By George Leposky, editor TimeSharing Today
Meet-and-greet bagel breakfast. Hot dog roast. Sunset wine-and-cheese party. These are just a few of the ways in which your timeshare resort may entertain owners and guests. Sometimes you invite them to attract an audience for a resort update and a low-key sales pitch; other times it’s just a social event.
Whatever your mission, be mindful of the menu. Those attending your gathering may well include some of the estimated 520 million inhabitants of the planet (including 32 million Americans) with food allergies. Many others aren’t allergic per se but have specific lifestyle preferences, such as halal and kosher, vegan and vegetarian.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/nutrition/Pages/Common-Food-Allergies.aspx 90 percent of food allergies in children are caused by just six common foods or food groups: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, and wheat. In adults, 90 percent of serious allergies are caused by just four foods: peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish.
Your task is to put together a menu that will satisfy everyone without totally depriving anyone. Thus, if you’re serving cookies and cakes, include some that are gluten-free. That’s easy.
Gout poses a greater challenge. It’s a disease characterized by a high level of uric acid in the blood, and it’s on the rise. The HealthMatch website https://healthmatch.io/blog/gout-the-ancient-disease-that-is-making-a-comeback estimates the current incidence of gout in the U.S. at 8.3 million adults — 6.1 million men and 2.2 million women, a total of 3.9 percent of the U.S. adult population.
Unless you’re a professional biochemist or dietitian, the gout diet is bewildering. Among other things, it excludes red meat, processed deli meat, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, celery, kale, spinach, etc.), whole grains, and especially shellfish. For safety’s sake, offer a fruit platter.
To protect your attendees, read the labels on the packaged products you will serve. That includes the ingredients list, and look for a warning that “this product is processed in a factory that also processes tree nuts” even though the product you’re serving has nothing to do with tree nuts.
Once you know the ingredients, share the knowledge. At most such resort events, food service is buffet-style, so post a little card on the table beside each item to identify it.
People typically know what they’re allergic to, and know to avoid it – but just in case someone accidentally consumes a proscribed food and suffers an acute allergic reaction, keep an epinephrine auto-injector on hand to administer a quick antidote while waiting for Fire Rescue to arrive.
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