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Catering to the gluten-free crowd at your restaurant

Jan 09, 2011

Many restaurants and food products are now offering gluten-free products for those customers on this special diet due to allergies, sensitivities, and those with Celiac disease. Gluten-free relates to foods free of gluten-cereal – this includes wheat, barley, rye and triticale. In fact, Celiac disease is more common than you think. In just the United States, there are nearly 2,000,000 sufferers. You can now understand the difficulties so many Americans have when trying find restaurants to cater to their needs and the opportunity your restaurant has to offer a solution.

Even America’s favorite healthy eating chain,Subway, is currently testing two gluten-free menu items in Texas markets.

The first step in creating gluten-free dishes is to identify which items on your menu contain them and find gluten-free ingredient substitutes. Ensure that you do not cross-contaminate when preparing these dishes in the kitchen.

Here are some easy tips:

– Utilize separate flour sifters and clearly label them: for gluten-free and for normal use.

-Additionally, use separate utensils that are clearly marked as well in food preparation

-Buy a separate toaster for toasting gluten-free breads

Allowed Foods
amaranth
arrowroot
buckwheat
cassava
corn
flax
Indian rice grass
Job’s tears
legumes
millet
nuts
potatoes
quinoa
rice
sago
seeds
sorghum
soy
tapioca
teff
wild rice
yucca
Foods To Avoid
wheat

  • including einkorn, emmer, spelt, kamut
  • wheat starch, wheat bran, wheat germ, cracked wheat, hydrolyzed wheat protein
barley
rye
triticale (a cross between wheat and rye)
Other Wheat Products
bromated flour
durum flour
enriched flour
farina
graham flour
phosphated flour
plain flour
self-rising flour
semolina
white flour
Processed Foods that May Contain Wheat, Barley, or Rye*
bouillon cubes
brown rice syrup
candy
chips/potato chips
cold cuts, hot dogs, salami, sausage
communion wafers
French fries
gravy
imitation fish
matzo
rice mixes
sauces
seasoned tortilla chips
self-basting turkey
soups
soy sauce
vegetables in sauce

source: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/#examples

It is vital to your business’s success to address the requirements of your customers. Further, it is crucial to examine all of your recipes carefully to spot anything that can contain an allergen. Our nutritional analysis team specializes in menu reengineering and can assist your foodservice to create alternative yet delicious dishes to suit any special needs diet.