With EU requirements on labelling for allergens, and US requirements for providing nutrition information on menu items, providing more details about the contents of a dish is becoming a standard. Our findings show that the majority of venues provide food labelling, allergen training and dietary management training — indicating that emerging dietary and allergen needs are being considered by venues. Yet, 15%–23% of venues still are not providing adequate training and allergen information — this is particularly more common for foods offered at break stations, as 23% of venues say they do not offer allergen information at break stations. Once venues become better at clear and detailed food labelling, planners may experience slightly fewer special requests. IACC, in collaboration with thrive meetings!, have developed a range of dietary and allergen training for venues to support the required change. While labelling is easy, choosing a menu that will satisfy such a complex and diverse set of guests is certainly not. As outlined in our 2018 Meeting Room of the Future Report, some solutions that may address this are: • Less meat, more vegetarian and vegan, plant-based and water-friendly dishes featuring seasonal fruits and vegetables.
• Carbon-friendly and plant-forward dishes.
• Locally produced and sourced dishes that showcase the destination while providing transparency • Dining as entertainment (i.e. food trucks and markets, cooking classes and more). • Universal design concepts which exclude common allergens and are presented in ways that meet accessibility needs?
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IACConline.org & IACCmeetings.com
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