Bad news from Rachel (who previously gave us wonderful soy-free news from Cheesecake Factory). Apparently Cheesecake Factory is not as soy-free as they led Rachel to believe. Here’s what Rachel said:
Unfortunately, I need to retract most of my comments about the Cheesecake Factory.
On my first visit I was assured that the entire kitchen, including the fryer, only contained 100% canola oil. After at least a dozen visits, at which I always mentioned my soy allergy, I was suddenly informed that the fryer uses a vegetable shortening, the main ingredient of which is hydrogenated soybean oil (they showed me the label). Fortunately, this oil apparently does not have enough soy protein to trigger a reaction for me, but others may not be so lucky. I react to regular soybean oil and react mildly to some, but not all, soy lecithin. I find it quite distressing that none of the employees had any idea that they were feeding me soy on numerous occasions.
So unfortunately this proves my major concern when dining out. It seems that restaurant employees really don’t understand the depth and breadth that soy has reached in food in America.
Too many restaurant employees assume there is no soy in food based on these two criteria:
- The food does not have soy in its name.
- The allergen information does not list soy.
Either option is scary and takes a lot of back and forth questioning to make sure that the food is really soy free.
Thanks Rachel, for the update and it sounds like we’ll be taking Cheesecake Factory off of the places we need to visit.
