While consumers can be very specific about ingredients when it comes to grocery shopping and cooking at home, going out to eat means trusting your food in the hands of others. An increasing number of restaurants are tapping into this new demographic of consumers by offering gluten free options on their menus, but until recently, the FDA had yet to define the requirements for labeling a dish "gluten-free". As Nation's Restaurant News reports, the FDA created guidelines governing gluten free options, which will go into effect in August of 2014. The new standard states that an item can only be marked as "gluten free" if it is:
"inherently gluten-free and does not contain 1) a gluten-containing grain, 2) a gluten containing grain that has not been processed to remove gluten (e.g, wheat flour), or 3) a gluten-containing grain that has been processed to remove gluten (e.g., wheat starch), if the use of that ingredient results in the presence of 20 parts per million (ppm) or more gluten in the food. Also, any unavoidable presence of gluten in the food must be less than 20ppm." Twenty parts per million is the amount most researchers agree is safe for those with gluten intolerance.
Does your restaurant have gluten free options on the menu? Unfortunately, it isn't as simple as using special flour. As NRN notes, even some spices can contain gluten. Even worse, gluten free options need to be made separately from regular options, and special care must be taken to use separate surfaces, utensils and even gloves while preparing gluten free options, as the dish can become contaminated just be touching a gluten-containing ingredient. Some restaurants even go so far as to bring gluten-free options to the table separately, so they do not commingle with regular options on trays. If your restaurant needs help preparing for the growing gluten-free revolution, check out the NRN article at the source link after the break, and be sure to train your entire staff on safe food handling practices.
Source: Nation's Restaurant News