Dietary restrictions are a big part of the service industry. It’s become more and more commonplace for restaurants to gear dishes to individuals with specific dietary restrictions. Many restaurants have seen an uptick in recent years of individuals with varying allergies and dietary restrictions. Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to properly handle them.
Why Understanding Dietary Restrictions Matters in Restaurants
One of the most important distinctions that we can make in this industry is that we aren’t in food service; rather, we’re in the service or hospitality industry. This means that our first goal should always be hospitality and, by extension, to serve our guests to the best of our ability. Dietary restrictions on food make up a part of that responsibility.
Beyond the obvious concerns of allergies and major health concerns, we need to remember that there are many reasons to restrict one’s diet. Whether it’s for health, moral beliefs, or religious beliefs, every person deserves the right to decide what goes into their body. By trusting you to prepare their meal, they’re trusting that you’ll respect that decision and, importantly, do your best to honor it.
Common Dietary Restrictions and How to Address Them
An important thing to note is if you’re not 100% confident that you can’t honor a guest’s dietary restriction (say, for example, they’re Celiac/gluten-free and you’re a pizzeria or bakery), tell them that. There is no shame in refusing to serve someone if you’d be potentially putting their health at risk.
Gluten-Free Diets
Gluten-free (GF) diets are actually quite common for a wide variety of reasons. Gluten intolerance comes in a wide range of severities, ranging from mild discomfort to outright death if gluten is consumed. While it’s actually quite easy to make plenty of GF dishes, one of the largest considerations you need to make when planning GF dishes or trying to accommodate a GF guest is that flour gets everywhere.
Unless you have the time to properly sanitize and clear every single nook and cranny of your restaurant of flour, it may be best to inform the guest that you cannot guarantee a gluten-free environment. With that said, many people on the lower end of gluten intolerance are more than happy to acknowledge the risk and continue with their order. In other words, communicate with your guests!
Dairy-Free Diets
Dairy-free diets are quite common with lactose intolerant individuals. While these diets generally aren’t a life-or-death situation (although they can be), it’s worth it to keep careful note of which dishes on your menu use butter, cream, cheese, or other forms of dairy. If you really want to go the extra mile, consider using vegan cheese!
Lactose-Free Diets
A clear distinction from the previous dietary restriction, lactose-free diets don’t outright ban the use of dairy. Rather, they aim to reduce the levels of lactose that they consume — often due to intolerance. Luckily, not all milk and cheese is as heavily laden with lactose as its cow-based counterparts.
Cheese and milk that comes from sheep and goats tends to have a lower level of lactose, making it less harsh on the stomachs of individuals with lactose-free diets. This also applies to hard, aged cheeses like parmesan. So, while you’ll still need to communicate with your guest, chances are there’s a pretty simple way for you to accommodate most lactose-free diets.
Nut-Free Diets
Nut-free diets (specifically tree nuts) are one that tends to scare many chefs, and for good reason. Nut and peanut allergies (more on that below) tend to result in major anaphylaxis if ignored. If your restaurant uses nuts in multiple dishes, it’s often best to be blunt with your guests about that fact.
If you’re able to, though, sanitizing your work stations and using separate dishes (including cooking utensils) is often enough to ensure a safe and delicious meal for everyone involved.
Peanut-Free Diets
Peanut-free diets are notably different from nut-free diets, in that peanuts aren’t actually nuts! Because of this, many individuals who suffer from peanut allergies can eat almonds, hazelnuts, and just about every other tree nut out there. Unfortunately, though, this also means that they can be sensitive to things like peanut oil. While processed peanut oil removes the proteins that cause anaphylaxis, it’s still possible for individuals to have reactions.
This means that you’ll need to communicate with your guest about your fryer oil as well as any dishes that may have peanuts in them.
Vegetarian Diets
Vegetarian diets are one of the more common forms of dietary restrictions that you’ll deal with regularly. They are incredibly easy to work around, requiring that no meat comes into contact with their food. This means that cooking their food on a separate pan (rather than on a flattop or grill) is often enough to avoid cross-contamination.
Vegan Diets
Vegan diets, in contrast to vegetarian diets, require that their dishes have no ingredients that come from a living being. This includes dairy, meat, eggs, and even honey — meaning you’ll need to be very conscious about what goes into dishes before labeling it as vegan. While not all vegans are as strict as others, it’s generally best — if you serve vegan dishes — to keep at least two pans set aside that never touch animal products.
Low-Carb Diets
Low-carb diets are incredibly easy to accommodate when prepared. Avoid any starches (such as potatoes, bread, rice, or pasta) and try to create dishes that focus on protein, vegetables, and leafy greens.
Keto Diets
Keto diets are quite similar to low-carb diets, though they take them a step further. Generally opting to avoid carbs and sugar entirely, keto diets consist of high fat and protein intake. This means that you’ll want to avoid adding any sugar to your dishes, opting instead for larger portions of meat.
Low-Sodium Diets
Low-sodium diets are often rather difficult to accommodate for most restaurants. While this can be changed if you’re able to make dishes completely from scratch (or have low-sodium menu items already), many dishes are prepared with a good helping of salt.
Because of this, it’s generally best to communicate that to your guest and guide them to items that can be made unsalted from the get-go. Items like burgers and fries can simply not be salted, but pre-made sauces, soups, and cuts of meat may be out of the question.
Halal Diets
Halal includes food allowed under Islamic dietary law. They generally consist of diets that are free of any pork products or alcohol, and generally require that any meat be butchered by a halal butcher that follows specific guidelines. Unless you have a halal butcher on staff, this means that you’ll need to specifically order meat that’s been halal certified.
Additionally, you’ll also need to inform your guests of all dishes that include alcohol (yes, that includes deglazing with wine). Finally, just as with vegan and Kosher diets, you’ll need to be able to ensure that these dishes are prepared on surfaces and with dishes that have never touched pork. In other words, you need special pans set aside for your Halal guests.
Kosher Diets
Kosher diets are for individuals of Jewish faith. They cannot have pig meat or products, nor eat anything prepared with a dish that was used to prepare dairy or other meats. They also can’t eat some game animals like rabbits. While alcohol is acceptable on Kosher diets, one of the largest parts of a Kosher diet is preparation.
Dishes that include grapes are off-limits unless they’re prepared by someone who is also Kosher and Jewish; all utensils and cooking surfaces cannot share different types of meat, nor can they touch both dairy and meat; dishes cannot contain both meat and dairy, though one or the other is entirely okay; fish is okay, but shellfish is not; all meat products must be prepared and inspected to be declared Kosher. This means that eggs, meat, and dairy must all be Kosher-certified to fit into a Kosher diet.
In short, if you plan to serve Kosher food, you’ll need a solid line on a Kosher supplier, as well as clearly-marked Kosher utensils, dishes, and cookware.
Best Practices for Managing Dietary Restrictions in Your Restaurant
Staff Training (Dietary Awareness and Cross-Contamination)
Staff training is key here. Your front of house (FOH) should be intimately aware of all menu items and their ingredients, as should your back of house (BOH). Additionally, all BOH should be trained to clear and sanitize their working area to avoid cross-contamination.
Beyond that, though, you should work to set up your make line to intuitively avoid cross-contamination. Store cheeses together with other dairy, keep meat packed neatly and separately, and remove any tree nuts, peanuts, and other allergens. Keep them packaged neatly away from everything else and, importantly — always use fresh gloves.
Menu Design Tips for Clear Labeling
Luckily, menus are the easiest part here (assuming you know your menu, that is). Simply go through each item’s ingredient list and mark down which dishes contain nuts, gluten, and dairy. From there, break down which items contain meat, fish, or shellfish, and take note of any certified Kosher or Halal dishes. It really is as simple as taking note of what goes into your food.
Communicating with Guests
Most importantly — communicate with your guests. It’s okay to inform them that you can’t reasonably accommodate their needs; while it may not be ideal sometimes, the simple truth is that causing someone to go against their religion or health concerns is far worse than losing that business.
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