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

[FeelBetterForIt]

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?

Can't have been as bad as the conference I went to where the only vegan option was limp grated vegan cheese sandwiches.

Am not vegan myself, but thought it was pretty dire for those that were.

Impossible to know from your description

It sounds like there was only one vegetarian
Option of the (soup/hot variety) & no idea what the sandwich options were...

I have been vegetarian for over 30 years and I was the least fussy vegetarian as long as it was actually vegetarian. But honestly, it does wear a bit thin when there’s only one option - it’s like you’re not allowed a choice - you will eat the stuffed pepper!

However I’m now eating in a way I wouldn’t expect to be catered for (vegetarian keto/fasting) and wouldn’t eat there, simply easier not to bother (I fast a lot anyway).

But maybe if you look at it like many people could have eaten a wide variety but the people with ‘dietary requirements’ possibly only had one option.

They perhaps lack imagination/creativity/ability not to have had more options that covered all the issues.

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
I once paid £100 for a three course meal at a posh hotel and for dessert they brought me a small bowl of the same wilted fruit salad that was on the breakfast buffet. FRUIT SALAD IS NOT A DESSERT! It’s what you force yourself to eat when you’re on a diet.

At the breaks there were pastries, nuts, sweets and fruit.

I can understand the coeliac and dairy-free people's complaints at break times. Pastries for everyone else.

Main meal seems acceptably varied, but, again, no pudding for the C and DF people.

I don't think you should be taking the flack for food the venue provided. You did your job by informing them of all the dietaries.

What I wish venues would do is offer dishes that cater for most people - e.g. a curry with rice option for a fork buffet which had no dairy or gluten (which is possible to do). An allergy / intolerance automatically reduces choice and when the options you're offered are also limited it's annoying. I became fed up of jacket potato and salad on a recent holiday. That's not your issue though, it's the venue's issue.

Are you going to pass on the feedback you've had to see what the venue say?

As a coeliac i can say that situation would depend.

I have very low expectations generally. Desserts are consistently disappointing for gf so that doesn't surprise me at all. It depends how much they paid; if it wasn't much I'd just leave it. If I paid a lot for a meal and was provided with fruit for dessert I'd be pretty peeved. I'm so used to it I still wouldn't complain although I've been in first class on a long haul flight before and served a pear for dessert. Not acceptable and actually embarrassing they thought it would be.

As a ceoliacbibcount myself lucky if I am catered for at all. I have been on courses where there are bacon butties to start or home made cookies or pastries but nothing (not even fruit) for gluten free even though I have informed them and I am catered for at lunch time. This doesn't feel fair .

I have also been provided with a plate of egg mayonnaise, tuna, salad and a separate plate of gluten free bread all nicely covered and labelled - but no cutlery as everyone else had finger food - so am I supposed to use my fingers to make an egg mayonnaise sandwich?

Further to my previous comment I have also once been served a plate of unpeeled fruit. And that was for a dinner I was paying for. They couldn't be arsed to even make it into a fruit salad ffs!

I do think that chefs with years of training could put their mind to more palatable options if they really wanted to. I manage to feed myself tasty meals and puddings do not sure why a chef can't!

Many years ago I was in charge of gathering dietary requirements and instructing the caterers. The caterers did a fine job of dealing with vegetarian options, so much so that there wasn't enough to go around as the non vegetarians were also tucking in. There was also some issue of some vegetarian options coming on the same plates as meat options. It was a slight nightmare that I was desperately trying to mitigate on the day. But most of the feedback bemoaned the lack of options. I know from talking to people it wasn't the lack of variety but that there was often little left if you weren't quick or some was unsuitable because of how it was plated.

Could that be playing into some of your feedback. Not that they weren't catered for, but were left with little choice given others or plating arrangements?

No @OhLookHeKickedTheBall there was plenty of everything and they were very quick at keeping the buffet table restocked

I think the problem is that the people with dietary needs ended up with fruit, fruit or fruit for all snacks and dessert. It’s just not that filling. Depending what the main is, they may have still been hungry.

Personally, I’m happy if there is anything I can eat, but I’m completely unfussy food-wise (in terms of preferences, rather than dietary needs).

As a vegetarian diabetic, I am happy if I find anything I can eat at a buffet tbh and always take my own. With my coeliac granddaughters, I wouldn't have taken a chance due to the risk of contamination, as they are seriously sensitive to gluten.

It sounds fine to me, OP.

Do people normally have dessert at lunch on a work day?

It's always a thankless task organising these things.

I remember a big team meeting I coordinated- asked everyone if they had any intolerances and those who responded had special plates made up for them. Cue on the day someone who hadn't bothered responding to my email telling me about their allergies, someone else who had sod all to do with it and was just sticking their oar in telling them to have one of the special plates, which I then took some satisfaction in whisking away and saying that they had only catered for those who had actually requested a special meal.

In this case the lunch sounds absolutely fine. There was food available that they could eat and no one went hungry. For the breaks it would have been nice if suitable biscuits had been supplied, but churlish to moan about the lack of them.

If you specifically ordered gluten-free and those food items were mixed in with the others I'd be reluctant to pay OP because that would rule it out for allergy purposes! I would definitely pass the feedback on to the caterers.

Re the break options - pastries are more filling than nuts/sweets/fruit so they might have a point there. What was the hot pudding, was that gluten or dairy free (not the custard element of it, obviously)?

Sorry to hear that you are getting the flack for this, OP! I swear some people attend away days/conferences for the food!

@BanjoStarz If I eat any of them they give me d and v, onset is usually between 30 mins to an hour.