Principles Guiding Our Approach to Allergies
- Camp Zeke is nut and sesame free. Those allergens do not appear in any food served by the camp or cooked in our culinary arts classes.
- Allergens should be clearly visible and obvious. If a camper looks at a slice of pizza, the camper can clearly see the cheese but cannot see egg in the crust – so we avoid using pizza crust with egg in it.
- We avoid introducing “unnecessary” allergens. Cheese is not essential to pasta sauce, nor are breadcrumbs essential to salad. When we can leave an allergen out without changing the nature of a dish, we leave it out. Of course, our scrambled eggs are still made of eggs, our bagels are made of gluten, and our pizza has cheese.
- Allergy-friendly foods should look different from allergen foods. If the regular grilled cheese uses white cheese, the allergy-friendly version should use yellow dairy-free cheese.
- We have a dedicated allergy-friendly buffet table staffed by our allergy chefs, who wear bright red shirts that say “Ask Me About Allergies.” This is where we serve allergen-free alternatives to items on the main table, and this is where our trained chefs can answer questions about the allergens in every dish on either table.
- Allergens are clearly labeled on the daily menu. Campers can always look at the menu to see which allergens are present in each dish.
- We prevent cross contamination in and out of the kitchen. We have strict rules to ensure that allergens aren’t inadvertently introduced into allergy-free foods, both in the main kitchen and on the buffet tables.
- We do not allow allergens to leave the dining room. In the following settings, all food served is gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, fish-free, nut-free, and sesame-free: s’mores and any other foods at campfires; all food made in camp’s teaching kitchens; all food served in the Canteen; all food served for snack; all food served at picnic lunches; all food brought from camp on field trips; and all food served on buses to and from camp on opening and closing day.
- If campers go out for ice cream, we bring ice cream from camp for kids with severe allergies. This way they don’t order food from a kitchen that doesn’t use our safety procedures.
- Campers are responsible to never make assumptions about the ingredients in a dish. All questions about allergens are directed to our allergy chefs.
- We ask all campers and visitors not to bring outside food into camp. They don’t always listen, but we try to find the food when they don’t.
