SITHKOP004: Developing Gluten-Free Menus for Children's Dietary Needs

This project focuses on developing a gluten-free menu tailored for children with gluten intolerance. The assignment outlines the identification of customer dietary and cultural requirements, specifically targeting Australian children. It details a daily menu with breakfast, morning tea, lunch, evening tea, and dinner options, all adhering to gluten-free guidelines. The project includes a menu overview, a checklist ensuring the inclusion of various food items with different colours, textures, flavors, and shapes while meeting the Australian Dietary Guidelines. Furthermore, the project provides a detailed breakdown of the menu, cooking methods, and nutritional content of each meal. Costing and performance monitoring are also addressed, including customer satisfaction surveys and feedback analysis to evaluate the menu's effectiveness. The analysis highlights the importance of meeting dietary goals and suggests improvements, such as incorporating more fruit-based beverages and a wider variety of legumes and lentils to enhance fiber intake.

Running head: MENUS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
MENUS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

Running head: MENUS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
Task 2: Menu 2 (Daily Menu: Gluten Free, Children)
Breakfast 1 Breakfast 2 Morning Tea Lunch 1 Lunch 2 Evening Tea Dinner 1 Dinner 2
Strawberry,
Yogurt and
Walnut
Gluten-free
Oatmeal
Chicken and
Spinach
Omelette with
Sundried
Tomatoes,
1 glass Orange
Juice
1 Cup Cocoa with
Apple and Peanut
Butter
Sandwiches
Toasted Corn
bread slices
topped with
Sautéed French
beans along
with
Salmon and
Black Bean
Salad
Coleslaw
Cornbread
Sandwich with
Roasted
Chicken Salad
1 cup Soy
milk with
Cream
Cheese
topped
Salted Rice
and Peanut
Flour
Crackers
Vegetables and
Chicken
Casserole,
Roasted Carrot
Sticks,
Stewed Pears
and Fresh Cream
Baked Lemon
and Garlic
Salmon Fillet,
Grilled Potato
Salad, Cherry
and Peach Parfait
topped with
Toasted
Almonds and
Gluten Free
Oats.

Running head: MENUS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
Task 2.1: Identification of Customer Dietary and Cultural Requirements
Response to Question 1
The menu is developed for school going children, who are suffering from gluten
intolerance.
Response to Question 2
Considering their intolerance to gluten, their dietary requirements would be as per
those mentioned in the Australian Dietary Guidelines for Children, but would comprise of
foods which are gluten free. The chosen group of children belong to Australian ethnicity,
which was considered during menu planning (Halmos et al., 2018).
Response to Question 3
The Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents formulated by the Department
of Health of the Australian Government was the chosen source of information for these
requirements (O’Halloran et al., 2016).
Response to Question 4
The diet was administered among primary grade children belonging to homes in the
locality and hence, it was liaised with the concerned parents of the children.
Response to Question 5
If dietary requirements of gluten free foods are not met, then the children with gluten
tolerance may suffer from detrimental gastrointestinal symptoms due to gluten ingestion (De
Angelis et al., 2016).

1MENUS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
Response to Question 6
Considering the prevalence of gluten intolerance among the chosen children group,
provision of nutritionally adequate and palatable gluten free foods which would not
exacerbate gastrointestinal symptoms would be the chosen dietary goals.
Task 2.2: Menu Overview
As observed from the checklist below, the menu incorporates food items of various
colours, textures, flavours and shapes and also provides gluten free menu items as per the
dietary preferences of the chosen customer group. The menu also provides key micro and
macro nutrients as observed below and hence, shows compliance to the Australian Dietary
Guidelines.

Running head: MENUS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
Task 2.3: Menus and Meal Plans for Special Diets
Key checklist Points:
 Ingredients suitable for customer group
 Uses prep/cooking methods that maximise nutritional value
 Meets requirements for menu and food variety
 Meets macro-/micronutrient requirements
 Meets Australian Dietary Guidelines
 Meets nutritional requirements of customer group
 Uses correct terminology
Meal Menu Main
Ingredients
Cooking Methods Flavours Textures Sizes/Shapes Nutrients Checklist
Breakfast Strawberr
y, Yogurt
and
Strawberry,
yogurt,
walnut, gluten
free oatmeal
Boiling Sweet, tangy,
nutty
Soft, creamy,
crunchy
Coarsely
chopped,
round slices
Calcium,
protein,
vitamin c,
carbohydrate,
The menu fulfils the
checklist criteria by
incorporating gluten
free foods, of

1MENUS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
Walnut
Gluten-
free
Oatmeal
fibre various textures,
flavours and
cooking methods. It
meets the Australian
Dietary Guidelines
through provision of
various micro and
macro nutrients.
Morning
Tea
1 Cup
Cocoa
with
Apple
and
Peanut
Butter
Sandwich
es
Cocoa, apples.
Peanut butter
Boiling Sweet, nutty Soft, creamy,
crunchy
Round Carbohydrate
, fibre,
unsaturated
fat, proteins
Lunch Toasted
Corn
bread
Corn bread,
French beans,
salmon, black
beans
Toasting, sautéing Savoury,
nutty,
Crunchy, soft Square Carbohydrate
, proteins,
unsaturated
fat, omega 3,

2MENUS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
slices
topped
with
Sautéed
French
beans
along
with
Salmon
and
Black
Bean
Salad
B vitamins,
calcium,
iodine, zinc,
magnesium
Afternoon
Tea
1 cup
Soy milk
with
Soya milk,
crackers,
cream cheese
Boiling, baking Sweet, nutty,
salty
Crunchy Rectangular Proteins,
calcium,
unsaturated
fat, iron,

3MENUS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
Cream
Cheese
topped
Salted
Rice and
Peanut
Flour
Crackers
Vitamin B
Dinner Vegetabl
es and
Chicken
Casserole
, Roasted
Carrot
Sticks,
Stewed
Beans,
cabbage,
broccoli,
carrots, pears,
fresh creams
Stewing, Roasting,
Boiling, Simmering
Savoury,
spicy, salty,
sweet
Creamy, crunchy Round,
rectangular
Proteins,
carbohydrate,
fibre,
Vitamins A,
B and C,
Calcium

4MENUS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
Pears and
Fresh
Cream

Running head: MENUS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
Task: 2.4: Menu Costing
Meal Cost
Breakfast $6
Morning Tea $3.5
Lunch $7
Evening Tea $2.5
Dinner $8
Total Cost: $27

Running head: MENUS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
Task 2.5: Monitoring Menu Performance
The menu was administered among 20 primary grade children, suffering from gluten
intolerance, from homes in the community. The menu was evaluated by group discussions
among the parents of the children along with conducting surveys among children through
parental assistances.
Success of the Menu against Customer Dietary Goals
The menu was reported to be successful since parents reported no signs of intolerance
upon administration of the diet.
Level of the Customer Satisfaction
The children expressed overall satisfaction with the diet, but however, requested the
addition of more fruit based drinks such as smoothies, in addition to just milk based
beverages.
Task 2.6: Review of Performance
Response to Question 1
Feedback was obtained through methods such as discussions with the parents as well
as conducting feedback surveys among the children via parental assistance.
Response to Question 2
Feedback was obtained from the concerned parents of the children as well as the
children themselves.
Response to Question 3
The dietary goals were achieved considering the absence of any detrimental
gastrointestinal symptoms among the children with gluten intolerance.

1MENUS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
Response to Question 4
While most of the foods met the dietary requirements, an absence of core food groups
items of lentils, legumes and pulses was observed which must be amended.
Response to Question 5
Lack of sufficient legumes and lentils may hamper the achievement of the dietary
goals of adequate fibre consumption, which may be difficult to meet from gluten free grains
or vegetables alone (Fayet-Moore et al., 2017).
Response to Question 6
The lunch and dinner items rated the highest satisfaction score from parents as well as
children, since they included a variety of interesting savoury as well as sweet items.
Response to Question 7
While the children and parents expressed satisfaction with most of the food items, the
lack of fruit based beverages such as smoothies was met with dissatisfaction.
Response to Question 8
Children and parents were not satisfied at the absence of additional beverages rather
than merely cocoa or milk based drinks.
Response to Question 9
Considering the feedback, additional innovative options of gluten free beverages will
be incorporated in the diet.

2MENUS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
References
De Angelis, M., Vannini, L., Di Cagno, R., Cavallo, N., Minervini, F., Francavilla, R., ... &
Gobbetti, M. (2016). Salivary and fecal microbiota and metabolome of celiac children
under gluten-free diet. International journal of food microbiology, 239, 125-132.
Fayet-Moore, F., Petocz, P., McConnell, A., Tuck, K., & Mansour, M. (2017). The Cross-
Sectional Association between Consumption of the Recommended Five Food Group
“Grain (Cereal)”, Dietary Fibre and Anthropometric Measures among Australian
Adults. Nutrients, 9(2), 157.
Halmos, E. P., Deng, M., Knowles, S. R., Sainsbury, K., Mullan, B., & Tye‐Din, J. A. (2018).
Food knowledge and psychological state predict adherence to a gluten‐free diet in a
survey of 5310 Australians and New Zealanders with coeliac disease. Alimentary
pharmacology & therapeutics, 48(1), 78-86.
O’Halloran, S. A., Grimes, C. A., Lacy, K. E., Campbell, K. J., & Nowson, C. A. (2016).
Dietary intake and sources of potassium and the relationship to dietary sodium in a
sample of Australian pre-school children. Nutrients, 8(8), 496.