Accommodating Guests With Food Allergies In Your Restaurant

QUESTION FROM: Anonymous in IA

“Have you ever developed allergy menus? What was your process and what allergies specifically did you focus on when you were creating them?

I know I will I need to look at all our ingredients and identify accordingly but I want to make sure we execute it correctly.  We always identify allergies on the ticket etc, but I want more clarity from guest to server to cook and back again. 

We have just started the TIP of the iceberg in developing this and now that I have some time, I would like to eliminate the grey areas in our menu. 

Any advice or good resources to successfully do this?

What are some things I should communicate on the menu? Is it better to have separate menus? 

Any suggestions welcome.”

HH ANSWER:

First of all, let me just commend you on not falling into the trap of forgetting that guests are the reason for our work…and while telling Karen jokes and poking fun at guests with gluten sensitivities may sometimes provide levity - they gradually erode the grave seriousness of the responsibility we have to not only serve every guest as we would expect to be served - but to ensure no one gets sick or dies because of us.

Food allergies and dietary restrictions are no joke. It’s a disease and I won’t work with anyone who thinks they are.

I’m not exactly sure how you’re planning to approach this beyond the obligatory red chit mod: 

***ALLERGY***

***ALLERGY***

***ALLERGY***

but whichever procedure you adopt - your Chef should be involved in every aspect of it’s design and they, along with the General Manager, should be responsible for it’s dissemination and implementation.

I’ve found the most efficient way is to handle the development and implementation of a Food Allergy Program is with a 3 step process that puts most of the onus on the guest yet provides them with 1.) plenty of up to date accurate information and 2.) an educated staff as a second line of defense.

Step 1: The Book

Work directly with your Chef, GM and food vendors to build a “Comprehensive Menu” or “Food Ingredient Guide” that lists every ingredient in or on every menu item (from fat for pick-ups, prepped sauces, salsas, mixes and marinades to every garnish on every plate ). Specific measures need not be mentioned nor should prep, pick-up or cooking / finishing methods.

Print multiple copies of this book as you might a reserve wine list (or, for those more casual outlets…like a MSDS book) and be sure to keep a few stocked in the host stand and have a digital copy or scan available to send to guests on demand.

Any time a guest requests or references these menus/guides on-premis, ite should be noted in a reservation book or under “guest notes” if you utilize a CRM platform of any kind like OpenTable or IBM.

Whike this book should be updated regularly, it’s understandable that some items or ingredients may slip through the cracks (as manufacturers who supply ingredients approved for use in the US aren't always required to fully disclose every “natural flavoring”, “seasoning” or component of those ingredients) so it is imperative you consult with a competent attorney to develop the most appropriate and tactful non-liable statement for your restaurant.

I would expect your attorney to recommend every menu (including to-gos) and every page of the Food Ingredient Guide to mention the fact that the guide is meant, not as a promise or guarantee for any or all dishes to be free from any one specific ingredient, even upon request, but merely to help mitigate the likelihood of a guest with a food allergy ordering a dish that might result in them suglffering an allergic reaction…or something to that effect.

Step 2: Most (Not) Wanted

Have your BOH/HOH crew make a sheet for each of the more common allergies (e.g., shellfish, egg, gluten, nut/seed, etc.. ) and list the foods on the line and on the menu that may cause a reaction under each one.

These pages could be posted on a wall near the expo line if possible and inserted into four binders (with plastic page holders) so that there might be one for the line, one for expo, one for the Chef’s office (back-up) and one for the GM/ Restaurant Mgrs’ office. Your Chef and GM can then use this collateral for training / testing.

Consider saving these docs in the cloud (e.g., as GoogleDocs) as well. That way they can also be accessible on the fly from any mgr’s mobile phone and can quickly be printed off or copied for reference during BOH & FOH pre-shift meetings as well.

Many POS systems now enable you to list additional info under the menu item button as well. This can be done via a sub menu function known as “recipe notes”. You might be more accustomed to seeing this under cocktails / bar menu item buttons but check with your POS provider to see if they can walk you through it on other order screens as well.

As long as staff is regularly reminded to use that reference tool, they should begin to develop a pretty healthy base of knowledge…and nothing says you value your product and your guest quite like being educated about both.

Step 3: Mitigation

Train and test BOH/HOH staff on allergy cross-contamination (from knives and boards to the importance of maintaining dedicated fryers), FOH staff on the proper way to inquire about and communicate any food sensitivities/allergies and all staff on the use of menu cards and the importance of treating EVERY dietary restriction seriously.

I think the biggest thing you can hammer home to a server or bartender is that, even if they are 100% positive that a particular dish would be safe for a guest with an allergy to order/consume; once it’s known that a guest has an allergy they must always triple check with the Chef (once before the order is placed, once right after it’s been ordered and once before it’s ran) as the Chef is ultimately responsible for every dish that leaves the line (If you’re just creating these SOPs, be sure that requirement is added to your Employee Handbook as well).

SAMPLE FOOD ALLERY ACCOMMODATION PLAN:

Separate - Have a separate deep fryer for potatoes and non-gluten items if possible

Detect - In order to determine which, if any, guest has a food allergy, amend the server or bartender spiel to open with “Does anyone have any food allergies , dietary restrictions or sensitivities?”

Record - Use a standard form, card or sheet (brightly colored) that enables the server or bartender to quickly check off which food allergy the guest(s) has/have (include an “other_______________” option) and use a separate sheet/card for each guest. Note the table number and seat number on the form as well.

Communicate - Have the server pass off the form immediately to the Manager on Duty who then brings it to the Executive Chef or Kitchen Manager on Duty.

Evaluate - Chef compares allergies to menu item ingredients and alerts designated line cook and Manager to any substitutions, alternatives or omissions.

Avoid - Cross Contamination by having a designated line cook in charge of their plate: wash their hands, put on fresh gloves, use fresh pots, pans and utensils as far away from other allergens and cross contamination as possible.

Announce - The (specific) allergen free dish to put guest at ease.

Some may say that “Eating out is a privilege not a right.” To them I’d say: “Although no law needs to exist in order to do the right thing, this is less a question of law than it is feasibility.

And until people with food allergies are designated as a protected class of citizens- I don’t think it will ever be a law to give them equal access to a business’ products or services in this country.”

That being said - I DO think every restaurant operator should, at the very least, try to accommodate every and any guest to the best of their ability. After all - providing warm, engaging and personal service is the core tenet of hospitality but ensuring the safety of each guest comes first.

Remember, most guests realize that restaurants are not hermetically sealed labs staffed with highly trained medical professionals. They understand that restaurants are spaces full of a multitude of various ingredients and never designed for separate individual meal preparation…let alone as spaces where a multiple of allergen-free meals for different people with different allergies could be safely prepared in a highly controlled environment.

So while no one (at the moment) is moving to have folks who suffer from these diseases designated as a protected class of citizens to mandate equal access to the goods and services of restaurants throughout the country; the demand for more “allergy friendly” restaurants continues to increase year after.

If this rate of demand continues, we may very well begin to see some “restaurant labs” popping up over the next few years....if not something of even greater significance surfacing like...say a new certifying board for culinary professionals to obtain an “allergy-safe” designation.

Consider the steps outlined above and remember to ensure staff is working an allergy question into their greet spiel and if any guest has one, it’s written down and triple communicated as soon as possible (ideally to the Chef, MOD & Expo BEFORE entering anything into the POS).

And, again, don’t forget to speak with your lawyer about - offering / presenting your Comprehensive Menu / Food Ingredient Guide as a menu supplement with some protective non-lible language along the lines of: 

“This menu supplement may not represent the most up to date information available and we therefore urge you to inform one of our managers of any food allergy or dietary restriction(s) you may have immediately upon your arrival.

Due to the multitude of ingredients, cooking methods and design of our facility, we can not offer a 100% guarantee that your dish will not come into contact with any particular ingredient(s) used in the preparation of other dishes. We do however take every allergy, food sensitivity, dietary restriction and food or beverage related inquiry very seriously and will do everything we can to address each one to the best of our ability.”

Hope that helps,

Josh Sapienza

UbiquityAdvisors.com