Entrepreneurship student Ben McCloskey wants to eliminate the struggle of explaining food allergies when ordering food.
He is doing this as the co-founder of The Allergy Card, a startup company that allows users to create and print their own allergy and food restriction cards for free.
“We want people to be able to eat without having to worry about the potential possibility of having an allergic reaction,” McCloskey said.
The concept of The Allergy Card originated from McCloskey’s desire to help his brother and others with food allergies have an easier experience ordering allergen-free food.
“Everything we made became a challenge to make it safe for him,” McCloskey said. Dining out at restaurants or eating at friends’ houses was always a challenging experience.
McCloskey believed that a simple card could be the next step in facilitating allergen-aware interactions between dining services and customers. The brothers worked as a team to bring this idea to reality, where McCloskey started developing the concept and his brother designed the cards.
The cards have been tested in local restaurants and received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback from consumers and staff. “We are trying to help the people with allergies as well as the people who work at the restaurants. It is a beautiful thing,” McCloskey said. “It’s made their lives so much easier and has cut out steps in the process.”
As The Allergy Card grows, McCloskey hopes to expand the website so the user data from the sales can be consensually collected, analyzed, and sold to restaurants that would benefit from providing allergy-safe options.
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