Catering to Food Allergies: Increase Your Business Even in a Bad Economy

Most of us are aware that food allergies are becoming more prevalent in today’s society. One way to increase your clientele is to address these allergies and the specific dietary needs that come with these allergies.

Two major food allergies/intolerances come to mind: peanut allergy and Celiac Disease.

A peanut allergy can be deadly. It can be dangerous to eat in a restaurant where any nuts are served because of the risk of contamination. Not all reactions to accidental ingestion of peanuts are deadly, but none are pleasant (can include a rash and/or vomiting). So for obvious reasons, people with food allergies avoid certain types of restaurants and only eat where they know they will be safe from contamination.

If your restaurant isn’t currently catering to those with peanut allergies, it would be a great idea to start. If you don’t already have any items on your menu that contain peanuts or peanut butter all you need to do is evaluate the rest of your menu and make sure that those products don’t contain peanuts.

When you’re reading labels to check for peanut contamination you are looking for three things:

• Contains Peanuts or Tree Nuts
• May Contain Traces of Peanuts or Tree Nuts
• Processed in a Facility that Processes Peanuts or Tree Nuts

If ANY of the above is present, switch to a different brand that doesn’t have those contamination risks. Also make sure your employees don’t bring in food that is contaminated with peanuts or nuts. If they get some peanut oil on their hands and touch something without washing their hands first, the peanut protein could find its way into an allergic customer’s system causing an allergic reaction (even if they just touch the same door handle).

If you follow these steps, you could post on your menu and in your advertising that you are a peanut free facility. But you must continue to exercise caution that ingredients and processing aren’t changed and that they remain peanut free.

If you are serving something that does contain peanuts or peanut butter and want to continue to do so, you will need to take some extra steps to make it a safe environment for a person with a peanut allergy. You will need to train your staff on the utmost importance of caution when handling those peanut containing foods.

You should use separate equipment that can be thoroughly washed after use. NEVER use the same utensils for peanut contaminated food and non-peanut contaminated food without thoroughly washing it first. If possible, use separate equipment, especially mixers where it could be difficult to be sure the equipment doesn’t have any peanut contaminant on it.

Don’t touch ANYTHING after touching peanuts or peanut butter without first thoroughly washing hands. Also make sure that sink handles aren’t contaminated by hands that have touched the peanuts or peanut butter.

This route is trickier but you will still benefit from these precautions. Label food items that do contain peanuts as such and you can put a note on your menu that you use precautions to make sure other food items aren’t contaminated with peanuts.

Taking these steps will allow you to attract a new clientele. More children than ever have peanut allergies and making your restaurant a safe place for them to take their children will definitely help you attract more customers.

For information on Celiac disease click here.

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Gluten Intolerance - Celiac Disease