Food Protection Trends - September/October 2016 - 374

was to let interviewees express their opinions so researchers could gather as much information as they needed. According to the mental model interview guidelines, questions were developed to include three stages. Stage I captured participants' general beliefs and risk perceptions about serving customers with food allergies. Stage II directed interviewees to the main body of questions and explored how interviewees communicated and managed risks. In Stage III, the researcher explored the relative significance of food allergy risks perceived by the interviewees compared with other food safety risks. In addition, each participant was asked how much training was needed regarding food allergy risk communication in the restaurant industry. As suggested by Patton (34), questions about background, experience, and opinions were included to gather information from different perspectives. Each stage consists of three to four open-ended questions followed by additional questions as needed. Prior to data collection, four food allergy, foodservice management, and risk communication experts reviewed the questionnaire and provided feedback to ensure that questions were accurately phrased and designed to achieve the research objectives. Data collection and analysis Once participants were identified, invitation emails were sent out to them, with explanations of the purpose of the study and data collection procedure. For those managers who expressed willingness to participate, the researcher followed up with consent forms and scheduled telephone interviews. The procedure continued until data saturation was reached. The telephone interviews were transcribed verbatim by professional transcribers (CabbageTreeSolutions.com). The transcripts were verified by the researcher against the audio recording before data coding and analysis. The thematic analysis method (9) was employed to identify, review, and refine the themes of transcribed interview data. In order to ensure accuracy, triangulation was applied: the interview data were coded and analyzed by different researchers and compared to ensure consistency before major themes and subthemes were identified. RESULTS & DISCUSSION A total of 16 managers from different full-service restaurants participated in telephone interviews. The average duration of the interviews was 17 minutes (Range: 9-29 minutes). Nine managers were from independently owned restaurants, and seven from chain-operated restaurants. The majority (n = 12) of the restaurants had more than 30 employees, and all participants (n = 16) stated that their restaurants would accommodate allergen-free orders upon customers' requests, although only one offered an allergen-free menu. Table 1. Characteristics of restaurants where participants work (n = 16) Characteristics Location Texas Kansas Restaurant classification Independently owned Chain Total number of employees 15 or less 16-30 31-60 Greater than 60 Experienced food allergy reactions incidents in the restaurants Yes No Offered allergen-free menus or gluten-free menus in restaurants Allergen-free menu Gluten-free menu 374 Food Protection Trends September/October Frequency 8 8 9 7 0 4 7 5 2 14 1 2 http://www.CabbageTreeSolutions.com

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