Avoiding dairy? Don’t go to P.F. Changs

My friends invited me to dinner at P.F. Changs (a Chinese restaurant chain) for a birthday celebration. Since I have a severe allergy to dairy, I made sure to mention this to the server. I was told that all their dishes are made with chicken stock which contains dairy. The waiter said it was their company policy not to tailor meals to customers so the only options I had were the chicken lettuce cups (yuck) or a plate of vegetables. I later contacted P.F. Changs’ corporate office to find out why they don’t just change to a dairy-free chicken stock, and this is what they wrote on 6/10/2015: “I am truly sorry for any disappointment as our chicken stock does have dairy in the form of sweet whey. Our protein is soaked in milk as well before it is prepared.”

There’s plenty of good Chinese restaurants, and authentic Chinese food doesn’t have any milk products. I won’t be going to P.F. Changs again.

Photo: homemade Chinese chicken salad