Collegiate dining operations are obligated to provide for the needs of their students, requiring campus dining programs to have an effective plan for serving students with special dietary needs due to food allergies, sensitivities, and religious requirements.
An institution’s special dietary needs program makes a statement about its commitment to student success and inclusion.
If you are experiencing student and parent complaints regarding special diets, food allergy incidents, or frequent requests for meal plan exemptions based on dietary needs, a third-party audit can identify gaps in your program and build strategies to close those gaps. Menu Analytics can support your campus dining program by conducting a thorough review of your special dietary needs program and the institutional goals, policies and operational procedures to help you achieve the outcomes you need.
Whether the independent audit is for an objective review of your own food service operation or to establish better accountability from a food service contract, we offer cost-effective solutions that can help.
This presentation outlines the 3rd Party Audit program and how it can help your campus dining operation.
Areas for audit include:
- Policies and procedures regarding food allergies to assess their applicability and effectiveness
- On site food service operations, both in food production and in service areas, including receiving, storage, production, serving, equipment, customer request handling, and assess for gaps in coverage and the potential for cross contact of allergy containing foods with other foods
- Assessment of the accuracy of menu and recipe information, recipe adherence, and information communicated to customers
- Review food allergy training programs and materials, and assess whether these are complete and provide an adequate level of instruction to achieve stated goals for safe service of food
- Conduct interviews with team members involved with the dining program to identify key processes, policies, methods, and their effectiveness
- Conduct interviews, if desired, with relevant administrators, staff, or students to assess the desired level of food allergy support desired by the operation, and compare that level with existing measures – identifying any gaps with recommendations for mitigation
- Provide a written report listing all findings and recommendations.