Armed with new allergen knowledge, the team ultimately decided, in April of 2013, to go above and beyond with respect to precautions affecting their food allergy guests and decided to consider the fryer cleaning system as a cross-contact risk for those with dairy allergies, thus taking fries OFF the “safe list” despite having no changes in the actual ingredients and despite maintaining a “dedicated fryer.” (see next question) The logic was that they couldn’t guarantee 0ppm (parts per million) of potential dairy in the fries. MenuTrinfo helps restaurants, schools, and others evaluate their food allergy practices and make changes to become more food allergy-friendly.
After attending AllergyEats’ Food Allergy Conference for Restaurateurs, they met Betsy Craig, CEO of MenuTrinfo. In late 2012, the food safety & food quality team at Red Robin was expanded. Many people with dairy allergies have eaten Red Robin French fries safely before when they were not listed as unsafe, according to the interactive allergen guide.
#RED ROBIN GARLIC FRIES FULL#
(That’s not to advocate ignoring Red Robin’s warning against those with dairy allergies avoiding their French fries, but merely acknowledging that they’ve gone above and beyond what other chains generally do to offer us full disclosure and greater protection.) Thus, in being extra cautious for their guests, Red Robin’s disclosures have actually created greater concern instead of the appreciation I believe they deserve for their transparency and food allergy awareness. With almost all restaurants, cross-contact is an entirely separate risk. The real fact of the matter is that MOST restaurants create allergen menus purely on the basis of each item’s ingredients.
I can’t help but see an unfortunate irony here. Red Robin also cites the risk of splatter between fryers and the tools used in those fryers as potential for cross-contact even though they employ a system of using color-coded cooking utensils for each fryer and have individual fryers dedicated to specific items. That risk is primarily due to a common fryer oil cleaning system.
French fries are not listed as safe for those with dairy allergies solely due to cross-contact risk. The seasoning was changed back in 2013 to remove gluten and unnatural flavorings and is has since been completely Top 8 free, all-natural and gluten-free.Īre the French fries listed as unsafe for those with dairy allergies due solely to cross-contact risk and, if so, what is the nature of that risk? So the questions are:ĭo the French fries contain dairy as an ingredient?ĭoes the French fry seasoning contain dairy as an ingredient? (Some diners have been told to order the fries “without seasoning”.) As mentioned above, this is a change from the past. Regarding French fries and dairy, the interactive allergen menu says that people with dairy allergies should not eat the fries. So, the ingredients of the French fries have not recently changed, nor has anything in the cooking process that would create any increased food allergy risk. A few managers reportedly told guests recently about changes to the French fries, but those changes have nothing to do with the ingredients rather, they are simply a change in the cooking time of the fries. While many individuals in our social media forums have spoken of changes to Red Robin’s interactive allergen menu showing that French Fries are not safe for those with dairy allergies, where previously they had been, that change to the allergen menu actually occurred in April 2013. To be direct, have there been any such changes over the past few months? One recurring issue that is again being asked in the food community is whether or not Red Robin has recently made changes to its French fries that have altered some aspect of their allergy profile. The following is not a verbatim Q&A, but the questions we asked and their responses in our words (simply put, we didn’t transcribe the call).
Within minutes, senior management from the food safety and allergy information teams made themselves available to answer our questions. Recently, there has been a lot of chatter in the food allergy community about perceived changes at Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews affecting the food allergy safety of French fries and other items on their menu.Īs online discussions have heated up, many food-allergic individuals shared information that didn’t fit with what we’ve learned about Red Robin over the years, so we went straight to the top of Red Robin’s management team to get the most up-to-date information for you.
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