Nutrition:

Catering to Allergies

Canadian Food Allergens


Health Canada claims that the top 10 common food allergy

categories are:

  1. Eggs
  2. Milk
  3. Mustard
  4. Peanuts
  5. Seafood
  6. Sesame
  7. Soy
  8. Sulphites (potassium bisulphite, sulfur dioxide, sulphorous

acid, etc)

  1. Tree Nuts
  2. Wheat

As a pastry chef, I believe that nut and dairy allergies, will be of the utmost significance to my clientele.

Chocolate Cupcake with Peanut Butter Buttercream & Salted Peanut Garnish

Made by Grace Graham, GBC Recipe

Ingredient Manipulation

There are many ingredient and flavour alternatives for dietary-restictive baking. Creativity often comes from experimenting with these unexpected elements! Egg replacements, non-dairy milk, vegan or plant based fat options, and attention to nut allergies will be exremely prevalent in the baking field. Customers approach a confectionary shop and expect that there will be at least one item available on the menu that accommodates their diet.

Nuts are one of the interesting foods when it comes to catering for allergies. They are either completely erased from the kitchen, or utilized as a versatile ingredient and even a substitute for other food allergens like gluten or dairy. In some cases, bakeries like The Cupcake Shoppe in midtown Toronto choose to make their facility and products 100% nut free in order to attract business from people who have high peanut or tree-nut sensitivities. In other bakeries, nut products like almond flour, ground hazelnuts, and coconut milk can be used as alternatives for gluten-free pastries or desserts that normally use dairy milk.

Flourless Orange Almond Cake

Almond Butterfly Bakeshop in Harbord Village, TO

100% nut free cupcakes

The Cupcake Shoppe at Yonge and Eglinton, TO

Above, the different ways that allergies and nuts are related to the baking field are shown.

On the left, Almond Butterfly Bakeshop choses to use almond flour as a substitue for cake, pastry, or all purpose flours which contain gluten. On the right, The Cupcake Shoppe prides themselves in offering 100% nut free desserts.

Promising Safe Food Handling

Clientele with dietrary restrictions want assurance that their food is being prepared honestly, safely, and free from cross-contamination. And of course, they expect options!

For these reasons it's important for food service operations to:

  1. Be transparent about the origins of their food. (where does it come from, who do they purchase it from, how is it grown? etc.)
  2. Have trained employees with the credentials to maintain health standards in a kitchen (Safe Food Handler's Certificates, WHMIS, etc.)
  3. Use separate and clearly labelled storage bins for alternative VS common ingredients
  4. Use thoroughly cleaned dishware or seperate bowls and tools for making nut-free, gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, kosher, or dairy-free recipes.
  5. Lastly, but maybe most importantly...offer a menu with a balance of items that cater to special diets. Customers with dietary restrictions don't want to feel restricted. If you can be the place where they find choices and variety, they will be pleased.

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