Turning a “free from” menu into a reservation free for all

With 10% of the Australian population suffering from a food allergy, and nearly 30% choosing a free-from lifestyle, it’s time for restaurant owners, chefs and staff to stop turning away ‘fussy’ eaters and embrace the opportunities these customers pose.

As it stands currently, Australian Food Standards legislature denotes that all restaurants must clearly label or recite upon request any of the ten major food allergens present in their menu. With the EU’S recent decision to replicate our allergen standards, it’s evident that food allergies are becoming more of an international food safety matter.

Catering to the free-from market is vastly easier than one would expect, even for the smallest of restaurants or café’s. In fact, by investing in the same technology that allows one to offer a free-from menu, you can reap the benefits of increased productivity, operating costs and storage space. Get it right, and you open up the opportunity for the gluten free, nut free, soy free humans of the world to flock to your venue like Myers on Boxing Day. But get it wrong, and you open yourself up to anaphylactic shocks and a pile of lawsuits.

So how does one create a free-from frenzy at their venue?

1: Learn the difference between ‘free-from’ and ‘may contain’ and decide how much you want to cater to allergen free customers.

The big issue with many venues is that they advertise products as gluten free, dairy free, soy free without determining any cross contamination risks. Here’s a hint: if you use all the same equipment, your menu isn’t free from. In this instance, make sure your front of house staff is well aware of the cross contamination so that patrons are aware of the risks of eating your gluten free pizza.

2: Ensure you invest in good quality food boxes & matching lids so to eliminate the risk of cross contamination.

There is an awful trend for venues to rely on cardboard boxes and plastic wrap as their food storage solutions. Not only does this eliminate any possibility of safely offering a free-from menu item, but exposes food to harmful bacteria, cross contamination, leaks, spills & decreased productivity for staff constantly searching through boxes to find what they are looking for. With Cambro’s range of translucent Polycarbonate Food Pans, Food Boxes & Storage Containers, all contents are clearly identifiable and come with a variety of lid options. Best practice means with major allergen ingredients (nuts, wheat, eggs), use labels to identify the hazards in your cool room and place these items close together.

Moreover, to ensure your raw allergen free ingredients have zero chances of cross contamination, invest in Cambro FlipLid’s rather than regular lids – not only are these polycarbonate lids virtually break free, leak or drip free, but it means you aren’t removing the lid onto a surface to extract its contents (have a think about the possible contaminants that could be picked up simply by putting a lid down on a kitchen surface!).

3: When it comes to creating a delicious & safe free-from menu item, bulk is the key.

Use those times between service to create large vats of sauces, stewed meats, sautéed veggies and creamy gluten free pastas and vacuum pack these into individual clearly labelled portions. By utilising PureVac in your restaurant operation this means your free-from items don’t need to be segregated in cool rooms – the food could sit on top of a bag of nuts and face no fear of cross contamination. Vacuum packing means you’re purchasing menu items in bulk, portioning them between service then vacuum packing them. This food will last between 2-4 times longer than regularly stored food, which means less purchasing, less often with less double handing and less risk. Now that’s more for less!

Captain Baxter in St Kilda is a perfect example of how to incorporate PureVac into your restaurant operations to create free-from menu items, increase profits and decrease labour.

4: Cross contamination is likely to occur unless all cooking equipment is properly marked, labelled and easily identifiable.

Colour scheming your kitchen is a great way to minimise accidents happening. Cambro’s red lids, Food Rotation Labels and StoreSafe ID clips to mark those items that need to be kept clear from cross contamination. Purchase bold coloured pots & pans, knives and chopping boards for creating these free-from items. Remember that investing in a safe and consistent menu should be your number one priority!

5: Once you’ve created your new free-from menu, make sure you let people know about it!

Urbanspoon, Eatability and other online foodie sites love sharing this type of information to their consumers. The Australian Coeliac Society keep a running list of safe venues for Coeliac’s to dine at, with their forums extremely active and a great way to market your new menu items.

Creating diet specific menu items and ensuring no cross-contamination in your kitchen can be a big task, so be sure to get in touch with us for any advice! To get in touch today, fill in the form on this page.