food allergy emergency, restaurant manager participants demonstrated a lack of knowl- edge in identifying and managing allergen risks. Furthermore, restaurant manager par- ticipants who had received food allergy train- ing were more likely to have an action plan in place to accommodate customers who have food allergies and implement an action plan in case of an allergic reaction in the restau- rant (Wham & Sharma, 2014). To reduce incidents of allergic reactions to food in restaurants, owners should imple- ment food allergy training that includes an action plan for if a customer has an aller- gic reaction (Wen & Kwon, 2016). Further, Madera et al. (2013) concluded that employ- ees with limited English ability received inad- equate training because most training is not presented in their primary language. Provid- ing food safety educational materials in rele- vant languages other than English is essential to minimizing food safety risks (Rajagopal, 2013). Moreover, implementing policies and procedures to accommodate customers who have food allergies could prevent many aller- gic reactions to food in restaurants. Our study had several potential limita- tions. It was conducted 3 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting tem- porary and permanent restaurant closures had a large impact on our data collection pro- cedures and access to the sample population. Participants remained anonymous, which made it dicult to determine if multiple par- ticipants from the same restaurant had par-
ticipated in the study. Moreover, because the study was conducted during the pandemic, owners or managers might have had a height- ened awareness of food safety and sanitation procedures. And lastly, social desirability bias might have also influenced participants, as data were self-reported. Conclusion Our study found that restaurants in the Orlando metropolitan area accommodated customers who have food allergies, but few restaurants had written food allergy policies and procedures in place. Written policies and procedures ensure all employees handle accommodation requests for food allergies similarly. The absence of written policies and procedures can lead to dierences in how employees handle food allergy accom- modations, resulting in life-threatening con- sequences. Only seven states and two cities in the U.S. require commercial food service establishments to accommodate consumers who have food allergies and provide employ- ees with food allergen awareness training (FARE, 2024; Nienstadt, 2016). In Florida, there are no laws to protect con- sumers with food allergies or require employ- ees to receive training on food allergies. Implementing legislation to standardize and improve safety and awareness in restaurants about food allergies could reduce risk to con- sumers in Florida and other states. To this aim, FARE (2024) has developed a Restaurant Leg- islation Toolkit that provides guidelines and
resources to advocate for legislation in states that do not have laws regarding food allergies. Additionally, restaurants should consider adding food allergen awareness posters in English and Spanish in prominent locations to assist food service employees in accommodat- ing customers who have food allergies. Fur- ther, owners, operators, and managers should consider developing and implementing stan- dard food allergy policies and procedures to reduce the risk of a food allergy incident. Future studies could investigate factors that influence the development and implementa- tion of food allergy policies and procedures in independently owned restaurants. Additional studies could use questionnaires and focus groups to evaluate perceived motivators and barriers of restaurant employees, which could inform the development and implementation of food allergy policies and procedures. Findings from our study can be used to inform legislators in Florida about developing and implementing food allergy laws. Further development and implementation of food allergy policies, procedures, and employee training—independent of food allergy leg- islation status at the state level—will enable food service establishments to better protect customers who have food allergies. Corresponding Author: Anirudh Naig, Depart- ment of Apparel, Events, and Hospitality Man- agement, Iowa State University, 31 Mackay Hall, Ames, IA 50011. Email: anaig@iastate.edu
References
Abdelmassih, K., Rajagopal, L., & Arendt, S.W. (2016). A mixed methods approach to examining food allergy accommodation eorts in colleges and universities. The Journal of Foodservice Management and Education , 10 (2), 26–34. Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. (2015). Division of Hotels and Restaurants–Food allergen awareness. https:// www2.myfloridalicense.com/hr/forms/documents/5030_038.pdf Food Allergy Research & Education. (2023). Living with food allergies: Food allergy 101 . https://www.foodallergy.org/living-food-allergies/ food-allergy-essentials/food-allergy-101 Food Allergy Research & Education (2024). Food allergies and food service establishments. https://www.foodallergy.org/our-initiatives/ advocacy/know-your-rights/food-allergies-and-restaurants Food and Drug Administration. (2022). Draft guidance for industry: Questions and answers regarding food allergen labeling (Edition 5).
https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance- documents/draft-guidance-industry-questions-and-answers- regarding-food-allergen-labeling-edition-5 Gupta, R.S., Warren, C.M., Smith, B.M., Jiang, J., Blumenstock, J.A., Davis, M.M., Schleimer, R.P., & Nadeau, K.C. (2019). Prevalence and severity of food allergies among U.S. adults. JAMA Network Open , 2 (1), e185630 https://doi.org/10.1001/ jamanetworkopen.2018.5630 Lee, Y.M. & Sözen, E. (2016). Food allergy knowledge and train- ing among restaurant employees. International Journal of Hos- pitality Management , 57 , 52–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm. 2016.05.004 Lee, Y.M. & Xu, H. (2015). Food allergy knowledge, attitudes, and preparedness among restaurant managerial sta. Journal of Food-
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