Disney food allergy/special diets program

With an estimated 150 Americans dying each year from severe food allergy reactions Walt Disney World is an unexpected sanctuary for fun—and allergy safe foods.

In 1993 Walt Disney World began a special diets program. It all started when Chef Ralph Gosswiler got a call from a guest who suffered from celiac disease wondering if Disney had anything on the menu they could eat. From this enquiry the program was created and currently serves up to 8,000 special diet/allergy aware meals a month.

Chefs at each of the hundreds of Disney food locations are able to provide alternative ingredients that can be used to create allergy-free meals, ranging from soy ice cream to a specially blended batter for the Mickey Mouse-shaped waffles.

According to Ed Wronski, executive chef for product development in Disney's food and beverage department, "it's simply a guest service."