Serving customers with food allergies good for business, restaurateurs say

For celebrity chef Ming Tsai, the birth of his son David propelled his interest in food allergens and accommodating customers with dietary restrictions.

“David is 13 years old,” Tsai told attendees at last month’s AllergyEats conference in Boston. “When he was born, he had allergies to soy, wheat, dairy, shellfish, tree nuts and eggs. I like to say it was an unfunny joke from upstairs that the first son of a chef had food allergies.”

Tsai, owner-operator of Blue Ginger and Blue Dragon, two upscale casual Asian restaurants in the Boston area, had allergen protocols in place two years before his son was born. But since then, he has become even more involved in the movement, ensuring his establishments can successfully cater to the needs of his customers with food allergies.

“Our goal is for the guest to leave delighted,” he said. “In a competitive market, the more concerned you are, the more likely you’ll get your fair share [of business]. I strongly believe it is smart business practice to know what is in the food you serve, period. Repeat business is key. If you can serve delicious food with great service safely, you’ve got them for life.”

Tsai and fellow panelists Kevin Harron, president and CEO of Burtons Grill Restaurants, and Michael Moomjiam, director of quality assurance and food safety for PF Chang’s China Bistro, parent of the PF Chang’s and Pei Wei Asian chains, addressed the issue of food allergies and restaurants during a session called “Restaurants That Get it Right.” The National Restaurant Association served as one of the conference’s sponsors.

When people head out to a restaurant, Tsai says, “The person with the food allergy is going to make the restaurant decision because it doesn’t matter to the others. To them, it’s just food, but for the one with the food allergy, it’s life or death.”

Tsai added that at Blue Ginger on a Saturday night, it is not uncommon for 20 tables to be dealing with food-allergy issues. He said at least 50 percent of them are gluten-related. To avoid mistakes, he has established a food allergy reference book where all recipes featuring wheat, dairy and eggs have been highlighted and listed out by dish, garnish, sauce, protein and marinade.

“It is so important to have a system in place,” he said. “That will greatly reduce human error. With this manual, you can easily know what is in the dish. With this and training, training, training, you can make your restaurant even safer than it is today.”

At PF Chang’s, creating a loyal customer base starts with ensuring guests with allergies will be taken care of, Moomjiam said.

“It starts with the message, ‘We’re truly glad you’re here,’ and we will do everything to make you want to come back,” he said. “Our goal is to have loyal guests know we will take care of them, and taking care of those who have dietary restrictions is part of that.”

The company started its food allergens program in 2001 and had a dedicated gluten-free menu by 2003. The chain’s restaurants currently have 25 gluten-free choices on the menu.

“We’ve gotten a lot of good PR on how we go above and beyond,” he said. “Being allergen-friendly has definitely increased our business. Right now 5 percent of all checks are food-allergen related and 90 percent of those are gluten-free [requests].”

He added that allergen information collected from guests is entered into a database and cross-checked against menu items and ingredients that are updated every two weeks.

“If a guest tells the manager of his or her sensitivities, the manager can go to the back of the house, type in the information and check off the items the guests cannot have. With this, we can create a custom menu for the guest.”

He also said each restaurant has separate woks set aside for allergen dishes that are cleaned and sanitized between each use. The company also audits ingredients as well as random products for gluten levels.

Harron, who’s had celiac disease for 43 years, said dealing with food allergies can be challenging for restaurants, but it is necessary.

“As the leader of your organization, you need to make the decision to raise your baseline performance,” he said. “I think everyone in our organization recognizes there is value to this and it’s the right thing to do.”

The National Restaurant Association offers restaurateurs a ServSafe Allergens Online Course designed to help front- and back-of-the-house employees better accommodate the growing number of guests with food allergies.

Final lesson of National Food Safety Month

Each week during the month of September, the Louisiana Restaurant Association has brought you different aspects of serving guests safely with food allergens. Based on the newly-released National Restaurant Association online training course—ServSafe Allergens—we’ve learned about the Big 8 and cross-contact, reading labels, preventing cross-contact in the front of the house, purchasing and transportation and finally, separation in equipment and storage.

One of the main ways to prevent cross-contact is to keep food and equipment separate. Use separate equipment and utensils when preparing food for people with food allergies, and store food containing food allergens separately from other food.

Equipment and utensils that have touched a food allergen can spread that allergen to other food. So it’s important to always wash, rinse and sanitize all equipment and utensils correctly. One extra step that can be taken is having designated equipment for food that contains allergens. This equipment should be stored separately and it should be labeled in some way to signify that it is only to be used on food allergens.

One common designation is to use purple-colored equipment and utensils for food containing allergens.

When storing food that contains food allergens, keep it separate from other food. A good way to do this is to store the allergen-containing food in separate, sealed containers. It should then be kept in a completely separate area from other food that does not contain allergens.

Visit www.foodsafetymonth.com for downloadable activities to help you and your staff understand the tenants of serving guests with food allergies safely.

Purchasing and transportation focus of National Food Safety Month Week 4

Part of the ServSafe Allergens training and the National Food Safety Month: Week 4 Activity covers the role purchasing and transportation plays in serving guests with food allergies safely. Special care should be taken to read the labels and prevent cross-contact when purchasing and transporting food.

Not all brands are the same. The same product can be made with very different ingredients by different companies. Additionally, food vendors can change the recipes of their items without notice. Therefore, it is always important to read labels when purchasing food. Some operations even use specialty suppliers to provide food without certain allergens.

Regarding transportation, it’s also important to ensure that there was no cross-contact when the food was being transported. Food items containing any of the Big 8 allergens should be packed separately from other food. For example, if a carton of eggs breaks and leaks onto a bag of lettuce below them, the lettuce will be contaminated by the eggs. Packages should be checked to ensure there was no damage or leakage during transport. Items showing damage or evidence of cross-contact should be rejected.

ServSafe Allergens is a 90-minute interactive, online course designed to educate front of the house and back of the house staff on the various techniques and actions to take when serving a guest with food allergies. For the $22 cost of ServSafe Allergens, you and your staff could prevent illness, even death and potentially negative publicity for your establishment.

The Big 8 and cross-contact subject of National Food Safety Month, Week 1

“Avoid a Reaction by Taking Action” is the theme of the 2013 National Food Safety Education Month, an annual awareness campaign by the National Restaurant Association (NRA) in partnership with the Louisiana Restaurant Association (LRA).  Due to the 15 million Americans with food allergies, the campaign spotlights the communication, training and education needed to attract these diners (and their families) and more importantly, provide them a safe meal.

A food allergy results when the immune systems mistakenly attacks a food protein (food allergen). While more than 160 food items can cause allergic reactions, just 8 of those accounts for 90 percent of all reactions. These 8 foods are known as the “Big 8.”

Cross-contact is the transfer of an allergen from a food containing the allergen to a food that does not contain the allergen. One of the most important ways you can keep guests with food allergies safe is by preventing cross-contact.

Here are steps to avoid cross-contact:

• Wash, rinse and sanitize cookware, utensils and equipment after handling a food allergen.
• Wash your hands and change gloves before prepping food.
• Use separate fryers and cooking oils when frying food for guests with food allergens.
• Prep food for guests with food allergens in a separate area.

Here are a few True/False questions to test your knowledge:

1. It is okay to use the same spoon to scoop peanuts and greens at a salad bar. True/False
2. Do not bake chocolate chip cookies on the same baking sheet as peanut butter cookies. True/False
3. It is acceptable to handle a banana-nut muffin and a chocolate chip muffin with the same pair of gloves. True/False

The NRA recently launched ServSafe Allergens, an online, interactive 90-minute training course to assist restaurateurs and foodservice personnel in understanding and communicating the risks associated with serving guests with food allergies. The course is $22 and can be accessed here.

Visit LRAblogs each week for a new activity to train and educate you on properly accommodating guests with food allergies.  

 

Answers: #1 False; #2 True; and #3 False.