Sensitive to seafood? Anaphylactically reactive to peanut and sesame products? Lactose intolerant? Wheat intolerant? Coeliac?
Eating out can be difficult for those of us who fit any of the above descriptions. Thankfully, restaurants and cafes are much more attuned to food related health concerns these days, and take seriously their responsibility to know what is in the food they serve. Many of them go a long way to ensure that their floor and counter staff are informed about the ingredients in a particular dish or product and are able to sensibly answer queries posed by their customers.
Most of our good eating establishments now tag their menu items with the GF initials, plus Veg. and V. and other helpful indicators, thus making it easier for customers to choose a meal to suit their food consumption issues and /or food preferences.
Recently I came across a restaurant in Lyon, France, called Le Jean Moulin that has implemented another way to help diners. At the back of the menu is a chart cross-referencing every dish that comes out of the kitchen with the most common forms of food-related allergies and intolerances. So, for example, if you wanted to order the veal sweetbreads with carrot mousse and veal jus you could see that hidden in that oh-so-French of entrees are ingredients containing gluten, plus peanut and milk products. What a nifty idea.
So, as more and more commercial establishments use similar informative systems, it looks like eating out can be a healthy, enjoyable, stress-free experience for all consumers, confident that what they read is what they get.
PS. Apologies for the quality of the chart photograph but I’m sure you get the picture.
PPS. I didn’t eat the sweetbreads but I did indulge in the dessert pictured above – raspberry sorbet with creamed vanilla rice, Sichuan pepper caramel and red berries.
Caren