Food & Nutrition
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Nutrition / Food
Our Cooks provide delicious and nutritious freshly cooked meals that encourage your child to taste as many new things as possible and help introduce them to the wonderful world of food. We will have a three-week rotating menu. We will supply a fresh fruit platter to each of the rooms for snacks on a daily basis. Water and milk will also be supplied.
Conall is our cook that prepares all the meals for the service. He has over 20 years’ experience in the food industry and we are delighted to have him on board to prepare the meals for the children.
Mealtimes are an important and fun social time for children and provide an opportunity to relax with their friends and catch up on the day’s events.
Our menu has been carefully created in our kitchen and we use only the freshest meat and seasonable vegetables, we don’t add any salt, artificial flavourings or colouring and all our stock is home made. We’re happy to cater for vegetarian diets and any other dietary requirements your child may have.
- All our cooks and food servers are trained and operate in kitchens approved by the HSE and are fully compliant with the H.A.C.C.P. (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points) food management system
- Our menus are compliant with the new legislation requiring that specific allergens such as peanuts, gluten, shellfish and dairy products, are clearly detailed.
About allergens
Our cooks are happy to work with parents whose child may have food intolerance or a food allergy which has been diagnosed by a GP. If your child follows a special diet, The cook will have a list in the kitchen of all children with food intolerance, we will also take the children picture and hand in the kitchen with the specified allergies and all staff will be made aware of it. We advise that you talk to your child about their food allergy so you can help your child understand what it means and how to stay safe. This is a skill that will serve your child well in the future.
How to talk to your child about food allergies
Start Simple.
For young children, work on introducing a few easy concepts at a time, starting with the most important things they should know to keep them safe.
Explain that there are certain foods that can make them very sick so use simple terms like ‘safe food’ and ‘unsafe food’. Also tell them the names of unsafe foods that they cannot eat and what they look like.
Point out bottles of milk, cartons of eggs, or bags of peanuts in the supermarket. Show them the foods that are unsafe foods and explain that they will be sick if they eat them, you can use pictures as well if that helps.
Make sure that your child knows that they only eat foods that are given to them by their parents or another trusted adult such as a grandparent or their teachers at the crèche.
Explain to your child that they should always tell an adult if they feel sick or need help.
Although it is important that your child understand that food allergies and intolerances are serious, it is equally important that you try to remain calm when discussing their allergies so you do not unnecessarily scare him or her.
When you have a positive tone about food allergies, they will also remain positive and they won’t be scared.
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- info@dundealganchildcare.ie
- (+353)87 343 9532