Salad Dressing Basics

Know the pertinent information about salad dressing before offering it in your establishment

Salad dressing is used in a variety of ways in the food service industry. These versatile condiments are most commonly used to flavor a salad. However, they can also be used to add flavor to a sandwich, and they can even be used to cook with, such as an Italian salad dressing marinade on meat.

Regardless of how your business uses salad dressing, there is some basic information you should know. Consider the following suggestions to help you get to know all the salad dressing basics.

1. Keep salad dressing safe for your customers to eat by practicing food safety with all salad dressings.

2. Learn how to describe the flavor of salad dressing varieties to your customers.

3. Know the basic nutritional information for salad dressings from your salad dressing distributors.

 

Practice food safety techniques for salad dressing

Pasteurized salad dressing can usually be stored in dry storage. However, once the container is open, the dressing must be refrigerated to prevent food poisoning. This is especially true for mayonnaise based dressing and dressings that contain raw egg. If you opt to make homemade salad dressing for your restaurant, you must ensure that all ingredients stay within the acceptable temperature range before, during and after preparation.
Try: The Association for Dressings and Sauces offers detailed information about food safety guidelines for salad dressings. The Arizona Department of Health Services website offers storage guidelines for salad dressings.

Know basic descriptions of salad dressing

At times, customers may ask for a description of one or more of your salad dressings. Common varieties, such as Italian salad dressing and ranch, may not require much explanation. However, varieties such as Greek salad dressing or Caesar salad dressing may prompt more questions. Knowing some of the ingredients and how to describe the taste is a good way to earn repeat customers by showing that you are knowledgeable about your products.
Try: Kraft offers a detailed description of each of its private label salad dressing varieties. WiseGeek provides information about the function of salad dressings and some of the ingredients used in them.

Stay informed about the nutritional content of salad dressing

Every variety of salad dressing has a specific nutritional content, including calories and fat. However, these values can vary from one salad dressing companies to another because of individual recipes used. Knowing some of the basic nutritional information about the dressings you serve is an important part of customer service.
Try: Dr. Gourmet offers basic information about the nutritional content of various types of salad dressing. You can find nutritional information about salad dressings by salad dressing manufacturers or salad dressing brands at CalorieKing.com.

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