WASHINGTON — The District ranks No. 2 on a list of the most allergy-friendly states for dining out, even though it isn’t a state.
The list was put together by AllergyEats, a crowdsourced app used by people with food allergies to find restaurants that will meet their needs.
Delaware ranks as the most allergy-friendly state. Maine, Massachusetts and New York round out the top five.
Oklahoma, Kansas and West Virginia rank as the worst states for diners with food allergies.
The AllergyEats list is based on restaurant reviews by its users.
“While each state certainly has its share of allergy-friendly restaurants, as well as those that are not so friendly, there is a stark difference in the general level of accommodations by restaurants in the best versus the worst states on the list,” said AllergyEats CEO Paul Antico.
“The results also paint a fascinating picture about food allergy-friendliness across the various regions of our country, particularly between the Northeast versus the Western U.S.,” he said.
New England and the mid-Atlantic rank as the most allergy-friendly regions for diners. The West and Southwest rank as the worst.
“While one can only speculate as to the cause of this difference, there definitely appears to be a greater focus on advocacy, restaurant training and food-allergy restaurant laws in the Eastern U.S.,” Antico said.
AllergyEats lists more than 850,000 restaurants nationwide and includes users’ comments, web links and menus.
The 10 most allergy-friendly states (plus D.C.):
1. Delaware
2. District of Columbia
3. Maine
4. Massachusetts
5. New York
6. Vermont
7. Florida
8. Rhode Island
9. South Carolina
10. New Hampshire
And the 5 least allergy-friendly states:
1. Oklahoma
2. Kansas
3. West Virginia
4. Utah
5. Texas
