Imagine going to the grocery store and reading every ingredient label twice over, or going to a restaurant and asking the waiter to detail the cooking process and every ingredient used in a food dish. 
This is the life of someone with severe food allergies. One allergy alone is enough to cause someone trouble, never mind having multiple food allergies. 
According to an article published in UpToDate, an online healthcare data resource, an estimated 7 to 11 percent of college students have food allergies. Additionally, the article states that college students are actually at a higher risk for fatal allergic reactions.
Scott Sicherer, a professor of Pediatrics at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, claims that social factor may have more of an effect on allergy risks than one may think. 
“Risks of allergic reactions may be increased due to social pressures against proper allergen avoidance and prompt treatment, as well as factors associated with obtaining meals that are prepared by others,” Sicherer said.
These social pressures include simply wanting to go out to eat with your friends, go on a date or just pick up a quick meal on campus — all of which can prove nearly impossible when wanting to avoid potential allergens.
As someone with severe food allergies including peanuts, tree nuts, seafood, fish, sesame and wheat, I have frequently found myself in a position on campus where there is absolutely nowhere for me to safely eat.
Out of Chick-Fil-A’s entire menu, the grilled nuggets, waffle fries, fruit cup and hash browns are the only items free of the eight main food allergies, which are milk, soy, wheat, egg, seafood, tree nut, peanut and fish. Are they good? Absolutely. But there are only so many times you can eat grilled nuggets before willingly giving up your meal plan in exchange for some variety.
Pizza Hut is, as most people can imagine, not a wheat-allergy sufferer’s dream, and Panda Express offers multiple anaphylactic reaction opportunities between the sesame, seafood and wheat ingredients.
Newk’s Eatery provides a few different options such as four types of salad and three types of soup. Starbucks has plenty of drinks that are safe from most food allergies, even if the food options are not.
There are multiple other places on campus to eat, like Moe’s Southwest Grill, Subway, Steak n’ Shake, P.O.D.s and more, but the consensus remains the same: allergy-safe foods are simply hard to find. 
Let us not forget about cross contamination. Even in cases where the food itself does not have any detrimental ingredients, the food’s proximity to the troublesome ingredients is enough to send many people into anaphylactic shock. This fact alone eliminates most on-campus dining immediately.
Of course, you can always ask to modify a particular dish to your liking. As someone who has tried this method, the likelihood of those modifications being done are slim to none. 
To help navigate these options, MSU has provided students with an Allergen Guide.
“MSU Dining supports students who have food allergies by providing information and knowledge that is necessary for the student to make informed food choices in our dining locations,” the guide states.
While this information is absolutely useful, it is not fool-proof. The guide goes on to say that MSU Dining does not confirm or deny the presence of allergen and that ingredients listed are subject to change “without notification.”
MSU does offer a Simple Solution Station at The Marketplace at Perry, which is free of seven of the eight most common food allergies and can be a good option for those looking to have lunch on campus. 
Naturally, Fresh Food Company does not have such a station, so for those of you whose allergies take the night off at supper, you may have luck here, but the rest of us will have to find somewhere else to eat.
That being said, MSU does offer free dietitian consultations where students with allergies can plan their meal times accordingly. This feature allows students to safely navigate their allergies on campus, and while eating on campus can certainly be challenging, there are resources for students as long as they seek them out. 
However, these resources still do not change the amount of allergy-free food available on campus, as they only inform students of their best course of action. For a college student looking to get the most out of their meals, on-campus dining can be a frustrating endeavor.

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Chick-Fil-A is just one of a few safe options for students with allergies.