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.

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.

Food Safety Month concludes, but is a year round practice for restaurateurs

This week is the final one for the annual September is National Food Safety Month awareness campaign. Although we focus on food safety during September, it is a daily practice for every restaurant. Preventing foodborne illnesses is of the utmost importance for the Louisiana Restaurant Association and for restaurants, as only one outbreak can be dire for the future of an establishment.


Week 5 of National Food Safety Month focuses on
cross-contact of food allergens to prevent illness.

We’ve explored the theme, “Be Safe, Don’t Cross Contaminate,” each week this month beginning with personal hygiene practices that prevent cross contamination. The second week’s topic was focused on proper hand washing, followed by week three with cleaning and sanitizing practices to prevent cross contamination. During week four, we discussed preventing cross contamination during storage, preparation and cooking.

During the final week of NFSM, we’ll explore a topic that is increasingly a challenge for many Americans—food allergens. A food allergen is a protein in a food or ingredient that some people are sensitive to and occur naturally. When enough of an allergen is eaten, an allergic reaction can occur. You must make sure that allergens are not transferred from food containing an allergen to the food that is to be eaten. This is called cross-contact.

Here’s how cross-contact can occur:

• Cooking different types of food in the same fryer oil
• Putting food on surfaces that have touched allergens
• Not washing, rinsing and sanitizing utensils

Steps to avoid cross-contact include:

• Wash, rinse and sanitize cookware, utensils and equipment after handling a food allergen
• Washing your hands and change gloves before prepping food
• Use separate fryers and cooking oils when frying food for customers with food allergies
• Prep food for customers with food allergies in a separate area from other food
• Label food packaged on site for retail sale. Name all major allergens on the label and follow any additional labeling requirements

Be aware of common allergy symptoms and common food allergens. The symptoms include: nausea, wheezing or shortness of breath, hives or itchy rashes, swelling of various parts of the body like the face, eyes, hands or feet, vomiting and/or diarrhea and abdominal pain.

Common food allergies include: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, peanuts, tree nuts such as almonds, walnuts and pecans.

Through ServSafe, a nationally-approved and recognized, good standard curriculum for food safety and sanitation, the LRA has trained thousands of restaurant and foodservice employees.

To register for a ServSafe course, click here. Classes are offered across Louisiana.