Almost There...

My last full week in Food Service Systems Management is complete. It is hard to believe that I have already spent 10 weeks here at UK Dining and Aramark.

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Allergen Solutions

Aramark is in the process of responding to demands from clients in relation to food allergies. The company initially responded to the demand for gluten-free services, but since food allergies are so common and often life-threatening, clients are beginning to want a solution to more than just gluten.

Appropriately named "Allergen Solutions" is a movement Aramark is making towards addressing the Top 8 Allergens in their facilities. There are many universities that are converting their Gluten-Free Zones into Allergen Solution stations. The team at UK decided that addressing all 8 of the most common food allergies is unrealistic and unnecessary for the population being served on campus. The majority of the allergy cases seen at UK are related to gluten, tree nuts, and peanuts. Therefore, Aramark and UK Dining are hoping to launch the new and improved Allergen Solutions this fall, which will be a Gluten and Nut-Free area.  

​​My involvement consisted of the development of the In-Service Guidelines for staff training. Here is the first draft that has been developed:

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As our schedules have thinned out with the absence of students, it has been a pleasure getting to know more about the people who work in the office. Over the course of 10 weeks I have learned much and more about the corporate world. I am intrigued by the relationship between Aramark and UK. Before the internship began I was finding myself more and more interested in business, and now that I have had the opportunity to work for essentially two companies at once I am finding it all the more exciting. It has always been a goal of mine to be self-employed, therefore it has been beneficial to be exposed to a large operation.

​As I was walking down the sidewalk after lunch last week, I stumbled upon a lucky charm near the office. I would like to think of this as a good omen of what is yet to come.

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Competencies:
CRD 2.2 Demonstrate professional writing skills in preparing professional communications. (Tip:  Examples include research manuscripts, project proposals, education materials, policies and procedures.)
CRD 4.5 Use current informatics technology to develop, store, retrieve and disseminate information and data. (Tip:  Informatics can include a variety of technology in the supervised practice activities.)
CRD 4.6 Prepare and analyze quality, financial or productivity data and develops a plan for intervention.
CRD 4.8 Conduct feasibility studies for products, programs or services with consideration of costs and benefits.
CRD 4.9 Analyze financial data to assess utilization of resources