Chris Galloway, or “Pappo,” as he’s better known, said for many years he felt like a monster.
There were times in the mid-1980s when he would accidentally ingest red meat. After a few hours, he started to get hives. Then, he realized, it was getting harder and harder to breathe.
“I jumped in my car, beat a path to the hospital,” Galloway said. “[I] get to the hospital, I tell them my name and my social security number, I go down on the floor, and next thing I know, I'm seeing lights. It's like you're in a movie, and I'm looking up and there's three or four people above me talking, saying, ‘I think he's coming around.’”
He said he asked his doctor if it was possible for him to be allergic to red meat, and his doctor said he didn’t think so. But after some testing, it was confirmed — much to his doctor’s surprise.
“He goes, ‘You're off the charts allergic to beef and pork,’ and he goes, ‘I've never seen anything like this.’ That was 1987.”
Galloway said this went on for years — avoiding red meat and heading for the hospital when he was worried about having an anaphylactic reaction.
To make things even more complicated, Galloway was a pizza man. He started out as the owner of multiple franchise locations for a large pizza company. But, for the last 13 years, he’s been the owner and operator of PaPPo’s Pizzeria & Pub, a chain of local pizza shops throughout the central and southern parts of Missouri.
He said he started the restaurant to make food that was “as fresh and as real as possible,” which made including ingredients that were red meat-free easier from the beginning.
For many years, he said he never met anyone else with his allergy, which did end up being alpha-gal syndrome, the tick-borne allergy to mammalian-derived products, such as red meat and dairy.
But over the years, Galloway said he began to hear about more people having alpha-gal syndrome in the southern part of the state.
“I was so happy to find out that I wasn't the only Frankenstein on the planet, although I'm not ever happy that somebody got this,” Galloway said. “And then, when we opened the store in Branson in 2023 … I'm telling you, like 25% of the crew had alpha-gal, and then … it's gone epidemic now.”
Creating a sense of normalcy
Chris Galloway said the menu at PaPPo’s contains many options for folks diagnosed with alpha-gal syndrome, such as turkey pepperoni and vegan cheese.
He said it was important for him to offer delicious food in a safe way. At his restaurants, his staff are all knowledgeable about alpha-gal and other food allergies.
His kitchen staff uses fresh tools when preparing the pizzas to minimize the possibility of cross contact with alpha-gal containing foods.
Cross contact is when one food comes into contact with another, in this case, with the allergen. This could be direct contact or even both foods being placed on the same surface. This contamination is often too small to be seen with the naked eye, and cooking a food does not necessarily eliminate the risk.
“One of the things that really bothers you if you have an allergy is if you go into a place and they come up and you explain that you have an allergy, and they don't seem to care,” Galloway said. “We have a lot of alpha-gal folks that come in … and they're like, ‘I have not been able to eat a pizza in three years or five years or whatever, since I've had this,’ and they start literally crying because they can eat, and they feel like we're going to take care of them.”
"It's not a downgraded product. You may not be able to have all the sauces with it... the gravies and ranch," Orr said. "But, as far as the food itself, it's not a downgraded product. It tastes very similar, if not the same."Thomas Orr, Springfield Colton's Steak House
Galloway said it’s been encouraging to see awareness of alpha-gal syndrome grow — grocery stores in the region are now taking the condition more seriously, and he’s seeing more restaurants adapt their menus to meet the needs of customers with the allergy.
Thomas Orr is the owner and operator of the Colton’s Steak House in Springfield, Missouri. This past summer, he launched an alpha-gal specific menu that includes nearly 20 items.
He said many of the items are the same — just tweaked to remove alpha-gal containing foods. Instead of buttermilk, they use oat milk to prepare fried foods, and they’ve come up with an alpha-gal safe breading mix that’s stored separately.
“You can get chicken tenders. You can get chicken fried chicken,” Orr said. “We've got some appetizers that we can get, like, fried pickles is a really popular one.”
He said he first heard about alpha-gal when his now 16-year-old daughter was diagnosed two years ago. But, over time, he’s heard from customers about how common the allergy is in the region and how many families are looking for an alpha-gal safe restaurant to visit.
At first, he said he joked about buying a separate fryer just for his customers with alpha-gal — another way to avoid cross contact — but he soon realized that the demand was there.
Now, there’s an “Alpha-Gal” button in the computer system, a tabletop fryer and a separate prep station toward the back of the kitchen.
Orr added that other items, such as the baked salmon, are now wrapped in foil numerous times to both retain moisture and reduce the risk of cross contact.
He estimated that he’s spent about $500 so far on the endeavor, but the response has been huge. Since the menu launched in July, they’ve had more than 400 alpha-gal menu orders.
“But a lot more than 400 that come in and actually eat with that person,” Orr said. “It just gives them a place to go, where they feel comfortable doing it.”
He said that he has plans to continue to expand the menu offerings, and even though he’s a franchisee, he’s shared his process with corporate — meaning other Colton’s Steak Houses could adopt the menu, if desired.
“Restaurants are supposed to provide a service for their guests. We're supposed to bend over backwards. We're supposed to make things work, ” Orr said. “We always want to make sure that our guest feels comfortable when they come in.”
The buying power of the allergy community
There are an estimated 33 million Americans that have food allergies severe enough to require the carrying of an epi-pen. That’s according to Food Allergy Research and Education, or FARE, a national non-profit that studies and advocates for the allergy community.
And nearly 1 in 4 people in the United States live in a household impacted by the top nine allergens in the country. This list does not currently include the sugar that causes alpha-gal.
According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, at least 450,000 people in the country have the condition, but this is largely considered to be an undercount. For comparison, more than 700,000 are confirmed to be allergic to sesame, the ninth most common allergy in the country.
“Food allergy is a disease, not a diet,” said Craig Fontenot, the chief of staff and mission integration at FARE. “And I think that's an important reminder for those who don't have food allergy, that this is a really life changing diagnosis.”
He said even if just one family member has a severe food allergy, it changes the way the entire family eats. He added that a significant amount of time is spent identifying food products, companies and restaurants that can be trusted to take allergies seriously, and customers are often willing to spend more.
“It’s a real consumer opportunity that most businesses don't realize or see as a large consumer segment,” Fontenot said. “But, for the businesses that do see this consumer group, are making accommodations in their product formulations or their experiences, [they’re] being rewarded with a high degree of loyalty from this unfortunately large and growing consumer group.”
Research from FARE shows that this community spends an estimated $19 million dollars each year on safe, allergen-free food experiences and products.
Fontenot said he hopes more restaurants will make changes to accommodate those with alpha-gal, and he recommends that those with alpha-gal and other allergies speak up about their dietary needs.
“The more awareness we have of how many people in the U.S. are dealing with these allergies, the more innovation and accommodation will happen over time,” Fontenot said.
"The loyalty and repurchase rates for the food allergy consumer is significantly higher than the average consumer because their safety is at stake."Craig Fontenot, Food Allergy Research and Education [FARE]
Back in Missouri, Chris “Pappo” Galloway stressed that those with alpha-gal syndrome shouldn’t apologize for noting their food needs. But he knows the fatigue that can come with having to explain your allergy every time you go to a restaurant.
“They literally get depressed when they find out they have it, and they're like, ‘My life is over,’” Galloway said. “And I understand, because it's scary. They're used to eating and not worrying about what they eat, and — all of a sudden — they're going to eat something that might put them six feet under.”
Galloway said to remember that you’re not alone. The number of alpha-gal diagnoses in Missouri is growing every day, and more restaurants are making changes to meet this growing community’s needs.
The Missouri Restaurant Association said there’s currently no count of how many restaurants accommodate for alpha-gal in the state, but they are confident that restaurants will respond to the need as awareness of the condition grows. They added it’s “common practice” for their member organizations to adapt to new dietary needs, as they have for intolerances to gluten and dairy.
For the full audio transcript, click here.
In piece five of "One Small Bite," we will explore how alpha-gal syndrome is impacting the life — and livelihood of Missouri farmers.
