soy sauce. also this year the Doc says I need to also omit banannas, avocados, tomatoes from my diet. Weird huh? I am a bit sad I cannot eat some of my favorite foods anymore.
Hey! I suspect my son is intolerant of not allergic to all those things you listed. Any advice?
Plan a vacation abroad-Canada uses canola oil, London uses canola oil and every restaurant has an allergy binder, Madrid Spain uses olive oil. I could eat almost everywhere.
Thank you thank you THANKYOU for publishing all this!!! My breastfeeding infant is showing sensitivity to soy and i was just devastated thinking there’d be no way for me to eat out safely and keep breastfeeding, you’re a lifesaver!
Yes, this was how it started. I now have a full blown neurological reaction –itchy blisters head to toe. Test with some non-GMO soy to see if you do *not* have a similar reaction. You may have a GMO condition (adverse effect to the pesticide chemical glyphosate) rather than an allergy to soy.
Through 8+ years of effort, I have proven and demonstrated my condition is a reaction to GMO products, since more than 70% of packaged foods in the USA contain soy and 99% of soy in the USA is GMO, eating soy was the primary cause of my illness. I suspect some of the postings here on this site are attributed to GMOs and *not* actually soy. A good test is to consume an amount of soy known/marked as non-GMO. Look for *both* labels of the USDA Organic (not sprayed with pesticide) and Non-GMO project Verified. A nibble or sip of any food containing trace amounts of soy causes my reaction, but I can eat Non-GMO soy infused products all day!
I spontaneously developed a soy allergy when I turned 30 years old. It took me a year to get a diagnosis of why I was so sick all of the time. My soy allergy causes sneezing and nasal congestion like I have a bad cold.
The tiniest bit of soy sends me into these cold-like symptoms within 30 minutes of eating soy, and then the symptoms last 3 days. I’ve now had the allergy for five years, and I’ve gotten pretty adept at knowing what items have hidden soy, but it has taken awhile to get good at it. I still am surprised sometimes when I have a sudden attack and have to figure out what I ate that had soy. I wish I had seen your website years before. Does anyone else have a the nasal type reaction with soy? I feel like I’m the only one. You should see the incredulous looks I get when I tell people my cold-like symptoms are caused by my soy allergy. I don’t think anyone believes me. Just curious if anyone has this reaction…
I also have a nasal reaction to soy! It is always my first symptom and happens with even the smallest exposures. I also get migraines and GI distress if I have a larger amount.
I have nasal congestionwith this too!
I do. It’s horrible. Sinus pain and swelling.
I also have experienced this within 20 minutes though my allergy seems to be increasing in severity lately. I get sneezing, then coughing with heavy post nasal drainage and nasal congestion. Lately im getting hoarse and sometimes chest tightness. Mine started at age 33. Im on year 6.
We have just found out our daughter (9) is positive for soy, along with peanuts, and a slew of environmental allergens. We are finding out the struggle of this too….. thanks for the info.
Really helpful site. Thanks for keeping this updated and going. You are helping countless people who are just reading through it and not taking the time to comment. Thank you! I have a soy allergy (I sent you note with details) and having this information is a blessing.
I develop soy allergy latter in life but as a kid In the 90’s I was the human MSG tester. If I ate anything with MSG it would come right back up. My family kept a long list of foods and restaurants that used it. What I don’t get is that it still in tons of our food even though the public frowns on it.
Thanks for the website! It’s a pain to figure out soy at restaurants, so thanks for sharing! 🙂
Hi,
Thank you for putting up this website/blog.
I am also allergic to soy and severely airborne allergic to peanuts. I never had allergies until about 1.5 year ago. We are an allergy family, but not everyone is allergic. I suppose my allergies must have been dormant or my genes activated or a mutation occurred recently for me to have food allergies and have live my whole life prior to it without any food allergy whatsoever It is quite challenging to have become disciplined in not eating things with soy. It is everywhere, it seems. In fact, I have seen it even in non-food products such as chapsticks, cough drops (except Burt’s Bee’s *phew*), and recently I saw a paper bag out of soy in one company’s break room.
99.9% of the time, I don’t even consume beans anymore due to being allergic to one, and I have no idea what it looks like. Plus, the allergy clinic nurse who works with my allergist (happens to be department chair) said to also avoid all beans. Avoiding it as much as I can helps… but it seems that peanuts are also everywhere. It helps to know I am not alone, even if my airborne allergy to peanuts makes me 1% of US peanut allergy sufferers. It seems small to people given the fact that it’s rarely mentioned what the 1% is out of.
I don’t know if anyone else can relate, but to me it seems a bit depressing at times to live with such allergies; for instance, even for cancer, there seems to be more research and somewhat almost promising answers for early stages. Why is it taking so long to find a solution for food allergies… after all, we have to eat to survive, and in our case, we have to be careful of what we eat and to avoid eating certain things to survive.
I hope we can work together to find and share solutions. Thanks.
Thank you for creating this page, I’m allergic to peanuts, soy, and anything that comes in contact with soy.
Soy lecithin and soybean oil are the worst, and cause most of my problems.
Just to share, Helmann’s canola oil mayonnaise is soy free, it’s a life saver!
Thank you so much for your website. I am 39 and found out I’m allergic to soy.
My daughter is allergic to soy and nuts and eats safely on a few items on the menu at Raising Cane’s Chicken and Chipotle.
OMG! literally Im thirteen and two days ago I found out I’m allergic to soy and peanut but the problem is that I’m very bust andi have to stop at fast food, I like chick fil a and cookout esically i need some major help. Do you have any good apps that tell u what’s in food out in public? I can’t really any suggestions?
https://www.allergyeats.com/
Hi,
Thank you for you site. I have a deadly soy allergy, along with any legumes. It has been very difficult here lately with all the soybean oil used, along with soy lecithin and this has impacted health. Panera bread has items on their menu that are soy free, including breads. They list every item in their ingredients on their website. Dominos has a hand tossed pizza crust that is soy free, but can get cross contamination from soy lecithin. Five Guys will use your buns for hamburgers. They do not use soybean oil, but they do have peanuts on the floor inside. These are all national chains so would think they are in Ohio, too. ~ a kindred spirit in Colorado.
Anyone else with EOE here? Avoiding the Top 8, and have tested + to soy allergy. Wish I would have found this site sooner! Your restaurant info is spot on – some chains really get it and have wonderful websites: Chipotle, RRobin, Wendy’s, and some, sadly, still have no nutrition info on their sites 🙁
I found out today that I am soy allergic after being diagnosed with EOE. So glad to find this site! Thanks for all the info!!!
For mayo, try Sir Kinsington’s.
Hi Orlondo,
That’s definitely the hardest part about any allergy (at any age). “Why is everybody else eating it, and I can’t?”. We’ve invested a lot of time and energy in trying to have allergy-free food with us at all times, but they’ve still never gotten to eat a doughnut (which is a crime against humanity, in my book!)
My son is allergic to dairy, peanut and soy .It is very hard to tell your 2 year old can’t have birthday cake at parties. We can’t eat at relatives homes. I am just glad I found this.
I found that some of Duncan Hines’ little mug cakes are soy and dairy free.
Thank you so much for all of this amazing information!
This is awesome. I try to look up information before going to a restaurant, but sometimes things are just impossible to find. I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked if a gluten free menu will help when I say I have a soy allergy! 🙂
Yeah, it’s amazing how sidedtracked the allergy conversation can get. We get the gluten free suggestions (Although Donato’s gluten free pizza is indeed soy-free). Many gluten free items are loaded with soy. My other favorite allergy detour is when we say “no margarine” everybody hears “no butter”, and therefore, “no dairy”. It’s always fun trying to rewind those conversations and get them back on track.
I’m %90 sure I just developed a soy allergy every time I eat it I can’t breathe is that normal? It’s like my lungs close a little
That is called anaphylactic shock that is and your airways closer I would stop eating so we immediately
Thank you for publishing your info. My daughter has always been allergic to peanuts, then as a teenager, all nuts, and now, as a Senior in HS, soy. We had it ‘down’, but now we’re starting over. I really appreciate it.