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Original poster

If you have declared special dietary requirements, what lengths do you expect ?

41 replies

FeelBetterForIt · 17/09/2019 16:27

I've been at a conference today. People were asked about their requirements in advance and there were a number of vegetarians, some gluten free and some dairy free, as you'd expect.

Lunch was a very varied buffet with a gluten free (but not diary free) vegetable soup, two hot options (one gluten & dairy free, one vegetarian) a selection of sandwiches, some gluten free, fruit salad and a hot pudding with custard. There was nothing specially prepared for the special dietary requirements but they were catered for and there was plenty to go round I.e.there was no need to worry about non-vegetarians eating all the vegetarian dishes.

At the breaks there were pastries, nuts, sweets and fruit. So again, nothing specially prepared as non dairy etc but there was an option for everyone.

Is this OK, or did the people complaining about lack of choice, especially at break have a point?

OP posts:
RoseMartha · 17/09/2019 16:38

It depends what they could not eat.
Some people like myself are very limited. I can not eat garlic, fish and other seafood, anything with alcohol in including gravy, parsnips, asparagus, spicy food, corned beef, cauliflower, any salad dressings. It limits me somewhat. So much so I hate eating a meal out at all.

I have made dietary requirements before and still had to make do with a bread roll and butter while everyone else tucked into the generous selection of food.

Original poster
FeelBetterForIt · 17/09/2019 16:40

I said what the requirements were Rose. Everyone who said what they needed was catered for

OP posts:
Sexnotgender · 17/09/2019 16:43

Sounds reasonable.

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General food
BanjoStarz · 17/09/2019 16:43

@RoseMartha is that all allergies or is some of it preference? It must be a huge struggle eating out, I can understand your frustration

@OP - I think the catering sounds perfectly fine, as long as some of the sandwiches were dairy free (otherwise it reads like the main option was just one hot option for dairy free?)

Break time snacks sound absolutely fine as well.

What were people wanting instead?!

SpreadsheetQueen · 17/09/2019 16:48

Do you know if the gluten free was a preference or coeliac/ allergy? In cases where cross contamination can be an issue buffets can be a bit of a minefield. For example, if people were picking up pastries and then rummaging through the fruit at break, it could have left others with nothing they could eat safely.

SayOohLaLa · 17/09/2019 16:49

OP, I guess the issue may be that if you have a choice of only two things, because you can't eat X, and happen not to like the one thing provided you only have limited choice. Some people had loads of choice as they could eat anything they fancied, whereas others started off with a more reduced choice. Maybe they were just annoyed at not getting to make "ooh, shall I have a or b or c?" choices. Whatever restrictions on what you can eat, it's nice to be able to choose from a range of foods that you can eat e.g. hot or cold etc.

Namechangeforthiscancershit · 17/09/2019 16:54

It sounds lovely to me to be honest. The only thing that might be "wrong" is people rummaging as PP have said

leaserspottedmummybird · 17/09/2019 17:02

If everybody got some sort of meal / snack then why Are you complaining?

stucknoue · 17/09/2019 17:06

It does sound reasonable, but some people like to moan, they essentially expect an identical selection to the normal food despite them being the only one requiring it. Instead of trying to meet the needs through the buffet, at the last couple I've organised, the gluten free, vegan and other rarer requirements were asked which sandwich they wanted in advance and it was plated covered in cling film with suitable cake, one lady did complain that someone may have touched meat, touched grapes and put them back but she got nowhere with me - preparation of food for 50+ people isn't easy, I did it single handed, and everyone had food.

Pikachoob · 17/09/2019 17:07

It depends what you mean by nothing was specially prepared... As a coeliac, I certainly wouldn’t be eating anything from a buffet where the supposed gluten free options were next to everything else. The risk of cross contamination sounds high, from what you’ve said, and I wouldn’t eat anything where there was that risk, it’s simply not worth it.

QueenieMum · 17/09/2019 17:11

It sounds like dietaries we're catered for but with limited options. Depending on how the food was laid out I would be worried about cross contamination which would also limit my choice even further. At breaks it would have been good to have a gluten free cake option. Everyone would have had something to eat but maybe not as much as they wanted.

I don't envy anyone who works in catering!

Xitt · 17/09/2019 17:12

Generally I’m happy if I’ve been catered for at all. As long as there’s something I can eat it’s fine. I’d probably have whinged about the lack of pudding I suppose, because fruit salad is not a desirable pudding and I get sick of being fobbed off with it every single time.

However in the example you described I wouldn’t have been able to eat anything because of the risk of cross contamination. There’d be too much risk eg of people switching spoons between the hot options.

Original poster
FeelBetterForIt · 17/09/2019 17:14

Yes, I can see that cross contamination might be an issue at a buffet but that wasn't the compaint, it was that there was less choice, which of course there was but I don't know how you avoid that? It's easy to offer lots of choice when catering for 150, less so for 3.

When I said nothing was specially prepared, nothing was specifically for vegetarians/dairy free etc only but the venue knew the requirements and said the suitable food had been prepared to meet them.

I'm not complaining @leaserspottedmummybird

OP posts:
narkedinNI · 17/09/2019 17:15

This sounds fine to me. I would never expect food at a conference to be 5* anyway.

ChicCroissant · 17/09/2019 17:18

As PP have said, if the gluten-free options were right next to the gluten ones then they were probably not suitable and there seems to have been a shortage of dairy-free food for lunch especially with only one hot option.

Sounds like someone (was it you, OP as you know so much about the requirements) didn't actually tell the caterers about the requirements but ordered food that you thought would be suitable instead.

youarenotkiddingme · 17/09/2019 17:22

Sounds fine to me.
I'm GF and find conferences etc do cater. But it won't always be the same as the rest but just without gluten.

So I always take some GF stuff with me because I get their only requirement to to cater for my requirements - not what I fancy on the day!

ColdTattyWaitingForSummer · 17/09/2019 17:22

It sounds like plenty of choices for preferences less so for allergies. I would probably have ordered in some individually wrapped gluten free cakes / biscuits, and kept the free from stuff completely separate to the buffet to avoid cross contamination.

0lga · 17/09/2019 17:24

I agree with the others, cross contamination can mean that an option that YOU might think is ok, isn’t .

Eg Gf sandwiches on a plate next to others or not covered with cling film, soup served with the same ladle as other non GF soup. Hot meal already plated with pastry with the offer of “taking it off” for those who are GF Hmm .

The hot option - I’ve often been told something is Gf when isn’t clearly not. Last time I was offered something with cous cous . I asked if it it was Gf cous cous and was told “ no of course not, all cous cous is GF”.

They even brought the chef out to tell me this. After a discussion he went back to the kitchen to bring me the packet. Then was very embarrassed.

Not as much as I was , having all this palaver at a work conference. No doubt other people rolling their eyes at me.

The hot pudding and pastries won’t have been GF . Nuts in an open dish will almost certainly be contaminated. So the dessert option was probably fruit or fruit, as long as it could be peeled. And a sharp knife provided ( have you ever tried to peel an apple with a butter knife ? ).

I also have to say that I have NEVER EVER been at a buffet meal where there was “ plenty to go around “ for anyone with dietary requirements. Anything especially provided is almost always hoovered up by omnivores who have “ always fancied trying something vegetarian / Gf/ lactose free/whatever”.

I have sometime been left with nothing except salad leaves at a buffet because of this behaviour.

So you are amazingly lucky to have been at an event with plenty food for those with dietary restrictions.

Original poster
FeelBetterForIt · 17/09/2019 17:27

I absolutely did tell the caterers (twice) and then checked again the day before @ChicCroissant when they confirmed everything was in order. I am taking the flack for it not meeting expectations.

I didn't choose the menu, just ordered a working buffet that would cater for all, leaving it (I thought) to the experts, at a large and not cheap chain hotel.

OP posts:
shearwater · 17/09/2019 17:27

what lengths do you expect

8" fine, thanks.

MiniMum97 · 17/09/2019 17:28

It does drive me mad that the only pudding option is always a bloody fruit salad! Lazy catering imo.

ElsieBobo · 17/09/2019 17:29

dairy free was catered for, in that there was a df hot meal, but no other option (except the fruit) as pastries and sandwiches would inevitably have contained butter. I’m df and would have been happy to have been given the df hot option, without any other tbh. But people do tend to cater more to gluten free than df.

SpringLake · 17/09/2019 17:30

Sounds like standard fare to me... which I usually accept as reasonable. I only ever say I'm dairy free, which is true... but I also can't have soya, or beans, or several other oddities. And being pregnant means I'd typically avoid fish options too, especially on a buffet. This often leaves me with nothing to eat, so I just pack my own sandwiches! I don't mind, as at least then I know it's safe!

0lga · 17/09/2019 17:32

I’d probably have whinged about the lack of pudding I suppose, because fruit salad is not a desirable pudding and I get sick of being fobbed off with it every single time

This. I was once at a function in a very posh hotel where the other guests were provided with a huge range of fancy desserts, perhaps about 10 choices.

I was brought an apple. Just a large cheap red wooly apple on a side plate. It did have a fancy serviette though, which made it much more appetising .

Obviously the 5 star chef didn’t have any other fruit, cream, yoghurt, ice cream, sorbet, chocolate , mousse , jelly or meringues to make anything better Hmm

Luaa · 17/09/2019 17:36

To be honest I take a packed lunch with me and see it as a bonus if I can eat any of the food that's been provided.