Allergy awareness has skyrocketed in recent years — especially awareness of food allergies. However, businesses that sell food products sometimes have had trouble catching up. A study of more than 2,700 adults found that restaurants were the second-most common location to trigger allergic reactions.

However, there are ways to make cafes, restaurants, and other food providers safer for people with food allergies. The same study found that only 13 percent of these reactions occurred in restaurants where customers informed staff about their allergies and menus contained information about allergens in dishes.

If you run a food business, the following four tips can help you provide a safe food experience for your customers. If you have food allergies, you can share these tips with people in the food service industry.

1. Train Staff To Communicate

Providing food allergy training to your workers can make a huge difference. Make sure all staff know the ingredients in recipes and can communicate those ingredients to patrons.

In a restaurant, front-of-house staff should be trained to ask patrons about food allergies. Kindness and patience are very important, as people with food allergies often feel awkward or nervous when talking about their medical information. One MyFoodAllergyTeam member said, “It's really tough having to explain to the restaurant waiter about your food allergy.” “We used to be restaurateurs and food was our life,” another said. “Now eating out is difficult because I always feel like the difficult one!”
Waiters and front-of-house staff should also be able to communicate allergy information to kitchen staff. MyFoodAllergyTeam members report restaurants that promise allergen-free dishes on their menus but don’t deliver.

One said, “I went out to eat and told the waiter I needed the gluten-free menu. I ordered the baked scrod without the bread crumbs and asked for a gluten-free dressing and steamed broccoli. He delivered a bread-crumb loaded fish dish, a bread-crumb topped broccoli casserole, and a salad loaded with croutons.” Another said, “So many restaurants are offering gluten-free menu items but cross-contaminate in the kitchen. They still don't get it.”

All food allergen information should be part of a written plan that is communicated throughout your place of business and is available to staff if they need a refresher. Keep this plan up to date, especially as your recipes and products change.

2. Use Food Transparency To Warn About Allergens

Consumers, even those without food allergies, are becoming more interested in a concept called food transparency — knowing which ingredients are in the food they eat and where these ingredients come from. If you’re selling packaged products, make sure that your food labels are complete and highlight any allergens. Restaurants can provide ingredient lists for each dish so people with food allergies can have the most information available. If it’s not possible to list every single ingredient, such as at a restaurant, note common food allergens, such as wheat, shellfish, tree nuts, and soybeans, on your menu. Online restaurant point-of-sale systems can also store information about allergens.
Detailed information can help people with food allergies feel more secure at your place of business and keep them coming back. One MyFoodAllergyTeam member said, “I personally always try to find restaurants that have food allergy menus online so you can read the ingredients listed.”

3. Avoid Cross-Contamination

Staff should have closed containers for common allergens, like seeds or wheat flour, to prevent those ingredients from cross-contact with other food items. If your business has a kitchen with enough room, you can create a separate allergen-free preparation and cooking area. If not, thoroughly sanitize these areas before preparing food for people with food allergies. For example, clean all utensils and work surfaces, as well as uniforms and gloves. Changing fryer fat may also be necessary.

Even when serving food, it’s important to use separate serving utensils and send out plates separately. Preparing “allergy kits” with sanitized utensils in advance can be helpful, along with stickers or other notes to mark plates for people with food allergies.

4. Train Staff To Handle Allergic Reactions if They Occur

Your staff should know what to do if a patron does have an allergic reaction. Studies of restaurant workers found that, although most were informed about food allergies and had a positive attitude about serving people with these allergies, many had not been trained on what to do if someone had an allergic reaction in their place of work. Knowing the symptoms of an allergic reaction, as well as how to properly treat people with mild and severe allergic reactions — like anaphylaxis — will keep customers safe.

Find Your Team

MyFoodAllergyTeam is the social network for people with food allergies and their loved ones. On MyFoodAllergyTeam, more than 41,000 members come together to ask questions, give advice, and share their stories with others who understand life with food allergies.

If you run a business, how do you ensure the safety of customers with food allergies? If you’re living with food allergies, what are your favorite ways that businesses keep you safe? Share your experience in the comments below, or start a conversation by posting on your Activities page.