Restaurant Software Guy Blog

How to avoid cross contamination in your kitchen

Posted by Angie Marie O'Dowd

May 27, 2014 1:42:26 PM

Do you own a restaurant, and find that more and more of your customers are requesting allergy friendly options? Gluten intolerance, as well as celiac disease is one of the fastest growing food allergies in the U.S. Mintel, a market research company, estimates that gluten free products will produce more than $15 billion in annual sales in 2016. Do you want a piece of that profit? In the past 4 years that I have been gluten free, I have seen a drastic increase in the availability of allergy friendly menus in my hometown of Boston, across the U.S., and abroad. It is really important to learn how to avoid cross contamination in your kitchen if you want to attract these patrons to your business.

 

 It’s exciting that the restaurant industry has acknowledged the need for gluten free options, but one issue I still run into is cross contamination.  If a restaurants kitchen is not properly equipped to prepare gluten free options in a contaminate-free area, they should not offer gluten free options at all. For someone with Celiac disease, a bread crumb on their salad can cause the same allergic reaction as eating bread itself. This can sound intimidating to small business owners who are considering adding gluten free options to their menu, but don’t fear! Here are some easy tips to get started.

 How to avoid cross contamination in your kitchen:

  1.        Assess your menu and decide which options are already gluten free, or can be easily altered (usually salads and entrees are easy to switch – avoid burgers, wraps, sandwiches – the GF alternatives just aren’t worth it)
  2.        Take a look at how these items are prepared, from start to finish – literally take a pad of paper and follow a plate from start to finish through the kitchen and make a note of any of the “problem areas” you see come in contact with this dish.
  3.         “Problem areas” include:
  •   Storage – is it stored in a container underneath your bread rack where crumbs could fall in? Do you keep the breaded chicken next to the raw chicken, etc?
  •   Cutting boards – what else is cut on this surface?
  •   Utensils – did this touch croutons? Soy sauce? Bread?
  •   Cooking surfaces – do you grill the fish on the same surface as the marinated steak or burger buns? Does the marinade have soy sauce in it?
  •   Is it fried? It can only be gluten free if it’s made in a dedicated fryer. Frying a gluten free item in a fryer that also fries chicken tenders defeats the purpose…
  •   Serving tray – when the kitchen puts the food up on the counter to be picked up, is it touching the dish next to it?

       4. Things you might not realize contain gluten:

  •   Soy sauce (try tamari instead – it tastes the same)
  •   Salad dressings – I don’t know why this is. It’s silly, but some have gluten
  •   Condiments – mustard can often have gluten. Again, silly.
  •   Malt vinegar – most vinegar is fine, but malt vinegar contains barley which is glutenous.
  •   Fried food – again, if it’s fried along with everything else, it’s not gluten free anymore

 

Once you’ve flagged these “problem areas” determine which can be avoided by your staff. If the cooking surface is your problem, create a rule that “GF” orders must be cooked in a clean sauté pan instead of the grill. If marinades or dressings are your issue; see if there is a GF alternative you can offer instead.

If fried food is your issue you may not want to dedicate an entire fryer (but it would be awesome if you did!) … but give your patrons the options to order a pan-fried or sautéed version of the dish instead.

Lastly, set clear rules for the kitchen staff, wait staff and even the hostess. Make allergy accommodations part of your standard training, and when you add something new to the menu, remember to follow the dish through the kitchen and flag it for problem areas before determining if it can be added to your gluten free list!

 

About Angie: Hi, I’m Angie – I write a blog for the gluten free community called Gluten Free with Angie Marie. I was diagnosed with Celiac in 2010, I struggled to find satisfying food so I set out to make my own gluten free recipes, that tasted like the real thing. If you’d like to learn more about cooking gluten free, you can check out my recipes and reviews at www.glutenfreeangie.com

I am always free to help coach restauranteurs on how to avoid cross contamination in your kitchen.

how to avoid cross contamination in your kitchen

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