It is common for people at your event to have food allergies or dietary restrictions. When you’re planning a party menu for your event, your guests with dietary restrictions will have to be taken into consideration. You may not know where to start when it comes to planning a party menu that can accommodate everyone if you personally don’t have dietary restrictions. With this in mind, we at Married to Food Catering by Chef Marcel and Jeannie presents a guide to accommodating diet restrictions.
Ask Guests About Dietary Requirements
When planning the food for your event, ask guests to note their restrictions when they RSVP. This is the easiest way to ensure you take every dietary restriction into account. You can include a form that allows guests to state their food allergies and/or preferences if your guests will be registering for your event online. When planning your party menu, allergies and preferences should both be taken seriously and respected. Should you be requesting an RSVP through the mail, include an extra card with the invitation that has a place for guests to list their dietary restrictions.
Easy Party Food
The next-best solution would be to create a menu that can easily accommodate most diets in the event you are going to have multiple people at your event and you’re not able to ask each guest about their food allergies and preferences. Mexican and Asian cuisine are common options to feed a guest list. Dairy and gluten free corn tortillas, rice, meat, and grilled vegetables can be done. Based on each person’s needs extras, such as cheese, soy sauce, and sour cream can all be set out as condiments. Setting up a buffet is often the best solution to let people pick and choose what works best for them if you are uncertain of guest’s dietary needs.
Importance of Food Ingredient Labeling
You are probably not used to checking labels to identify ingredients you can’t consume if you don’t have dietary restrictions. When labels are available, however, those with food allergies or those who choose to limit certain ingredients are always grateful. Consider creating two options so your guests with nut allergies won’t be disappointed with the brownies or salads. To each dish that lists the ingredients an easy place a card as a way to label the food to indicate ingredients in each dish.
Salad Bar Options
A salad bar is always a good option for accommodating people with dietary restrictions when all else fails. You will want to provide salad dressings for everyone as you create the perfect salad bar, and be sure to include leafy greens, a host of vegetables, both animal and non-animal proteins, such as chicken and beans, as well as grains, like quinoa and rice. A simple dressing options, such as olive oil and balsamic vinegar. To even the most challenging dietary restrictions, a well-stocked salad bar can cater.
Common Food Allergies
Though most are not aware that certain foods can be problematic for other people, below are just a few of the most common food allergies.
– Trees nuts
– Soy
– Shellfish
– Peanuts
– Gluten
– Eggs
– Dairy (Generally lactose intolerance)
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