 Gluten can be a tricky allergen. Even products labeled as gluten-free, as well as seemingly safe products like meat, may contain trace amounts of the protein. About 7 percent of the U.S. population are either gluten-sensitive or have celiac disease (and rates of celiac disease are rising by 7.5 percent annually). These people may experience abdominal pain, chronic fatigue or diarrhea when they eat gluten. There is gluten-sensing technology in development that aims to make it easier to detect trace amounts of gluten in foods, but in the meantime, restaurants’ efforts to accommodate gluten-sensitive guests can go far in earning their loyalty. A recent report from Food Management advises you have a checklist of regularly ordered foods and identify gluten-free items on the list, establish with vendors that you are committed to having gluten-free substitutes available, have a clear system to identify gluten-free items on your menu, and consider having your business validated by the Gluten-Free Food Service, which supports organizations looking to implement gluten-free safety procedures for the long term.
 The FDA’s new Food Traceability Rule is taking aim at sources of contamination to reduce the number of foodborne illnesses and deaths in the U.S. It means that food businesses from farm to table will be responsible for adhering to a standardized record-keeping process that assigns codes to potentially risky foods. Items such as eggs, leafy greens, soft cheeses and other items will carry these codes in an effort to more quickly trace these items and remove them from the supply chain in the event of contamination. On March 16th, the National Restaurant Association held a webinar about the new rule, as well as various exceptions to it and strategies to comply.
 Consumers with food allergies are a growing – and potentially loyal – group of guests. But as a recent QSR Magazine report indicates, a large percentage of restaurant staff aren’t equipped to identify and serve allergens safely. As this study found, more than 70 percent of restaurant staff believe the food they serve is safe but less than half of these employees had received allergen-specific training. At a time when the FDA’s list of major allergens continues to expand with the addition of sesame this year, are your staff aware of new labeling requirements and how to handle allergens safely?
 If your restaurant is making environmentally friendly changes like minimizing waste and using reusable, compostable or recyclable packaging products, the cleaning products you use can also be part of the story you share with guests. If you’re thinking about adopting greener cleaning practices or finding less toxic products to clean and sanitise your facility, look for the Green Seal, Environmental Choice Program, Greenguard or Chlorine Free Products Association labels on products, or ask Team Four about how you can safely make eco-friendly (and budget-friendly) changes to the products you use.
 This has already been an intense year for norovirus. According to the CDC, positive tests for the illness peaked at 16 percent in January and the season still has time to go — the virus typically peaks sometime between November and April. Relative to other seasonal illnesses, norovirus is highly infectious and spreads easily, particularly in spaces like restaurants. An infected person can shed billions of particles from the illness, while just a few particles can make someone else ill. As a result, norovirus passes easily through even brief contact with others, by touching contaminated surfaces or consuming contaminated food or beverages. Make sure your staff illness policies not only enforce the sanitation practices required to keep illnesses at bay, but also ensure staff with symptoms of norovirus aren’t allowed to work and create a larger number of absences on your team.
 Certain foods that have been served to guests can be served again to other guests – but those foods need to meet strict criteria. As Statefoodsafety.com reports, food in an unopened package that shows no signs of contamination can be served again. So, undisturbed packets of condiments, creamer, sweeteners and crackers are all fair game. The same cannot be said of the bread basket that returns to the kitchen untouched.
 Covid-19 ushered in a period when safety became the new hospitality – and equipment that supports this shift is now coming to market. That has injected new possibilities into some aspects of foodservice (like labor-saving buffets) that have become less practical in the past few years. For example, Nation’s Restaurant News reports that at the recent North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers show, new solutions included a salad dispensing machine that can automatically portion out salad ingredients, as well as a hot and cold buffet station that can keep foods at multiple temperatures on the same buffet line. If your restaurant relies on buffet service – or once did – how can you automate tasks that tend to pose food safety challenges?
 Amid the focus on keeping and serving food at the right temperature, it can be easy to overlook contamination risks in the beverages you serve. Ice machines can be havens for mold and other contaminants if they are not cleaned, sanitized and handled properly – so much so that you can find TikTok videos of HVAC service people discovering a range of unappetizing health risks lurking in ice machines. Beyond regular cleaning and preventive maintenance of the machine by a professional vendor, make sure your staff know how to scoop ice safely and are trained to take notice of insect activity, improper drainage, dust accumulation and other potential hazards in and around the machine.
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