Purpose: This study investigated restaurant employees’ food allergy (FA) knowledge and identified previous FA training, preferred characteristics of a future FA training and reasons for not interested in attending FA training.
Methods: The questionnaire was developed based on interviews with four restaurant employees and previous literature. Research panels consisted of restaurant employees in the U.S. who were recruited by a market research company (Qualtrics Inc.).
Results: A total of 229 participants completed this survey. Approximately 82% (n = 187) participants indicated that they worked for an “allergy-friendly” restaurant. Common strategies to accommodate clients with food allergies included modifying recipes upon request (n = 175) and stating allergen on the menus (n = 97). Of maximum 28 points possible, the mean food allergy knowledge score was 20.76 ± 3.44 (range = 6 to 28). Most participants could identify symptoms of a food allergic reaction (n = 196) and respond to it (n = 174). Only 27% (n = 84) participants indicated that they have been trained about food allergies. Most of the training was conducted when an employee was newly hired (n = 46), lasted for less than 2 hours (n = 62), and in a group setting (n = 46). Eighty percent (n = 183) participants showed interest in attending a future food allergy training. They preferred a training that is self-paced, incorporates examples that mimic the real-world situations, and uses simple language. Forty-six participants were not interested in attending training because they perceived a training to be “not needed,” “time consuming,” “not beneficial” and “boring.”
Significance: Employees have some knowledge about food allergy. Employee food allergy training was uncommon but majority participants were interested to be trained. Future training should incorporate characteristics that are most appealing to the restaurant employees.