Tag Archives: holidays

Keeping It Safe At Home This Holiday Season: Allergies

As the song goes, “if the fates allow” we’ll perhaps be able to see more friends and loved ones in person this holiday season. If you are hosting any holiday guests, it can often feel like you have enough on your plate to begin with (a small holiday pun there…), before even thinking about guest dietary restrictions.  However, a bit of planning can go a long way to make all of your guests feel welcome and cared for, no matter what dietary restrictions they may face due to factors like their religious affiliation, personal preference, health issues, allergies/sensitivities, etc.   

More specifically here, in terms of contending with food allergies you can use these seven festive tips to better accommodate your guests with these dietary restrictions.     

  1. Know your major allergens. 90%(!) of known allergic reactions come from 8 key foods: milk, eggs, fish, crustaceans, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soybeans.  
  2. Read your labels. Food producers are required to label any foods that contain one of the “big 8” allergens. Check the label for assistance in knowing what to safely purchase.   
  3. Avoid cross-contamination. Use clearly marked, separate utensils, cutting boards, etc. when handling foods, if there are allergens. Consider color-coding for an easy-to-identify system in your kitchen.
  4. Clean and sanitize your work areas and utensils after handling food allergens. 
  5. Be sure to advise guests with food allergies on what foods to avoid. You can always label foods to assist as well. 
  6. Keep an eye out for the signs of an allergic reaction. Symptoms can vary, but recognizing symptoms like wheezing, hives, face/tongue/lip swelling can save lives.  
  7. The easiest thing to do is ask. Check in with guests before hosting your event if they have any allergies or food restrictions. Doing so means a great deal to guests with food allergies/restrictions, as it helps anticipate their needs and makes them feel welcome and included in the festivities.

You can learn more about many of the points above from this handy sheet from the FDA.  The happiest and healthiest of holidays to you and yours from Nelson-Jameson!

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Happy Holidays from Nelson-Jameson, Inc.

One of the real joys of the holiday season is the opportunity to say thank you! Our entire organization appreciates your partnership and thanks you for your loyalty and goodwill throughout the year. This year has been nothing but ordinary, but Nelson-Jameson would like to recap on the great accomplishments that came with the 2020 year:

New Location: In January, we successfully opened our second Marshfield, WI location, our new corporate office. Due to the significant growth we have experienced over the last several years, we opened this location to accommodate around 90 of our 210 employees to provide them with newly renovated work spaces.

New Website: We are continuing to work our way through transferring our current website to a new, more user-friendly platform. Our goal is to implement our new website to allow for our customers to be able to navigate through with easier searching capabilities.

New Employees: We have significantly grown in employees in 2020. This year has been nothing but ordinary for everyone, but even with working remotely, we have been able to add and fill new positions within various departments throughout the company.

New President: In October, we announced our organization’s new President, Mike Rindy. Mike has worked in the dairy and food industry for more than 34 years. What started as a job in his cousin’s cheese factory back in 1986, turned into a lifelong passion. Since then, Mike has served in various industry roles ranging from technical service to executive management, where he has experience leading diverse teams to achieve outstanding sales and operational results.

Holidays are the perfect time to be thankful for your friends and family. We would like to thank you for being such a good friend to Nelson-Jameson and for allowing us to experience the accomplishments we have in 2020. We appreciate your business and the opportunity to serve you. We look forward to providing you with food industry expertise, food safety programs, regulatory and chain of custody documentation, supplier consolidation, inventory management solutions, and more in the upcoming year! From our family to yours—may your holidays and entire year be filled with peace and happiness!

 

 

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