Dinner Guests with Special Dietary Needs

How to Have Those with Special Dietary Needs Over for Dinner

By Debra Guckenheimer

With the holidays come food gatherings galore. Chances are that you have or will have a friend or family member with a food allergy or intolerance. Fifteen million in the United States are estimated to have food allergies with numbers on rise.  Having us over for dinner doesn't have to be terrifying if you follow these 8 simple rules.

1.       Ask all guests you have over well in advance if they have any food allergies or follow any special diets. If you ask well enough in advance, you have time to plan. It isn't fun for anyone if you invite someone over who has nothing to eat.
2.      Accommodate! You have two options: Either change your entire menu to accommodate everyone’s dietary restrictions (preferable) or make an alternative menu that does accommodate. If different people have restrictions that are difficult for you, an option is to make some dishes with particular guests in mind. Be sure that everyone will have enough to eat.
3.        Do not presume to know better than your guests about what they can and cannot eat. If someone tells you they are gluten free, don’t put a little regular flour in a dish and presume it isn't enough to bother anyone. If you are unsure how bad an allergy is, just clarify. Some people have a mild intolerance to some gluten and don’t mind eating a little. Others have serious allergies and need you to be careful about cross contamination of foods.  Cross contamination can occur if you cook using an allergen without properly cleaning the area and utensils.
4.        Look at the ingredients of items you use in your recipes for the meal. A friend once worked hard to make a gluten free meal for me without bulgur wheat and substituted couscous, not realizing that couscous is made out of wheat. For serious allergies, check labels to see if items were processed with the allergen you are trying to avoid.
5.        If you want to not change your menu, there are often substitutions that can be used. For example, for pasta find a gluten free rice pasta. This is something your guest will likely be happy to help with. One of my friends makes amazing turkey meatloaf, and I just bring her a cup of gluten free breadcrumbs so she doesn't have to buy something big or worry about where to get it.
6.        Instead of asking your guests what to make, try doing a basic internet search for “recipe” and “[allergen(s)] free”. There are many websites full of recipes for all kinds of diets and allergies. (We even have one- Food Allergy Gal Recipes.)
7.       If you are overwhelmed, just ask your guests to bring something with them. I actually prefer to do this, as I know that what I bring will be safe for me to eat.
8.      At the beginning of the meal, let your guests with food allergies and dietary restrictions know what is in each dish so they don’t have to worry. After that, let it go! Don’t make your guests feel guilty for having allergies that they cannot control.

Having my family over for dinner isn't easy. I have severe gluten intolerance and am married to a vegan. I have seen that look of panic come over friends’ faces and heard the terror in their voices when they heard about our diets after inviting us over. With these 8 simple rules, hopefully inviting us and the millions like us with allergies, food intolerances, and dietary restriction will be less stressful.

               

You can find more of Debra's writing just click here or go to http://guckenheimer.pressfolios.com/ 

View a dairy free, soy free, nut free holiday side dish favorite here: http://www.examiner.com/article/dairy-free-dish-cauliflower-mashed-potatoes

"Natural Flavoring"

Tis the season of holiday parties and social events riddled with food. For 150 million of us, worldwide, with food allergies this season can be one of the most depressing. We want nothing more than to be surrounded with all of the holiday cheer we can, yet often times we are left starving or feeling unsafe as we step outside of our kitchens and into the world of social food- unlabled and unregulated. The average food service professional doesn't understand food allergies yet alone the average socialite preparing meals or ordering up a caterer and forget about pot luck food socials (we rarely ever  know or trust what ingredients are in those foods.) 

The food allergy community continues to ask and beg for better food labeling. Even the normal consumer wants to know what is in their food, according to RestaurantNews.com- the #1 Trend right now is: "Convince me it’s real: Consumers want assurances that what they’re eating is real—in every sense of the word. Today’s menus describe items far more thoroughly, listing not only the ingredients but also where they came from and how they were prepared........."

What most restaurants don't understand is why consumers are asking these questions. Often times people will ask what's in this because they have a food intolerance, a food allergy, a special dietary concern. What consumers also know is the food industry has very little knowledge about the food they are serving, where it is coming from or what ingredients or sub component ingredients it may have (usually). Consumers are more educated about food than ever before thanks to the vast information made available on different sources of social media and the internet. Consumers have also come to understand that food really is impacting them in every way. Knowing what is in our food makes for an even more wonderful dining expierence. 

While there are more and more people counting colories and looking for nutritional lablels, the food allergic community doesn't care so much about colorie counts as much as if they are able to eat these food products. These consumers are constantly putting products back on the shelf when they see the words, "natural flavoring." With over 160 foods known to cause allergic reactions those words could be deadly or make someone extrodinarily ill for weeks on end. Natural flavoring could include citrus, vanilla, mustard, seed extract, oils. Castoreum, neotame, crushed beavers, carrageenan and citric acid and many more. This even applies to cosmetic industry such things as lotions, shampoos, conditioners, makeup, creams, facewash can contain sesame seed, citrus, almond, milk, wheat (all top 10 allergens in the U.S). Labeling needs to be better regulated and required by the FDA in the U.S. and product manufacturers equally need to understand the damage that can be done. 

Please consider signing this petition: http://wh.gov/lKC0g and sharing with others. It could save lives and help bring down over 300,000 hospitalizations  that occur per year in the U.S, due to allergic reactions. It will not only help save lives, but also help others make informed decisions and be more aware of what ingredients they are providing or serving to those with food allergies. It may also help the food industry sell more items that would not be purchased by many because of the fear of the unknown words "natural flavoring." 

Besides signing a petition to help those with food allergies this holiday season, consider providing small labled placeholders with each prepared dish. For example if roasted chicken is on the menu- place a card that says, "Roasted Chicken: Olive Oil, rosemary, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar."

To contact Food Allergy Gal, click here.

Click here to see more on Know your Food.