It is not just front of the house that needs to be properly trained on the right questions to ask the patron, to insure an allergen friendly experience. It would surprise most people to know how little the back of the house knows about the ingredients they use.
Coming up in the kitchen requires staying in your lane and learning the steps necessary at each station, to master that position. Not everyone is reading the ingredients label on the container that holds those ingredients. Maybe not even the buyer.
When training wait staff, it is important for them to know the right questions to ask. For the Chef’s line, it is important for them to question where the ingredients come from and what the ingredient list contains.
For instance, a wait staff may not know what sauce contains butter and the line cook may not know if the maltodextrin used as an anti-caking agent is from the US or Europe.
Mass manufactured ingredients must stand up the severe temperature changes, long shelf life and all manner of processing. These can lead a simple ingredient to become the major allergen in a menu because it is used across the board.
Simply a better ingredient makes this major allergen issue a non-issue.
