Is it very likely that you will not survive eating shellfish? You are also struggling with strawberries? And you are generally petrified of peanuts? Sounds like you have a serious case of food allergy. What do poor souls like you do in restaurants to make sure you end the evening in one piece?

Well, Simone Graebner can tell you all about it. And she went one step further and turned that problem into a business that will help other allergy sufferers on their night out.

It all started with a romantic dinner. While romance was still in the air during drinks, it got very serious when the waiter had to take Simone’s order. Her instructions as to what she can and can not eat, let alone how the food needs to be processed, killed whatever flirtatious energy had been building up. “I would like the salad with turkey breast, but please don’t coat the turkey breast in flour before frying it – I cannot tolerate grains. And please no cream or yoghurt for the salad dressing, ideally on a separate plate, and no tomatoes in the salad, please. Then I would like the steak with spinach and fried potatoes, without the onion rings, please, as they might contain grains. And would you be so kind as to ask the kitchen staff if the spinach is cream spinach or if it is simply steamed? I cannot tolerate cream. Oh, and by the way, in case the steak is served with sauce, please ask for a sauce without cream or flour, ideally on an extra plate. Thanks a lot!”.

While her dinner date did not end in wedding bells it sparked the invention of the DELICARDO Foodcard. Simone says that now with the foodcard  - which is custom made to each individual’s restrictive diet – eating out is a normal experience again. The allergy sufferer simply hands the card to the waiter and thus avoids inconvenient explanations and requests. Your restaurant “identity card” safes you from the embarrassment of sounding difficult and picky.

For some allergy sufferers misunderstandings can be life threatening – with the card the life saving instructions are on black and white. The visiting card sized foodcards, sometimes known as chef cards, restaurant allergy cards or dietary cards, contain all of your dietary do’s and don’ts and are simply given to the waiter while placing an order at your local restaurant or when eating abroad.

For more information about DELICARDO Foodcards go to http://www.delicardo.com