Holy crap, you guys. Tim Hortons will be serving donuts filled with Nutella. And it'll be a spread option for bagels, too. And there'll be pastries filled with the ubiquitous hazelnut and chocolate gooey stuff. Those in the allergy community are freaking the heck out - and with good reason, right? DANGER, DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! NUT ALERT!
Except, um, no. Back off the panic button, allergy friends.
Tim Hortons already serves nut and peanut products. They're very clear that they make no attempt to be nut-allergy-friendly, and why should they? Nobody owes it to us to keep their places nut-free. They make it clear it's an unsafe area, and that's good enough for me. I admit that when my son was diagnosed with tree nut and peanut allergies, I was bummed that we couldn't easily stop for Timbits on our road trips, that's true. But I'm reading all kinds of comments online about how sad it is that Timmies has "done this" to the allergy community. Done what? Catered to their customers? Offered up something they know will sell well? Do you really think everyone should stop eating nuts (and peanuts, and dairy, and eggs, and soy, and sesame seeds, and seafood, and sulphites, and wheat)? This is unreasonable. This is madness.
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Listen, it's not like this offering makes Tim Hortons any less safe. There's no range of safety when it comes to nut and peanut allergies. Unsafe is unsafe is unsafe, period.
I absolutely love finding a restaurant where it's safe to take my kid, but I certainly don't expect the world to stop eating nuts because of my son's allergies. I think it's these irrational expectations that make people so resentful of the allergy community, honestly.
(Although, I have to admit that I don't understand the Nutella obsession. That stuff's basically just spreadable candy.)
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