Food Safety Consultant Focus on Food Allergens and Restaurant Menus

A recent study says this food safety consultant reported that 1 in 13children suffer from some type of food allergy. Most common are nuts and milk. As for adults in general – nuts, shellfish and products including gluten rank high on the list. It is no longer a myth that certain foods cause allergies. Just look at any food label in the USA where certain information is now reported as to whether the food was processed in a plant with certain nuts, such as peanuts. In fact, years ago many reactions and illnesses were thought to have something to do with the person’s health or some other factor such as hay fever or the weather. According to a recent article in USA Today, children had severe reactions attributed to food allergies – excluding other non-food allergic reactions – which are dangerous according to the researchers study. “Overall, 8 percent of the children studied had food allergies; peanuts and milk were the most common sources. That translates to nearly 6 million U.S. children.” Many an expert and this food safety consultant concluded in this story food allergies are on the rise. In another survey on food safety, the two biggest food allergies among adults were shellfish and peanuts. It said, “One bite of the wrong cupcake or cookie and a person could face days of illness, lost work or worse — anaphylactic shock.” So what should restaurants do about it from a foodservice expert standpoint? Educate – show and tell staff about the different allergies and what food causes it along with the potential complications experienced by the customer; Train – incorporate policies and procedures that staff can follow to better know and advise customers what menu items have certain allergy producing foods; Publicize – list ingredients and what menu items contain and warn about certain food allergens; Promote – be proactive and feature special menu items that are free of certain foods that cause allergic reactions and be sure to tell your customers about it! Does your restaurant, foodservice operation or food safety consultant provide any training and education on food allergies for customers? We welcome your sharing what one or two key suggestions you find most effective to help fellow restaurateurs.