Hello. This is Matsunaga from the Webmaster Support Department.
Today, I would like to introduce a web service that I personally think is amazing.
It's a web service called "Allergen Information" provided by Oriental Land Co., Ltd., the operator of Tokyo Disney Resort. As a user and as someone involved in web production, I thought it was a really well-made service.
This time, I would like to write an article with the personal hope that this service will become more widely known.
Restaurant search that allows "reverse lookup" of allergy information
In June of this year, I went to Tokyo Disneyland with my family for a two-day, one-night trip. My youngest child has an egg allergy, and it's hard to come up with egg-free meals at home, but when we go out to eat, we have to look for restaurants that have egg-free menus, which is actually quite a hassle.
Therefore, it is essential to research restaurants in advance. Of course, when I decided to go to Disneyland, I searched for "Disneyland restaurant allergies." Then, I found some amazing restaurant searches.
Here is the app.
Tokyo Disney Resort: Allergen Information
With this service, for example, if you check the box for "egg" in the allergy information, you can perform a reverse lookup search from there. Furthermore, not only will you be able to find restaurants that have egg-free menu items, but you can also see the specific menu items for each restaurant.
Usually, information on "restaurants that cater to allergies" is available, but this was the first time I'd come across a service that would search and display specific menu items such as "●●" and "●●". This way, I could choose a restaurant with lots of menu items that my children would like, and it made the search process more fun and exciting.
As expected from Disneyland, the land of dreams. As a user, I am truly grateful for the attention to detail they provide.
How do you usually check?
Let me explain a little bit about how my family usually searches for restaurants that cater for allergies.
1. When you go out, search for promising restaurants near where you are going on Google Maps or Gurunavi, then check out the websites of the restaurants you find.
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2. If there is an allergy information on the menu on the website, refer to it.
*There are surprisingly few businesses that post allergy information on their menus.
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3. If there is a "Contact Us" section on the website, contact the head office and ask if there are any egg-free items on the menu.
*Even if you contact the store, there will be a lot of back and forth like, "Allergy information? Where is it?", which can take time, so it is often quicker to contact the head office.
Searching as above takes time. If you know in advance, you can prepare to some extent, but it is difficult to find a place to eat out when you happen to be late due to traffic jams. (If you are traveling with children, it is even more difficult.)
Since this is usually the case, I really appreciate Disney's search service, which allows me to search for everything from allergy information to restaurants and even menus in the area I'm traveling to.
Thoughts from a Web developer
So far, I have shared my experiences as a user, but from the perspective of someone who regularly operates websites, I have thought about how this search service works.
First, we collect the information by having each restaurant fill out allergy information on a designated Excel spreadsheet or by having them register their information in a food search system.
Using the collected information, a search system is used to display search results according to the selected allergy information.
To operate this system, it is necessary to thoroughly have the restaurants update their information at regular intervals, or at certain times such as the seasons. Either way, costs will be incurred on the restaurant and aggregator sides. The restaurant side will need to check that the menu information is correct, and the aggregator side will need to check that the information is updated properly.
I checked the update status to see how often it is actually updated.
Captured at 9:00 on 9/4
It is updated every day.
It seems to be updated in the middle of the night, so I wonder if it's automatically retrieved from the food menu database, or if the cast updates it every day during the day.
When dealing with allergy information like this, any errors in the information posted can cause major problems. I am impressed that they are able to carry out such nerve-wracking work, which requires speed and accuracy, every day.
I wish there was a similar service available
Like ours, many people have family members with allergies and struggle to find restaurants every day.
Of course, restaurants are also conscious of allergy labeling, and an increasing number of restaurants are compiling information about allergy-causing foods on their menus. However, most of the information is posted in PDF format on their website, or you have to go to the restaurant and check a printed copy, so it can take a lot of time to find the information in advance.
So, although I know it's difficult, I thought it would be nice to have a nationwide "reverse restaurant search," and I'd like to proceed with it as a personal project. First of all, it is necessary to establish a system that allows as simple registration as possible and an operation method that requires as little human effort as possible, so I'm starting from making those.
In my daily work as a Webmaster Support Team member, I am always thinking about how to make the site easier to develop content on, and I hope that I can make good use of this challenge.
MATSUNAGA Satoru