Dietary Needs

Stock epinephrine laws can help keep attendees safe at meetings
Food Allergies Laws & Regulations December 29, 2015

2015 Saw Dramatic Increase in Epinephrine Laws Across the U.S.

Food Allergies Laws & Regulations December 29, 2015

Epinephrine Laws Enable Venues to Stock and Educate Staff on this Life-saving Medication When someone experiences a severe allergic reaction, their first line of defense is epinephrine, a drug that treats many signs of anaphylaxis all at once. Up until the last few years, epinephrine was only allowed to be purchased with a personal prescription or administered by trained medical staff. Today, as food allergy reactions increase and awareness for this potentially life-threatening condition grows, the call for epinephrine laws to allow “stock” EpiPens in places like schools, restaurants, convention centers, and even airplanes, has escalated. For those individuals who…

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Food Allergies Laws & Regulations December 15, 2015

Allergy Labelling in the European Union: How Confident is the Freefrom Customer when eating out?

Food Allergies Laws & Regulations December 15, 2015

Food businesses and their staff need more training to better manage the expectations of the FreeFrom customer A year ago the European Union enacted EU1169 requiring that all food served directly to consumers – pre-packaged and unpackaged – list any of the 14 food allergens they contained. Our friends at Food Allergy Training Consultancy (FATC) wanted to see how the freefrom community thought food service business were doing in meeting the regulations for allergy labelling in the European Union. Below are the results from the survey they did, reprinted with permission from Food Allergy Aware. Since the European Union introduced the Food Information Regulations…

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Thrive!'s Meal Ticket System Helps Streamline Dietary Needs Management
Dietary Needs December 8, 2015

Introducing Meal Tickets to Simplify Dietary Needs Management

Dietary Needs December 8, 2015

Meal Tickets Help Identify and Communicate Important Information One of the biggest challenges meeting planners and catering managers face is the efficient accommodation of the spectrum of allergies, religious restrictions, and dietary choices of attendees. As the founder of Thrive!, Tracy Stuckrath is very familiar with the increasingly common outcry around dietary needs management, “I wish there was a clear, organized system for identifying and accommodating the dietary restrictions of our attendees – without slowing down service.” In answer to this challenge, Thrive now offers standard and customized Meal Tickets! By implementing Thrive’s Meal Ticket system, dietary needs management just got easier. Through the use of diet…

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Stock epinephrine laws can help keep attendees safe at meetings
Duty of Care Food Allergies October 5, 2015

Advancements in Epinephrine Can Actually be Valuable for Event Attendees

Duty of Care Food Allergies October 5, 2015

New State Entity Laws Give Venues Opportunity Save Lives Since I wrote this post in May on the historic law that makes Georgia safer for event attendees, I’m excited to be able to add 15 more states to the list of those allowing places of public accommodation (hotels, convention and conference centers, restaurants) to stock epinephrine. If you have a family member or friend with a food allergy, you’re probably familiar with epinephrine. According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), epinephrine is used for the emergency treatment of life-threatening allergic reactions caused by allergens, whether from food…

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Waitress is carrying two plates
Dietary Needs Food Service September 5, 2015

In the Meetings Industry, Bad Service Is a Disservice

Dietary Needs Food Service September 5, 2015

At some point, we have all experienced bad service at a restaurant. The exact experiences may vary, but bad service always leaves patrons feeling unfulfilled and well, sort of peeved. When we choose to spend our money at an establishment, we expect certain, basic standards to be met. The standards bar is set differently from restaurant to restaurant, but there are fundamental expectations patrons look forward to. These include going over the specials, offering drink refills, and checking in once in a while to ask if everything suits their needs. This and other tidbits of service should be the standard…

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Stock epinephrine laws can help keep attendees safe at meetings
Duty of Care Food Allergies Laws & Regulations May 14, 2015

Historic Law Makes Georgia Events Safer for Attendees

Duty of Care Food Allergies Laws & Regulations May 14, 2015

Last week, the governor of Georgia, Nathan Deal, signed a bill into law which makes Georgia events safer for attendees with food allergies. Georgia SB126 allows places of public accommodation such as restaurants, hotels and convention centers to stock epinephrine — the first-line medication to treat anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction. In light of the fact that nearly 50 percent of fatal food allergic reactions are triggered by food consumed outside the home and to foods that were thought to be safe,* allowing event venues to obtain epinephrine auto-injectors provides a huge sense of relief for food allergy sufferers who attend events in Georgia. According to the Convention…

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Food Allergy Awareness laws are being enacted in U.S. states to help save the lives of restaurant patrons
Dietary Needs Duty of Care Laws & Regulations Meetings & Events March 5, 2015

Dietary Needs Unlock New Level of Duty of Care

Dietary Needs Duty of Care Laws & Regulations Meetings & Events March 5, 2015

When I was an in-house corporate meeting planner, one of the executive assistants used to call me “everybody’s mamma.”  Whether it was purchasing new jeans for the CEO because he forgot his, ordering a low-salt meal for the executive vice president with a heart condition, finding hotel rooms for 30 sales staff stranded in Dallas due to bad weather, or getting the vice president of marketing to the hospital when she was sick at an event, I responded to everyone’s needs and wants. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, all of these incidents (except the CEO’s jeans) fall under my responsibilities as an event planner in what is termed…

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Jar and glass or milk, several brown egg and a six slices of bread on a plate on a wooden table egg allergies
Dietary Needs Food Allergies May 14, 2014

A Closer Look at Wheat, Milk and Egg Allergies

Dietary Needs Food Allergies May 14, 2014

A Closer Look at Wheat, Milk and Egg Allergies In Monday’s post “10 Things Meeting Professionals Need to Know About Food Allergies” I mentioned that wheat, eggs and milk are three of the top eight foods that cause 90 percent of all allergic reactions in people worldwide. As part of my continuing recognition of Food Allergy Awareness Week (May 11-18), I’m going to provide a closer look at wheat, egg and milk allergies and where they are found in meeting menus. So many foods these days are made with wheat, egg and/or milk that allergic individuals should pay close attention to…

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Dietary Needs Medical Conditions May 13, 2014

What is Celiac Disease?

Dietary Needs Medical Conditions May 13, 2014

In yesterday’s post, I wrote about gluten and all its disguises in packaged foods and catering menus. Today, I’m defining Celiac Disease and gluten sensitivity. What is Celiac Disease? Celiac Disease is a genetic autoimmune digestive disorder (the immune system attacks the body when certain foods are eaten) that damages the villi of the small intestine, interfering with the absorption of nutrients needed for good health. Continued exposure to gluten can result in malnourishment—vitamin and mineral deficiencies—and other conditions such as anemia, osteoporosis, neurological disorders and more. Originally thought to be rare, celiac disease is now recognized as one of…

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Food Allergies May 12, 2014

10 Things Event Professionals Need to Know About Food Allergies

Food Allergies May 12, 2014

Event professionals and their catering partners must be prepared to meet the needs of food-allergic event participants. It could mean the difference between an enjoyable experience or the unfortunate death of an attendee. In honor of Food Allergy Awareness Week (May 11-18), here are 10 things you should know. FACT #1 Globally, researchers estimate 220-250 million people may suffer from a food allergy. In the US, nearly 15 million people have food allergies. In Europe, 17 million people are afflicted. FACT #2 A study released by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2013 notes that the prevalence…

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