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In this episode of Don’t Eat Poop!, our hosts Matt and Francine are joined by Betsy Craig, the CEO and Founder of MenuTrinfo, the leaders in the food allergen space for food service who have been saving people’s lives since 2010.
Be prepared for some emotional and impactful stories that will hit home as they talk about food allergy success stories and tragedies.
You will learn about some changes in the legislation and in the food allergen space both of which Betsy has been a driving force for. You will also discover some important food allergy-related facts that not even Matt or Francine knew about.
So, tune in for this short but moving interview that might just change how you look at food because we can do better and it’s time we stopped hurting people with food.
In this episode:
💩 [00:48] How MenuTrinfo came to be and Betsy’s long history with restaurants
💩 [02:52] One of MenuTrinfo’s biggest success stories
💩 [04:28] The tragic story of Elijah and the legislative changes that came from it
💩 [06:43] What Betsy wishes the industry would understand about food allergies
💩 [09:07] The incredible benefits for restaurants when they guarantee their food is safe for everyone (not just some)
💩 [12:01] The difference between dietary intolerances and dietary allergens
💩 [14:13] How Betsy sees the difference between faith and trust
💩 [15:47] The Food Safety Consortium and how to make it better
Disclaimer: Episode title and content do not constitute legal or health advice.
Resources from this episode
Learn more about MenuTrinfo at menutrinfo.com.
Register for the Food Safety Consortium 2024 here.
Noteworthy quotes from this episode
“I wish the industry would understand [...] they don't know what they don't know. And the arrogance of pretending they know is harming people.” – Betsy Craig
We hope you enjoy this episode!
If you're passionate about maintaining the highest standards in food safety, this podcast is for you. Tune in to the "Don't Eat Poop" podcast for the latest food recalls, engaging conversations around food safety awareness, expert advice, food systems, news from the food supply chain, and actionable tips for responsible food safety practices. And of course, some food safety humor. Develop the knowledge and skills you need to protect your
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Betsy (00:00):
So I would explain it this way. Faith is watching
somebody cross a tight rope andknowing that they've been doing
it their whole lives and theycan go from one side to the
other. Trust is believing theyreally can do it with a
wheelbarrow, and I put my buttin the wheelbarrow. That's
trust.
Intro (00:22):
Everybody's gotta eat, and nobody likes getting sick.
That's why heroes toil in theshadows keeping your food safe
at all points from the supplychain to the point of sale. Join
industry veterans, FrancineElishar and Matt Ragucci for a
deep dive into food safety. Itall boils down to one golden
rule. Don't eat poop.
(00:46):
Don't eat poop.
Matt (00:47):
Today, we are with Betsy Craig from MenuTrinfo. Hey. Yes.
Awesome. Alright.
We're at the food safetyconsortium. Betsy, tell us a
little about yourself.
Betsy (00:58):
Oh, it's so exciting to talk about myself. Might be my
favorite topic, but good to seeyou, Matt. Good to see you,
Francine. So I came up with agreat idea off Facebook in 2010,
married to the right guy, builta database, do nutrition for
restaurants, built the companyfrom there, allergy training,
certified free from allergens,been living in that food safety
(01:19):
space. Before that, I've been inand around restaurants since I
was about 5 years old, soperfect fit.
Matt (01:25):
Nice. Not just like the happy meal at McDonald's, but,
like, actually in restaurants?
Betsy (01:29):
In restaurants started with a butcher shop when I was a
little kid. My grandparentsowned a butcher shop outside
Albany, New York. So I used toeat raw ground beef. They would
hand it to me over the counter.I know your face.
Look at Francine, Francine. Ijust gagged, and they would hand
it to me like a meatball. Andout of 5 year old kids, what I
ate. Today, I it just makes myskin crawl. But, yeah, from
(01:49):
there to Sizzler to Ponderosa torestaurants to full blown
restaurants to
Matt (01:56):
That's awesome. What made you go, oh my gosh. Somebody
needs to do this. I need tocreate this company called
MenuTinfo. And have you seenthat is actually accurate, that
there is a need for it?
And how has it been going?
Betsy (02:08):
So somebody gave me the idea on Facebook. They said menu
labeling was coming forrestaurants. So menu trends file
stands for menu nutritioninformation all mashed up. And I
knew we could build a nutritiondatabase and provide information
for consumers to be transparentabout what they're eating, save
their lives through salt contentor calorie content or help fight
(02:28):
obesity, all of that good stuffthat we get to do. Fairly
quickly, I knew that we wereonto something around allergens
because we could tag allergensall the way down to subparticle
ingredients.
And so that launched us into theallergen space. There was no
allergy training out yet. Wewere the first ones to do it.
We've been the leaders in thisspace for food service since
(02:50):
2010.
Francine (02:51):
So I know that you work for many major companies.
You've done a lot of good work,universities, colleges, all over
the country. What is yourbiggest success story?
Betsy (03:04):
I instantly think of a young kid I call Sam. It's not
his real name. Junior in highschool, 4 incidents of food
allergic reaction on a campus ofhigh school. Smart enough to get
invited to a special high schoolfor science and math. He's gone
on, by the way, as a junior incollege right now, premed, Great
kid, but 2 helicopter rides tosave his life because of a dairy
(03:26):
allergy and crazy stuff.
Crazy. So I got a phone callfrom the lawyer that said, do
you know this account? Do youknow this company? I didn't, but
I learned all about him. Wentin, looked at what they were
doing, helped them right somewrongs, helped them set the
stage for a successful senioryear for him.
Literally myself or somebody whoworks for us looked at every
single meal that kid ate for hissenior year of high school. Not
(03:49):
one incident where he got hurtby food, graduated best email
I've ever seen in my life. Thereason I do what I do, the
reason I haven't slept in 14years is Sam and kids just like
Sam. So we are impactful, that'sa high school, but we're over a
1000 colleges. We're in hugecompanies as well as self op
(04:11):
locations.
We get to change the path forfood allergies on college
campuses, and today we're takingthat to retail. So now you can't
just say dairy free. We want youto prove it with our
certification at this point. Somaking it so Sam can eat and
every other kid like Sam caneat.
Francine (04:28):
So we all do what we do because we're very passionate
about what we do, and we allhave heard those stories just
like you. And you could tellprobably a 100 stories like
that, and we're very our podcastis very story driven. The little
boy in New York.
Betsy (04:44):
Oh, Elijah.
Francine (04:46):
Yes. Elijah, 3 years old.
Betsy (04:48):
First off, shout out to his beautiful parents, Dean and
Thomas. God love them. 3 yearold child at home up until he
goes to day care. Day care is acity run location, city of New
York. I believe it was in Hell'sKitchen.
1st week in day care, Wednesdayof that week, kiddo allergic to
dairy, somebody feeds him agrilled cheese sandwich. They
(05:08):
don't understand grilled cheesehas dairy in it. He passes away.
The end result is legislationstarting in New York that passed
in September of 2019 and also inIllinois, California, and it's
pending in a bunch of otherstates, which says all day cares
must have training and know howto use an epinephrine device,
(05:29):
how to save a life. Because I'msure the person that fed that
poor sweet child a grilledcheese syringe will never have
the same kind of life.
I'm sure it lives in her mind. Iknow it devastated, of course,
as parents and the impact whatgreat pass and what great
training's gonna come out ofthis, but my goodness, who would
not want that for their family,of course?
Francine (05:53):
These are emotional stories. These hit home because
they don't have to happen. It'sthe foodborne illnesses, the
food allergen deaths, whether weknow the people or not. And many
times, we meet them become veryemotional and very personal, and
you were very humble when youtalked about what you do. You're
a driving force behind some ofthe legislation and the things
(06:14):
that have gone on in the foodallergen space, and I know that.
And it wouldn't be where it iswithout you and people like
yourself. So his story was verytragic. I remember when it
happened, and I cannot imaginesending my child to day care or
the stories that just had cameout of Canada
Betsy (06:32):
Yeah.
Francine (06:33):
With the foodborne illnesses when they come home,
god forbid, sick and or withlifelong side effects from
something that they've eaten or,god forbid, die. What do you
wish the food service industryknew or understood better than
they do about the food that theyserve?
Betsy (06:52):
1st, thank you for the compliments. 2nd, I would love
to be out of business becausefood allergies weren't an issue
anymore, but I don't see thathappening right away. And what I
wish the industry wouldunderstand is they don't know
what they don't know, and thearrogance of pretending they
know is harming people. And sowe need to approach this as an
industry, and that's how I'vegone after it as a peer in the
(07:13):
industry to say, let's hop inthis together. Just a small
milligram of peanut protein cankill a kid.
Just a small piece of dairy.Dairy is the number one lethal
allergen. We always thinkpeanuts is. It's not. It's
dairy.
So getting educated, doing asimple course that costs less
than the equivalent of aStarbucks a month can teach your
(07:35):
people what to do and how tokeep somebody safe and keep from
having a restaurant or brandending event.
Matt (07:44):
Wow. I didn't realize that dairy was the most lethal. And
what is it? Is it the lactose inthe dairy? Or
Betsy (07:50):
You know what? It's the protein.
Matt (07:52):
It's the protein.
Betsy (07:52):
Protein in the dairy. It's the protein in it. I had
heard that for the first timefrom somebody at the FDA because
we do an event in March, andthey spoke and they said that.
And I was like, really? And thatwas last March.
I just heard it again verifiedby a PhD teacher out of a school
in London who also teaches inAustralia, and that's what all
(08:14):
the science backs. It's justvery lethal. It's actually one
of the reasons vegan vegetarianfood is a challenge because
people that are allergic todairy eat vegan food thinking
it's safe because there's notsupposed to be dairy and vegan
food. Here's the problem.Vegetarian food and vegan food
get mixed up.
Matt (08:29):
Yeah.
Betsy (08:30):
And vegetarian food has dairy, and the v stands for
victim at that point. It's nolonger vegetarian or vegan. It
is now a victim.
Francine (08:38):
Wow. So I was just a couple hours ago speaking to a
young lady that's here. She'sallergic to 7 of the major food
allergens, 7. Terrified to goout and eat in restaurants. She
doesn't do it.
Sure. We all understand why. Andshe was invited to dinner
tonight, and she's she'sterrified to go. It shouldn't be
that way.
Betsy (08:58):
It shouldn't. And with the right restaurant, it doesn't
need to be that way. It ispossible to safely serve people
with numerous food allergies.
Francine (09:07):
And I try to convince people of this. There's such a
market. If you go to the effortof training your people and
doing it right, there's such amarket for increased sales and
for those individuals that do.
Betsy (09:22):
It's a loyalty. Francine, it's a loyalty. Right. People
will go back. They will comeback for every major holiday.
They will come back for everygraduation. However, it is a
hard go to convince them, andthe only way training has gotten
any traction is from lawsuitsand government mandates, which
is a shame, but that's what'smade us move the needle.
Francine (09:44):
Well and most people don't know that it's considered
to be a disability.
Betsy (09:48):
It fully is. Yeah.
Matt (09:50):
I
Betsy (09:50):
do not know that either. Really?
Matt (09:52):
No. And I have a ton of kids with disabilities. And some
of them, they were preemie, andthey no longer have those
issues. But when they came home,they had a lot of allergy issues
as being preemie. Yes.
That is that's fascinating. Ididn't think of it as a
disability, but you'reabsolutely right. It it is.
Fully falls under ADA.
Betsy (10:09):
Wow. You would no more tell somebody they can't eat at
your restaurant because theyhave diabetes or because they're
in a wheelchair, but you canturn them away because they have
a food allergy. Now I understandyour concern about restaurant
tour is concerned about notbeing able to feed them
properly, but there's basictraining and basic things you
can do. I won't go into it. Icould talk for hours on this
(10:32):
topic, but there are plenty ofthings you could do to keep
somebody safe even with 7allergens.
Matt (10:37):
Netflix. I don't know if you watch Netflix at all, but
there's a series called rotten.
Betsy (10:42):
And I have not watched that series tonight.
Matt (10:44):
There's one about allergies, and there's a
restaurateur there that catersspecifically to people with
allergies. And he actuallyexplains the whole entire
process. So it'd be I recommendthat episode, and I would love
to have another conversationwith you after you watch it too
and be like, oh my gosh. If everwe could do this. But he talked
about the exact same thing thatthe loyalty that he receives
(11:05):
from his customers because ofthat.
Yeah.
Betsy (11:07):
We see it with our nutrition. We do a lot of
nutrition for restaurant brandsand then allergen charts and
makeup. Basically, we call themnutrition bibles. I hope I don't
offend anybody using that term,but truthfully, every ingredient
all the way down to subparticleingredients, we can let folks
know what's in what. If Ifyou're allergic to onions, you
need to know in onion soup orwhere are the onions, or in
(11:29):
tomato soup, is there onions?
Well, it might be down in thespices. So identifying all the
way down to minor ingredientsand adding ingredients is huge.
Matt (11:39):
I don't think god will care. He wrote a whole entire
book called Leviticus aboutabout nutrition.
Betsy (11:47):
That's wonderful. You just quoted the bible. It's
fabulous. Alright.
Matt (11:53):
Yeah. Fascinating book for everybody who's interested in
what they can and cannot do as aJew. So I would love to know,
like, what your thoughts are onthe difference between dietary
intolerances and dietaryallergens because I find that
that people use those 2interchangeably, and I feel like
that's a life and deathdifferentiation.
Betsy (12:16):
So that's really interesting. So first off, from
a food service standpoint, itdoesn't matter. If it's an
intolerance versus an allergy,you have to treat it the same
because you can't ask themprobing questions.
Matt (12:25):
Is this really going to kill you?
Betsy (12:27):
How bad? How much can you have?
Francine (12:29):
The other thing, how allergic are you?
Betsy (12:32):
On a scale of 1 to 10. And the truth of the matter is
allergic reactions today mightbe different than they were 6
months ago and different thanthey'll be 6 months from now.
Francine (12:40):
So that's
Matt (12:41):
a really good point because intolerance, you can
build up, and then all of asudden, there's a big
catastrophic issue.
Betsy (12:46):
You just fall off the cliff with it. And so there is a
challenge from that standpoint.Many people understand
intolerances in their own bodywhere if they eat a certain
thing, they know they're gonnaget a headache or they know
they're gonna get the sniffles,and that's truly an intolerance
versus they don't know whattheir reaction's gonna be. So in
our training, we teach 3different ways. We teach about a
(13:09):
food allergy and intolerance andabout gluten free celiac disease
so that our consumer, our foodservice professional taking our
course understands the threedifferent levels because it's
important.
Somebody with a food allergycould pass away instantly.
Somebody with intolerance isjust gonna feel poopy, and
somebody with celiac diseasemight get gluten and be in the
bathroom for 2 weeks. Incollege, that means they might
(13:31):
miss their midterms. So it's gota different play out based on
what their challenge is.
Matt (13:37):
Yeah. My wife is a nurse, and she was explaining to my
kids what happens with celiacdisease, and I was like, so
don't eat poop. Obviously, we'reokay with the graphic details,
but I didn't realize how graphicthat Yeah.
Betsy (13:48):
It's pretty nasty. Blosive nasty diarrhea. It just
it completely tears apart thevilli in your small intestines,
which makes things run rightthrough you. And people
literally literally can't leavea bathroom for I've heard of it
up to 2 weeks.
Matt (14:02):
Fun. Okay. Well, on that note, let's talk about something
a little different. Sorry.
Betsy (14:05):
It's okay. It's okay. We can talk poop.
Francine (14:08):
We talk poop all the time. Okay. Good. All the time.
So what does trust mean to you?
Betsy (14:16):
So I would explain it this way. Faith is watching
somebody cross a tightrope andknowing that they've been doing
it their whole lives and theycan go from one side to the
other. Trust is believing theyreally can do it with a
wheelbarrow, and I put my buttin the wheelbarrow. That's
trust.
Francine (14:32):
That is great and quick.
Matt (14:36):
We tell everybody all the time with our podcast when we
interview them that we reallyhope for stories. You just
naturally are a storyteller.
Betsy (14:43):
Yeah. I really am. Actually awesome. It's just what
I do because it really letspeople understand where my
passion comes from. Like, whenyou talk about trust is one of
our pillars at our company,integrity, service, and trust.
So trust, I talk about regularlybecause we're nothing if people
don't trust us and people don'tleave us because they trust us.
(15:04):
Right. Yeah. Our brand is basedon that. That's how
Francine (15:07):
you yeah. That's exactly how you vote your So
Betsy (15:08):
that was an easy one. You didn't even know you were
throwing me softball. Yeah. ButI love it.
Francine (15:12):
Well, no. And we've asked everybody that question
and
Betsy (15:15):
About trust?
Francine (15:15):
You know? Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Betsy (15:17):
Oh, really? Yeah. Oh, I apologize. I don't remember that
from your
Matt (15:20):
past didn't end it. Today.
Betsy (15:22):
Okay. Thank you. I was like, I've listened to your
podcast, you guys.
Francine (15:25):
No. No. Everybody today.
Betsy (15:27):
Yeah. That's my take on trust. Faith versus trust.
Matt (15:30):
But when somebody actually listens to your podcast when
they go, no. You don't ask thatquestion every single time.
Francine (15:39):
You're not during that question.
Matt (15:41):
You're asking trust, and you're lying to me. What's going
on?
Betsy (15:44):
That's how I define trust in my life, in my business.
Matt (15:47):
Another question we've asked everybody today is what do
you like about the I know itthis is only the halfway through
the 1st day, but what do youlike about the food safety
consortium? And then what wouldyou give advice or for
opportunities to make it better?
Betsy (16:01):
So I attended this a few years ago pre COVID, so it's
good to be back in person andaround people and connections.
That's just that's been myfavorite part so far. Yeah. To
make it better, I don't knowyet. I really don't.
I'm excited about the program.I'm excited about the variety
and the diversity that they'rehaving, so kudos for that. I
(16:23):
think they should ask me to doan allergy talk, but that's my
own opinion.
Matt (16:27):
That's good. Well, well, they're they're gonna be
listening to this. Just sayingthis.
Francine (16:33):
There you go. I love those of us that are like, I
think they should ask me tospeak. Then it would be better.
They just need to ask me tospeak.
Matt (16:40):
The problem is getting you off the stage, Francie. Oh. Such
an introvert you.
Francine (16:46):
Keep telling him I'm an introvert. Yeah.
Betsy (16:47):
I haven't seen that part of you.
Matt (16:50):
Okay, Francine. You keep telling him, maybe you don't
know the definition of introvertand extrovert. Okay. Is there
anything else you would like totalk about before we end this?
Betsy (17:00):
I just think it's super important what you guys are
doing. Carrying a a joyfulmessage about a hard subject and
sharing a message that we can dobetter and let's do better. And
that's really our message is wecan do better. Food is love.
Let's stop hurting people withit.
And that's bottom line. So Iappreciate what you guys are
doing and it's wonderful to seeyou.
Francine (17:20):
Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. We love what we do.
We have a lot of fun. Not thatanybody would believe that.
But
Matt (17:27):
Anybody who listens to our episode knows we have a lot of
fun.
Francine (17:30):
Right. Right. Sometimes I think too much.
Matt (17:32):
Alright. Well, it's a pleasure, Betsy. Thank you so
much.
Betsy (17:34):
You, Matt. Good to see you as always, Francie.
Francine (17:36):
Yes. You too. Thank you so much.
So I would explain it this way. Faith is watching
somebody cross a tight rope andknowing that they've been doing
it their whole lives and theycan go from one side to the
other. Trust is believing theyreally can do it with a
wheelbarrow, and I put my buttin the wheelbarrow. That's
trust.
Intro (00:22):
Everybody's gotta eat, and nobody likes getting sick.
That's why heroes toil in theshadows keeping your food safe
at all points from the supplychain to the point of sale. Join
industry veterans, FrancineElishar and Matt Ragucci for a
deep dive into food safety. Itall boils down to one golden
rule. Don't eat poop.
(00:46):
Don't eat poop.
Matt (00:47):
Today, we are with Betsy Craig from MenuTrinfo. Hey. Yes.
Awesome. Alright.
We're at the food safetyconsortium. Betsy, tell us a
little about yourself.
Betsy (00:58):
Oh, it's so exciting to talk about myself. Might be my
favorite topic, but good to seeyou, Matt. Good to see you,
Francine. So I came up with agreat idea off Facebook in 2010,
married to the right guy, builta database, do nutrition for
restaurants, built the companyfrom there, allergy training,
certified free from allergens,been living in that food safety
(01:19):
space. Before that, I've been inand around restaurants since I
was about 5 years old, soperfect fit.
Matt (01:25):
Nice. Not just like the happy meal at McDonald's, but,
like, actually in restaurants?
Betsy (01:29):
In restaurants started with a butcher shop when I was a
little kid. My grandparentsowned a butcher shop outside
Albany, New York. So I used toeat raw ground beef. They would
hand it to me over the counter.I know your face.
Look at Francine, Francine. Ijust gagged, and they would hand
it to me like a meatball. Andout of 5 year old kids, what I
ate. Today, I it just makes myskin crawl. But, yeah, from
(01:49):
there to Sizzler to Ponderosa torestaurants to full blown
restaurants to
Matt (01:56):
That's awesome. What made you go, oh my gosh. Somebody
needs to do this. I need tocreate this company called
MenuTinfo. And have you seenthat is actually accurate, that
there is a need for it?
And how has it been going?
Betsy (02:08):
So somebody gave me the idea on Facebook. They said menu
labeling was coming forrestaurants. So menu trends file
stands for menu nutritioninformation all mashed up. And I
knew we could build a nutritiondatabase and provide information
for consumers to be transparentabout what they're eating, save
their lives through salt contentor calorie content or help fight
(02:28):
obesity, all of that good stuffthat we get to do. Fairly
quickly, I knew that we wereonto something around allergens
because we could tag allergensall the way down to subparticle
ingredients.
And so that launched us into theallergen space. There was no
allergy training out yet. Wewere the first ones to do it.
We've been the leaders in thisspace for food service since
(02:50):
2010.
Francine (02:51):
So I know that you work for many major companies.
You've done a lot of good work,universities, colleges, all over
the country. What is yourbiggest success story?
Betsy (03:04):
I instantly think of a young kid I call Sam. It's not
his real name. Junior in highschool, 4 incidents of food
allergic reaction on a campus ofhigh school. Smart enough to get
invited to a special high schoolfor science and math. He's gone
on, by the way, as a junior incollege right now, premed, Great
kid, but 2 helicopter rides tosave his life because of a dairy
(03:26):
allergy and crazy stuff.
Crazy. So I got a phone callfrom the lawyer that said, do
you know this account? Do youknow this company? I didn't, but
I learned all about him. Wentin, looked at what they were
doing, helped them right somewrongs, helped them set the
stage for a successful senioryear for him.
Literally myself or somebody whoworks for us looked at every
single meal that kid ate for hissenior year of high school. Not
(03:49):
one incident where he got hurtby food, graduated best email
I've ever seen in my life. Thereason I do what I do, the
reason I haven't slept in 14years is Sam and kids just like
Sam. So we are impactful, that'sa high school, but we're over a
1000 colleges. We're in hugecompanies as well as self op
(04:11):
locations.
We get to change the path forfood allergies on college
campuses, and today we're takingthat to retail. So now you can't
just say dairy free. We want youto prove it with our
certification at this point. Somaking it so Sam can eat and
every other kid like Sam caneat.
Francine (04:28):
So we all do what we do because we're very passionate
about what we do, and we allhave heard those stories just
like you. And you could tellprobably a 100 stories like
that, and we're very our podcastis very story driven. The little
boy in New York.
Betsy (04:44):
Oh, Elijah.
Francine (04:46):
Yes. Elijah, 3 years old.
Betsy (04:48):
First off, shout out to his beautiful parents, Dean and
Thomas. God love them. 3 yearold child at home up until he
goes to day care. Day care is acity run location, city of New
York. I believe it was in Hell'sKitchen.
1st week in day care, Wednesdayof that week, kiddo allergic to
dairy, somebody feeds him agrilled cheese sandwich. They
(05:08):
don't understand grilled cheesehas dairy in it. He passes away.
The end result is legislationstarting in New York that passed
in September of 2019 and also inIllinois, California, and it's
pending in a bunch of otherstates, which says all day cares
must have training and know howto use an epinephrine device,
(05:29):
how to save a life. Because I'msure the person that fed that
poor sweet child a grilledcheese syringe will never have
the same kind of life.
I'm sure it lives in her mind. Iknow it devastated, of course,
as parents and the impact whatgreat pass and what great
training's gonna come out ofthis, but my goodness, who would
not want that for their family,of course?
Francine (05:53):
These are emotional stories. These hit home because
they don't have to happen. It'sthe foodborne illnesses, the
food allergen deaths, whether weknow the people or not. And many
times, we meet them become veryemotional and very personal, and
you were very humble when youtalked about what you do. You're
a driving force behind some ofthe legislation and the things
(06:14):
that have gone on in the foodallergen space, and I know that.
And it wouldn't be where it iswithout you and people like
yourself. So his story was verytragic. I remember when it
happened, and I cannot imaginesending my child to day care or
the stories that just had cameout of Canada
Betsy (06:32):
Yeah.
Francine (06:33):
With the foodborne illnesses when they come home,
god forbid, sick and or withlifelong side effects from
something that they've eaten or,god forbid, die. What do you
wish the food service industryknew or understood better than
they do about the food that theyserve?
Betsy (06:52):
1st, thank you for the compliments. 2nd, I would love
to be out of business becausefood allergies weren't an issue
anymore, but I don't see thathappening right away. And what I
wish the industry wouldunderstand is they don't know
what they don't know, and thearrogance of pretending they
know is harming people. And sowe need to approach this as an
industry, and that's how I'vegone after it as a peer in the
(07:13):
industry to say, let's hop inthis together. Just a small
milligram of peanut protein cankill a kid.
Just a small piece of dairy.Dairy is the number one lethal
allergen. We always thinkpeanuts is. It's not. It's
dairy.
So getting educated, doing asimple course that costs less
than the equivalent of aStarbucks a month can teach your
(07:35):
people what to do and how tokeep somebody safe and keep from
having a restaurant or brandending event.
Matt (07:44):
Wow. I didn't realize that dairy was the most lethal. And
what is it? Is it the lactose inthe dairy? Or
Betsy (07:50):
You know what? It's the protein.
Matt (07:52):
It's the protein.
Betsy (07:52):
Protein in the dairy. It's the protein in it. I had
heard that for the first timefrom somebody at the FDA because
we do an event in March, andthey spoke and they said that.
And I was like, really? And thatwas last March.
I just heard it again verifiedby a PhD teacher out of a school
in London who also teaches inAustralia, and that's what all
(08:14):
the science backs. It's justvery lethal. It's actually one
of the reasons vegan vegetarianfood is a challenge because
people that are allergic todairy eat vegan food thinking
it's safe because there's notsupposed to be dairy and vegan
food. Here's the problem.Vegetarian food and vegan food
get mixed up.
Matt (08:29):
Yeah.
Betsy (08:30):
And vegetarian food has dairy, and the v stands for
victim at that point. It's nolonger vegetarian or vegan. It
is now a victim.
Francine (08:38):
Wow. So I was just a couple hours ago speaking to a
young lady that's here. She'sallergic to 7 of the major food
allergens, 7. Terrified to goout and eat in restaurants. She
doesn't do it.
Sure. We all understand why. Andshe was invited to dinner
tonight, and she's she'sterrified to go. It shouldn't be
that way.
Betsy (08:58):
It shouldn't. And with the right restaurant, it doesn't
need to be that way. It ispossible to safely serve people
with numerous food allergies.
Francine (09:07):
And I try to convince people of this. There's such a
market. If you go to the effortof training your people and
doing it right, there's such amarket for increased sales and
for those individuals that do.
Betsy (09:22):
It's a loyalty. Francine, it's a loyalty. Right. People
will go back. They will comeback for every major holiday.
They will come back for everygraduation. However, it is a
hard go to convince them, andthe only way training has gotten
any traction is from lawsuitsand government mandates, which
is a shame, but that's what'smade us move the needle.
Francine (09:44):
Well and most people don't know that it's considered
to be a disability.
Betsy (09:48):
It fully is. Yeah.
Matt (09:50):
I
Betsy (09:50):
do not know that either. Really?
Matt (09:52):
No. And I have a ton of kids with disabilities. And some
of them, they were preemie, andthey no longer have those
issues. But when they came home,they had a lot of allergy issues
as being preemie. Yes.
That is that's fascinating. Ididn't think of it as a
disability, but you'reabsolutely right. It it is.
Fully falls under ADA.
Betsy (10:09):
Wow. You would no more tell somebody they can't eat at
your restaurant because theyhave diabetes or because they're
in a wheelchair, but you canturn them away because they have
a food allergy. Now I understandyour concern about restaurant
tour is concerned about notbeing able to feed them
properly, but there's basictraining and basic things you
can do. I won't go into it. Icould talk for hours on this
(10:32):
topic, but there are plenty ofthings you could do to keep
somebody safe even with 7allergens.
Matt (10:37):
Netflix. I don't know if you watch Netflix at all, but
there's a series called rotten.
Betsy (10:42):
And I have not watched that series tonight.
Matt (10:44):
There's one about allergies, and there's a
restaurateur there that catersspecifically to people with
allergies. And he actuallyexplains the whole entire
process. So it'd be I recommendthat episode, and I would love
to have another conversationwith you after you watch it too
and be like, oh my gosh. If everwe could do this. But he talked
about the exact same thing thatthe loyalty that he receives
(11:05):
from his customers because ofthat.
Yeah.
Betsy (11:07):
We see it with our nutrition. We do a lot of
nutrition for restaurant brandsand then allergen charts and
makeup. Basically, we call themnutrition bibles. I hope I don't
offend anybody using that term,but truthfully, every ingredient
all the way down to subparticleingredients, we can let folks
know what's in what. If Ifyou're allergic to onions, you
need to know in onion soup orwhere are the onions, or in
(11:29):
tomato soup, is there onions?
Well, it might be down in thespices. So identifying all the
way down to minor ingredientsand adding ingredients is huge.
Matt (11:39):
I don't think god will care. He wrote a whole entire
book called Leviticus aboutabout nutrition.
Betsy (11:47):
That's wonderful. You just quoted the bible. It's
fabulous. Alright.
Matt (11:53):
Yeah. Fascinating book for everybody who's interested in
what they can and cannot do as aJew. So I would love to know,
like, what your thoughts are onthe difference between dietary
intolerances and dietaryallergens because I find that
that people use those 2interchangeably, and I feel like
that's a life and deathdifferentiation.
Betsy (12:16):
So that's really interesting. So first off, from
a food service standpoint, itdoesn't matter. If it's an
intolerance versus an allergy,you have to treat it the same
because you can't ask themprobing questions.
Matt (12:25):
Is this really going to kill you?
Betsy (12:27):
How bad? How much can you have?
Francine (12:29):
The other thing, how allergic are you?
Betsy (12:32):
On a scale of 1 to 10. And the truth of the matter is
allergic reactions today mightbe different than they were 6
months ago and different thanthey'll be 6 months from now.
Francine (12:40):
So that's
Matt (12:41):
a really good point because intolerance, you can
build up, and then all of asudden, there's a big
catastrophic issue.
Betsy (12:46):
You just fall off the cliff with it. And so there is a
challenge from that standpoint.Many people understand
intolerances in their own bodywhere if they eat a certain
thing, they know they're gonnaget a headache or they know
they're gonna get the sniffles,and that's truly an intolerance
versus they don't know whattheir reaction's gonna be. So in
our training, we teach 3different ways. We teach about a
(13:09):
food allergy and intolerance andabout gluten free celiac disease
so that our consumer, our foodservice professional taking our
course understands the threedifferent levels because it's
important.
Somebody with a food allergycould pass away instantly.
Somebody with intolerance isjust gonna feel poopy, and
somebody with celiac diseasemight get gluten and be in the
bathroom for 2 weeks. Incollege, that means they might
(13:31):
miss their midterms. So it's gota different play out based on
what their challenge is.
Matt (13:37):
Yeah. My wife is a nurse, and she was explaining to my
kids what happens with celiacdisease, and I was like, so
don't eat poop. Obviously, we'reokay with the graphic details,
but I didn't realize how graphicthat Yeah.
Betsy (13:48):
It's pretty nasty. Blosive nasty diarrhea. It just
it completely tears apart thevilli in your small intestines,
which makes things run rightthrough you. And people
literally literally can't leavea bathroom for I've heard of it
up to 2 weeks.
Matt (14:02):
Fun. Okay. Well, on that note, let's talk about something
a little different. Sorry.
Betsy (14:05):
It's okay. It's okay. We can talk poop.
Francine (14:08):
We talk poop all the time. Okay. Good. All the time.
So what does trust mean to you?
Betsy (14:16):
So I would explain it this way. Faith is watching
somebody cross a tightrope andknowing that they've been doing
it their whole lives and theycan go from one side to the
other. Trust is believing theyreally can do it with a
wheelbarrow, and I put my buttin the wheelbarrow. That's
trust.
Francine (14:32):
That is great and quick.
Matt (14:36):
We tell everybody all the time with our podcast when we
interview them that we reallyhope for stories. You just
naturally are a storyteller.
Betsy (14:43):
Yeah. I really am. Actually awesome. It's just what
I do because it really letspeople understand where my
passion comes from. Like, whenyou talk about trust is one of
our pillars at our company,integrity, service, and trust.
So trust, I talk about regularlybecause we're nothing if people
don't trust us and people don'tleave us because they trust us.
(15:04):
Right. Yeah. Our brand is basedon that. That's how
Francine (15:07):
you yeah. That's exactly how you vote your So
Betsy (15:08):
that was an easy one. You didn't even know you were
throwing me softball. Yeah. ButI love it.
Francine (15:12):
Well, no. And we've asked everybody that question
and
Betsy (15:15):
About trust?
Francine (15:15):
You know? Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Betsy (15:17):
Oh, really? Yeah. Oh, I apologize. I don't remember that
from your
Matt (15:20):
past didn't end it. Today.
Betsy (15:22):
Okay. Thank you. I was like, I've listened to your
podcast, you guys.
Francine (15:25):
No. No. Everybody today.
Betsy (15:27):
Yeah. That's my take on trust. Faith versus trust.
Matt (15:30):
But when somebody actually listens to your podcast when
they go, no. You don't ask thatquestion every single time.
Francine (15:39):
You're not during that question.
Matt (15:41):
You're asking trust, and you're lying to me. What's going
on?
Betsy (15:44):
That's how I define trust in my life, in my business.
Matt (15:47):
Another question we've asked everybody today is what do
you like about the I know itthis is only the halfway through
the 1st day, but what do youlike about the food safety
consortium? And then what wouldyou give advice or for
opportunities to make it better?
Betsy (16:01):
So I attended this a few years ago pre COVID, so it's
good to be back in person andaround people and connections.
That's just that's been myfavorite part so far. Yeah. To
make it better, I don't knowyet. I really don't.
I'm excited about the program.I'm excited about the variety
and the diversity that they'rehaving, so kudos for that. I
(16:23):
think they should ask me to doan allergy talk, but that's my
own opinion.
Matt (16:27):
That's good. Well, well, they're they're gonna be
listening to this. Just sayingthis.
Francine (16:33):
There you go. I love those of us that are like, I
think they should ask me tospeak. Then it would be better.
They just need to ask me tospeak.
Matt (16:40):
The problem is getting you off the stage, Francie. Oh. Such
an introvert you.
Francine (16:46):
Keep telling him I'm an introvert. Yeah.
Betsy (16:47):
I haven't seen that part of you.
Matt (16:50):
Okay, Francine. You keep telling him, maybe you don't
know the definition of introvertand extrovert. Okay. Is there
anything else you would like totalk about before we end this?
Betsy (17:00):
I just think it's super important what you guys are
doing. Carrying a a joyfulmessage about a hard subject and
sharing a message that we can dobetter and let's do better. And
that's really our message is wecan do better. Food is love.
Let's stop hurting people withit.
And that's bottom line. So Iappreciate what you guys are
doing and it's wonderful to seeyou.
Francine (17:20):
Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. We love what we do.
We have a lot of fun. Not thatanybody would believe that.
But
Matt (17:27):
Anybody who listens to our episode knows we have a lot of
fun.
Francine (17:30):
Right. Right. Sometimes I think too much.
Matt (17:32):
Alright. Well, it's a pleasure, Betsy. Thank you so
much.
Betsy (17:34):
You, Matt. Good to see you as always, Francie.
Francine (17:36):
Yes. You too. Thank you so much.
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