Encouraging Restaurants

[Guest Viola]

Hi all, our second gluten free dinner in the West Kootenay area was a big success. We had 23 people show up to the Prestige Inn in Rossland BC. One fellow just got diagnosed the day before and he saw our ad in the Trail paper and phoned the hotel to see if there was room for him, there was and it was great meeting him and his wife. All the newbies went away with lots of information and all our oldies email addresses The hotel gave us a choice of nine different dishes on the menu! It was great, I had prime rib with garlic herb mashed potatoes and asparagus and cherry tomatoes done in a sherry glaze. Wonderful!

Anyway ... This is the letter that we have been circulating to all our restaurants and hotels...

Making Your Restaurants Safe for Celiacs Would be Good for Business

Celiac disease is a very common disease in North America and throughout Europe. It shows up approx. one out of every 130 people and is being diagnosed everyday in your area. Celiacs have to eat just like everyone else when they are traveling. And we would like to be able to go out to celebrate special occasions, or just go out with a friend and feel that it is safe for us to do so. Many of us are still afraid to go out. It is up to you...the restaurant owner, manager, server and chef to open up your business to this very large group of people.

Let me explain how this will affect your business in a positive way.

When a large group of people go out for dinner, such as a club, an office, or a family get together, it is the one Celiac in the group that chooses the restaurant. For instance...when I go out with the kennel club, (approx. 30 people) it is me that chooses the restaurant. If we get good food, and good service, you can be sure that all the rest of the club will be impressed enough to bring their own families and friends back again. Any restaurant that I am forced to stay away from because of health concerns is loosing that business. If you are part of a hotel, or near one, advertising a gluten free menu for the traveling public will be to your advantage. You would only need to have a few items on the menu that would be gluten free to open your business up to this already large and expanding group.

What you need to do to welcome people with Celiac disease.

Making a gluten free meal isn't all that difficult. The ingredients must be gluten free. All fresh meats, fish and vegetables already are. Also spices that are 100% pure, are also gluten free, as are fresh herbs. Breakfast is easy to do as eggs, and hash browns made from fresh potatoes are naturally gluten free. Lunch is our most difficult meal, potato skins can be done in the oven, or an omelet would likely be the easiest. Anything done in a deep fryer where battered foods have been cooked, would be cross contaminated. The biggest concern is cross conatamination! Such as a gluten fee product sliced on a cutting board with bread crums or other gluten items. A gluten free meat put on a gluten contaminated grill. A gluten free breakfast made near a spot where pancake mix has dusted the area, etc.... Let us know that you have a gluten free menu ... advertize!

Please consider opening your business up to us so we can live our lives as normally as possible!

There is a second page that goes with this and it is just what is on our restaurant cards so they can hang it in the kitchen.

We are getting some respones to this, so if you are interested in doing it in your area, you can PM me with your email address and I'll send you the pages as a word document for printing off.

[jerseyangel]

Shirley--Your gluten-free dinner sounds great! I'm glad everyone had such a nice time The letter is a very good idea, too. It would be a good way to spread the information around to restaurants. I would love a copy so I could distribute it around in my area. jerseyangel1@verizon.net. Thanks

[inquirer]

Great idea! The more awareness the better! I've been thinking about approaching several of my favorite restaurants about this and now I have something to give them.

[Nancym]

Great letter! You know though you might want to explain what gluten is and where it is commonly found. You probably have some people scritching their heads going "duh... gluten?" not knowing it is part of wheat.

[Guest Viola]

Great letter! You know though you might want to explain what gluten is and where it is commonly found. You probably have some people scritching their heads going "duh... gluten?" not knowing it is part of wheat.

That's on the second page. It's exactly the same as the restaurant card from the Canadian Celiac Association. It tells you what gluten is, where to find it and what items may have hidden gluten. That page gets hung in the kitchen of the restaurant. Hopefully...

[gfp]

Feel free to take whatever you want from

edit to comply with board rules

Catering factsheet

use the print or pdf icons above right to print out this factsheet.

What is gluten free.

Coeliac disease is a condition whereby those affected cannot tolerate even trace amounts of Gluten, the protein from wheat, barley or rye in their diet. Over the last five years or so great advances have been made in the diagnosis of coeliacs disease but the only remedy remains a gluten free diet (gluten-free) for life.

Because of the recent advances in diagnosis the disease has changed from being viewed as extremely rare, 1:5000 only five years ago to recent studies showing incidences of 1:100 in screening tests. Different countries are further along this progression than others and France, unfortunately lags behind most of Europe in its implementation but its momentum is gathering fast. The disease is often compared to the tip of an iceberg where only 1:10 people with the disease are currently diagnosed but this gap is closing fast as medical procedures advance.

Because the symptoms often take several hours to develop it can be very difficult to pin them on a single meal and the nature of the symptoms prevents it being discussed in polite conversation.

Gluten Free Catering market

In Italy, the UK and Scandinavian countries many specialists restaurants already exist, and as the food catering industry recognises the opportunities more and more catering establishments offer gluten free alternatives in their menu's.

As a caterer there are some important facts about the market which may interest you:

* Coelaics are increasingly the decision-makers in choosing places to eat for a group because one coeliac in a group will insist on the place they feel safe and will not eat otherwise.

* Coelaics will travel a long way to find suitable food and to patronise somewhere they feel safe.

* Coealics are extremely loyal customers who appreciate the effort, tell friends, and in my case give free publicity.

* Coeliacs will return again and again to somewhere they have dined safely, bring friends and repeat business.

Hopefully that got your attention. Gluten free catering is a truly expanding market and one in which the early adopters will inspire loyalty, even if others later catch on.

Many coeliacs simply prefer not to take any risks when outside their own home however, the market when they travel , either on business or leisure is a captive market and one where any efforts are greatly appreciated.

Catering for gluten free diets is not difficult per-se, but it has many potential pitfalls which are easily addressed.

The two main pitfalls are hidden gluten and cross contamination.

Hidden Gluten

Most well trained people in the catering industry realise the major use of wheat flour in the obvious things like bread and pasta. However the main problem when eating out is the danger of wheat derived additives in places one would not normally think to look.

Some of the more obvious sources are malt vinegar, because the malt is derived from malted barley or Soy sauce which is actually 50% wheat and 50% soya. Traditional “English sausages” for instance use rusk in the sausage to absorb fat while cooking. It is, however, the less obvious sources that have the more frequent pitfalls. Many commercial stabilisers use wheat derived products and commercial meat preparations often use wheat derived product for bulk or easy slicing. I have been unable, for instance, to find a single sliced ham in France which does not. The same can be said for commercial salad dressings or stocks. Frozen chips often contain flour as an anti-stick method and may contain wheat derived dextrines in the chips themselves.

Most coeliacs will much prefer a simple dish without garnishes or sauces if they will be safe. They prefer this to taking a risk with an unknown item or one the caterer is unsure of and are quite used to this. The effects can be just as severe from a trace of gluten as from eating a whole baguette and can last a week or more, quite long enough to spoil a holiday.

A UK company actually does test kits, they are somewhat expensive but this would be the ultimate in inspiring confidence if ingredients like ham or other non obvious sources of gluten could be said to be tested.

Open Original Shared Link

Cross contamination

Cross contamination can be the most frustrating thing for the gluten free diner. It only takes a single breadcrumb to make us ill and ruin our week. Cross contamination however can find its way in many forms.

During the cooking process cross contamination can come from sharing a grill with items containing gluten like sausages or hams, accidentally using the same utensils to stir a sauce or an item or cutting something with the same knife. Even after washing adsorbant items like wooden spoons can risk contamination. Flour is easily transferred in the air and on the hands and special care needs to be taken and the caterer needs to be aware of these needs. A knife can transfer a breadcrumb from butter to a dish etc.

On the table garnishes and accompaniments are high risk.If you can offer a fresh mustard pot etc., the coelaic diner will appreciate it although they may be to shy to ask after you have taken the trouble to cook for them.

Quite a few mustards and accompaniments are gluten-free such as the Maille ones. Others like Amora tend not to be.

General Awareness

In order to inspire confidence there is much the caterer can do. There is nothing so scary as the waiter/ess bring you bread after you thought they understood or offering you a beer. Conversely, asking the coeliac if its OK for the people accompanying them to have bread on the table inspires confidence.

These factors often due to absent mindedness after the fact perhaps from a different server can give a real feeling of dread to the coelaic, even if the meal itself has been prepared with care. The easiest remedy is to brief the catering staff and servers before hand so that everyone knows what is required, not just the person who took the order.

A system of marking the order with a gluten-free is used successfully in many UK restaurants similar to the Vegetarian sign although it is a good idea to add a footnote telling the coeliac to make thier needs known when ordering so the kitchen staff can avoid any cross contamination.

Different people have different tolerances. There are also increasing numbers of people who just choose a gluten-free diet as a lifestyle. These people can be quite misleading for caterers, they may have no medical reason for the diet but adopt it for other reasons. Much as I support everyones right to know what they eat the problem with those who just choose a gluten-free diet is they tend to only look for major items like bread/pasta and hence give a false impression everything was OK.

Addionally, the symptoms of the disease are quite unsavory and I am guilty myself of being poisoned but not wanting to discuss it and just quietly avoiding eating in the place again.

Advertising

Establishments can simply put a foot note on menu's which the coelaic will find. Many UK resto's now mark gluten free in the same way as vegetarian. Both of these are relatively cheap to implement. Once I have enough restraunts interested I will if the interest is there produce some window stickers that will attract passers by who might not have seen the website. I am also writing articles I hope to have published in various circulars and I am also approaching the airlines for a short mention in in-flight magazines and all of this will increase business to your resteraunt.

Gluten Free Paris (Open Original Shared Link) carries more information and will advertise your establishment for free. How you inspire confidence is up to you. If you have simply read this flier and think you can cope then just say so, if you want advice just ask ... I have a lot of practice sorting through French labelling for suspect items. For my part if you invite me to dine please don't be offended if I want to check the kitchen, but if I do I will add this to your recommendation.

This information sheet is also available in French and on the website above.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 12 April 2006 )

My idea is I will offer resto's free advertising if they comply and also to make them aware we are the loyal customers any resto wants, we bring our friends and keep going back!

If anyone has comments or improvements on this please let me know too.

We are all in this together.

[jerseyangel]

gfp--What a great website you have! Is that you in the picture in the 'useful sites' section?

[gfp]

gfp--What a great website you have! Is that you in the picture in the 'useful sites' section?

Unfortunately not its just the French yellow pages with the English option turned on so people can find places etc.

I have thousands of photo's but very few of myself ... the best I can find is

edited to comply with board rules (link to photo on my website removed as per rule #2)

If anyone wants to make a website for their town they are more than welcome to use my template, all the text is just added from a browser and if you change 1-2 photo's its easy to have it up and running in 1-2 hours and Im available to help for free...

PLEASE CONTACT ME OFF THE BOARD.... SCOTT VIEWS POSTING A LINK TO YOUR PERSONAL WEBSITE AS PROMOTION.

All the software used is open source and FREE so you just need a webserver that runs php and mysql... and space is available for hundreds of hosters for about $60 per year...

I think it would be great if each town area had a gluten-free site with local members douing the footwork and encouraging resto's to do gluten free.

OBVIOUSLY WE NEED TO FINSD SOMEWHERE WE CAN LINK BETWEEN TOWNS FROM?

[jerseyangel]

Unfortunately not its just the French yellow pages with the English option turned on so people can find places etc.

I have thousands of photo's but very few of myself ... the best I can find is

Open Original Shared Link

If anyone wants to make a website for their town they are more than welcome to use my template, all the text is just added from a browser and if you change 1-2 photo's its easy to have it up and running in 1-2 hours and Im available to help for free...

All the software used is open source and FREE so you just need a webserver that runs php and mysql... and space is available for about $60 per year...

I think it would be great if each town area had a gluten-free site with local members douing the footwork and encouraging resto's to do gluten free.

I don't know why you say 'unfortunately'--you are much better looking! I took the liberty of browsing through your photos --some of those sky shots are breathtaking. Really, they are beautiful.

I'm going to seriously think about your idea of a gluten free site for my area--my actual town is small, very few restaurants are actually located here. I'm not at all computer savvy, so it would be a stretch for me, but it is definately something to consider. If I do, I will take you up on the help

[gfp]

I don't know why you say 'unfortunately'--you are much better looking!

Thx ... but Im the one on the left ..?

Rest of post removed as it contained photo's on my website and contravenes board rules.

[jerseyangel]

Thanks for the photos--there are so many picturesque places in Europe! I've never been to France, but visited Austria many years ago. Glad I went then, before the stomach/anxiety stuff hit Anyway, you have a knack for photography--the natural lighting is beautiful.

I appreciate the link for creating a website. Good idea to possibly get a high-schooler on board--in addition to getting the word out, they would have far more experience with the whole computer thing than I do! Before I got sick, I worked at our local high school, I really enjoy working with kids that age. Don't know if I'm quite ready to do it yet, but am keeping it in the back of my mind. Thanks again