k's GF procedures and SV location report

[Guest guest]

I wrote to k’s to ask for details on their GF procedures and their response is below.  I wrote back to them asking about CC from condiments and the “toaster”.  I also wrote to Del Monaco’s asking about cross contamination there.  No response from either yet.  Merrick convinced me to try the k’s in s Valley, so we headed over their yesterday.  It looked like they were following all the procedures in the corporate instructions.  I asked about the condiments and the toaster.  The manager showed me a squeeze-bottle nicely labeled as “Gluten-free Goo”.  He said that they figured that if you needed to change gloves just to make the sandwich that they ought to be careful about goo as well (smart guy); they also put the sandwich a special paper when they heated it in the oven (not really a toaster).  He said these were things they had figured out for their location, and did not come from the corporate office.  I would suggest that anyone who goes to k’s make sure that they do something similar.  I also mentioned the sign about “gluten-free wheat bread” being available.  He said the corporate office is aware and that they will be changing the sign at some point.  As to The Sandwich: Merrick ordered at hot sandwich (Raging Bull).  Merrick loved it; said he liked the bread.  They used 2 slices of bread.  So far, no reaction (although we are not past the “reaction zone” yet).  So it sounds like hot sandwiches are the way to go. I have to say, I wasn’t too comfortable with the soup/salad disclaimers.  I doubt we will try them unless I can get more information about the likelihood of cross contamination.  I will let you know if I hear back from k’s or Del Monaco’s. Pam From: Gerry Turgeon [mailto:gerry@...] Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2010 7:26 PMpknewbury@...Cc: Tony Bendana; ; ; Dan WittingSubject: Gluten-free offerings at 's Dear Pam, Thank you very much for contacting me at ’s and for assisting us in spreading the word that we offer options for celiacs. I would like to answer your questions as best that I am capable and ask you if you have additional comments that I can forward to our operators. We have had requests for Gluten-free options over the years and we have been searching for a way to accommodate our celiac guests. Here are the instructions that I sent to our operators as we prepared to roll out the Gluten-free bread to our DeliCafés (28 locations) this month: New Gluten-Free Bread* available on new menu*With the new menus comes the addition of Gluten-Free bread options to each sandwich. Gluten-Free signifies that it does not contain wheat or wheat-derived products (our product is specially made with rice flour and distributed exclusively to us through Le Boulanger). Many individuals have food allergies to wheat (glutens) and are unable to digest wheat. Individuals with this allergy are called celiacs and wheat may make them seriously ill. This new bread option has been thoroughly tested at the Soquel Dr., Capitola, ville, and s Valley Delicafe locations with very pleasing results. We have been praised for offering this option because wheat allergies severely limit what celiacs can eat when dining at ’s. The Gluten-Free bread opens up a whole world of possibilities for celiacs. Please be aware that Gluten-Free bread has some limitations and while it is healthy and beneficial to celiacs it may taste less desirable to those not restricted to wheat-free diets. For this reason it is not recommended that you suggest this bread to guests that do not have wheat allergies as a flavor option – let customers make this choice themselves as they may be disappointed, i.e. it is smaller than normal bread, it is somewhat dry (our SOP is to serve it lightly toasted to enhance flavor presentation). Because of the sensitive nature of celiacs and their allergies some special handling requirements are a must – namely these listed here:Preparation Procedures:* A dedicated, clean cutting board and knife is needed to execute this procedure properly. This procedure is required to eliminate cross-contamination from wheat based products and ensure the safety of our guests with special health requirements. The below procedures are for half and full sandwiches. Both sandwiches are created with two slices of bread due to the smaller size of the loaves. If a sandwich has been identified as being prepared incorrectly, never remove ingredients and use them for a gluten free sandwich. Again, gluten will transfer from bread to ingredients. Those individuals that are gluten intolerant experience different levels of this disease. Please take all precautions when preparing sandwiches as Gluten-Free.1. Remove gloves, wash hands thoroughly and replace with clean gloves. Gluten can be transferred from gloves worn while preparing other sandwiches. 2. Take two slices of Gluten Free bread and toast in the Combi oven for no more than :20 seconds. Bread should be slightly toasted when removed from the oven.3. Place the two pieces of bread on a clean, designated cutting board.4. Prepare the sandwich as outlined in ’s recipes.5. Cut the sandwich on a bias with a clean, designated bread knife.6. Present and garnish the sandwich the same way as other ’s sandwiches.My associate and I have been visiting all locations and inspecting/training the teams so that they fully understand these directives and procedures. I also sent the following information to our operators last year before we began testing the Gluten-free alternative bread from Rudi’s because we have had previous requests for information: Which products are gluten free?Because our suppliers are not required to disclose the gluten content in their products we are unable to safely state that any product is “gluten free”.A gluten-free diet is a diet completely free of ingredients derived from gluten-containing cereals: wheat, barley, rye, oats and triticale, as well as the use of gluten as a food additive in the form of a flavoring, stabilizing or thickening.Many foods contain gluten, but don't indicate it in their ingredients list, because they are not in the formulation of the product, but in the preparation (or manufacturing) of some of the listed ingredients. One example of this is the dusting of the conveyor belts in the production facilities to prevent the foods from sticking during processing. The food itself might not contain gluten, but there is gluten in the ingested product.In the United States, gluten may not be listed on the labels of certain foods because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has classified gluten as GRAS (Generally recognized as safe). A final rule that defines the term gluten-free and identifies the criteria that would enable the food industry to use that term is scheduled to be released by the FDA on August 2nd, 2008. ’s soups are made to our specs and ’s family recipes by Del Monaco Specialty Foods ( http://delmonacofoods.com ) and they do produce products that contain wheat (Gluten) at their new state of the art plant in Hill. Here are my gluten free suggestions:Gluten-free bread (Rudi’s : contains egg, potato extract, sunflower and safflower oil, sunflower seeds and flax seed) www.rudisbakery.com Fruit Salad (Seasonal)Potato SaladTuna SaladAll Meats & CheesesGreen Salads w/ Blue Cheese Dressing, Caesar Dressing, Fat Free Italian, Fat Free Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette, Ranch Dressing, Salsa Ranch Dressing, SauerkrautWalnut Pesto AioliSplit Pea w/ Ham SoupTexas Jailhouse ChiliTomato Basil Bisque We do offer this disclaimer to our guests as well: “Because our suppliers are not required to disclose the origin of all contents in their products we are unable to safely state the contents of every product. Thanks for considering ’s. Let me know if you have further questions.” I hope this is helpful information. Thank You For Your Support. I look forward to hearing from you again. Warm Regards, Gerry TurgeonDistrict Manager’s DeliCafé, Inc.Corporate Office365 Coral Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060-2106831-458-1818 ext. 128Fax 831-458-9797 gerry@... www.eriksdelicafe.com