What does a special diet cook do?
Special diet cook responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real special diet cook resumes:
- Coordinate with in-house & outside counsel, practice development
- Prep individual food plates for children with allergies, intolerances, and special diets.
- Prepare three meals daily for individuals with dietary restrictionsKeep organize lists of all dietary restrictions and allergies.
- Cook with convection oven, large tilt skillets, flat grills, fryers, large chef knives, and measuring utensils.
- Learned successful techniques for operating a small business including leadership skills, time-management skills, and decision-making skills.
- puree, soft, normal, no dairy, etc.
- Learned successful techniques for operating a small business including leadership skills, time-management skills, and decision-making skills.
Special diet cook skills and personality traits
We calculated that 41% of Special Diet Cooks are proficient in Food Handling, Food Preparation, and Food Safety.
We break down the percentage of Special Diet Cooks that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Food Handling, 41%
Received Food Handling Safety and Sanitation certification.
- Food Preparation, 35%
Provided assistance to the Institutional Training Instructor in food preparation and daily menu planning.
- Food Safety, 20%
Enforced food safety regulations by implementing high sanitation standards which yielded quality products.
- Allergies, 4%
Cooked meals for people with allergies or religious preferences in an institutional setting.
Most special diet cooks use their skills in "food handling," "food preparation," and "food safety" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential special diet cook responsibilities here:
Dexterity. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a special diet cook to have is dexterity. Their role and responsibilities require that "cooks should have excellent hand–eye coordination." Special diet cooks often use dexterity in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "inventory dietitian sanitation food safety course warehouse forklift safety certification custodial worker general maintenance / preventative maintenance"
Sense of taste and smell. Another essential skill to perform special diet cook duties is sense of taste and smell. Special diet cooks responsibilities require that "cooks must have a keen sense of taste and smell to prepare meals that customers enjoy." Special diet cooks also use sense of taste and smell in their role according to a real resume snippet: "prepped individual food plates for children with allergies, intolerances, and special diets. "
The three companies that hire the most special diet cooks are:
- CHRISTUS Health1 special diet cooks jobs
- LaRosa's Pizzeria1 special diet cooks jobs
- Smashburger1 special diet cooks jobs
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Compare different special diet cooks
Special diet cook vs. Garde manager
A line cook/prep cook is responsible for assisting with food preparations, ensuring that all ingredients are readily available and stored safely. Line cook/prep cook tasks also include reviewing and updating menus to keep the customers' patronization. Their duties also include researching the current food industry trends, managing customers' inquiries, resolving serving complaints, monitoring food supplies and inventories, and complying with sanitary regulations. A line cook/prep cook must have excellent time-management and multi-tasking skills to perform various tasks under strict time demands and a fast-paced environment.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between special diet cooks and garde manager. For instance, special diet cook responsibilities require skills such as "food preparation," "food safety," "allergies," and "diet restrictions." Whereas a garde manager is skilled in "culinary," "salad dressings," "garde manger," and "cleanliness." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, garde managers reach similar levels of education than special diet cooks. Garde managers are 1.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Special diet cook vs. Cook manager
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that special diet cook responsibilities requires skills like "food handling," "food safety," "allergies," and "food orders." But a cook manager might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "kitchen equipment," "customer service," "food service," and "payroll."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Cook managers tend to reach similar levels of education than special diet cooks. In fact, they're 1.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Special diet cook vs. Cook/baker
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a special diet cook is likely to be skilled in "food safety," "diet restrictions," "extreme attention," and "regulatory safety," while a typical cook/baker is skilled in "kitchen equipment," "food service," "patients," and "cleanliness."
Most cook/bakers achieve a similar degree level compared to special diet cooks. For example, they're 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Special diet cook vs. Line cook, prep cook
Types of special diet cook
Updated January 8, 2025
