Food Protection Trends - September/October 2016 - 380

explain the food preparation processes to customers (n = 3), or put a statement or disclaimer on the menu to encourage customers to notify restaurant servers about their food allergies (n = 4) (Table 5). It is noteworthy that only four out of 16 restaurant managers included a statement or disclaimer on their menus informing customers to notify servers if they have food allergies. In Massachusetts and Rhode Island, all foodservice establishments are required by law to include this statement (11, 29). Food allergy risk management Food allergy risk management plans. For risk management plans or protocols related to serving customers with food allergies, six participants indicated they had risk management plans or safety manuals in the restaurant detailing procedures in the event of food allergy reactions. All six were chain restaurants (n = 3) or independent restaurants located in chain hotels (n = 3). Most stand-alone independent restaurants did not have any risk management plan in place. It is unclear if the rest of the chain restaurants did not have established risk management plans or if managers simply were not aware of or trained in risk management procedures. One participant mentioned that "we know where they are located but we don't really go over them if something happens." This finding further demonstrates that establishing procedures may not be enough to protect restaurant customers with food allergies. Training restaurant managers in following restaurant procedures while handling food allergy emergencies is an essential step. Food allergy risk vs. food safety risk. Participants were asked to compare food allergy risk (e.g., potential cross contact in food preparation areas) and food safety risk Table 5. Food allergy risk communication strategies Strategies Selected Quotes Remind customers of specific ingredients "We have a lot of pork products that are under you know certain names that people mostly don't necessarily know that it is pork so we let them know." Read your customers "You know servers their whole job is to read people. That is all they do and sometimes you will see a server who goes up to a table and can read that there is something wrong and will ask the guest, 'Is there something that I can do to help you? Is there something you need?' and at that point a lot of times the guest will say, 'Well, I have a foodborne allergy and I would really love if you can give me some ideas'." Explain food preparation process "Making sure that you have a manager go over to them and explain the process and express how much that they matter to the restaurant so that they can feel assured that every measure is being taken to make sure that we are going to do our best to avoid any food allergies." Suggest proper cooking equipment "Depending on the dish that they are requiring and the severity of the allergy we communicate with the guest and we give them the best possible option to provide for them. So for instance if the guest is highly allergic to some type of fat and they wanted something that was grilled we would -- we would recommend them having it cooked in a pan because we know that the pan has been washed and cleaned, whereas the grill may still have traces from previous cooking throughout the day." Statement or disclaimer on menu "We have just kind of a disclaimer: If you have gluten allergies or what have you for any of our foods let us know and we can clean the cooking surfaces and prep our cooked foods that don't come under contact with different oils or peanuts or what have you." Allergy cards "What we've seen for the truly, you know highly severe reactions that the customers have that, they bring in a piece of paper that tells me what they're highly allergic to. Which allows me to give it to the chef so they can avoid utilizing any of those ingredients in the food that they order." 380 Food Protection Trends September/October

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