Chances are, if you work in the food service industry, you’ve come into contact with a customer with a severe food allergy. Food allergies are increasingly becoming more and more common among Americans. While many restaurants provide their staff with education on safe handling practices for food allergies upon hire, continued instruction and monthly training could be the difference between life or death for a patron with severe food allergies.
Severe food allergic reactions can result in a life-threatening condition known as anaphylaxis. According to FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education), hospitalizations from severe reactions occur 200,000 times a year, which is one hospitalization every three minutes! If that doesn’t scare you, one study conducted in 2007 revealed that of 63 food allergy-related fatalities, half of those fatalities involved restaurants. Additionally, recent litigation brought on behalf of those with food allergies have also raised awareness among restaurant operators about the importance of regularly training staff. Thus, food allergy training is an important component of any foodservice.
The good news is, MenuTrinfo has taken the guess work out of developing your own on-going food allergy training program with the AllerSTAR monthly poster program. 5 minutes every month gives your staff retainable and reliable training tips for properly handling customers with special dietary needs. Not only will you be providing your staff with accurate and up-to-date food allergy training, you will be helping keep your customers safe while dining and doing your food allergy due diligence.
In today’s climate of increased food allergy prevalence, increased food allergy litigation risk, and increased food allergy legislation, it isn’t enough to simply say that your staff has completed one food allergy training course. Best practice demands that staff be trained in a manner that will ensure long-term retention of important information through on-going learning events. The continual training could make the difference between avoidable mistakes and turning customers with food allergies into loyal repeat patrons. It can also potentially save you from the lengthy and expensive litigation process that ensues after an allergic reaction takes place in a restaurant.
