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RESTAURANTS and FOOD ALLERGIES
Tips for Eating Out
Chef Ming Tsai has some tips to share for eating out with food allergies. Listen!
Welcoming Guests With Food Allergies
With one in 25 Americans reporting a food allergy, restaurants are increasingly likely to have customers who require a special meal. Welcoming Guests With Food Allergies provides tools to train restaurant staff to safely prepare and serve food to guests with food allergies.
Available for free, this comprehensive program is an updated and revised version of an earlier training program published by the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN). This 60-page guide includes case studies, best practices, up-to-date research, food labeling information, and practical strategies for avoiding cross-contact, as well as suggested procedures for keeping guests safe and steps to prepare for an allergic emergency. Restaurants can use this guide as a basis for their food allergy management programs.
What's New?
Important legislation in Massachusetts (S.2701) will help promote food allergy awareness among restaurants in that state. This bill, sponsored by Sen. Steven Panagiotakos, calls for
- the prominent display of a food allergy awareness poster in the restaurant staff area
- a notice on menus of the customer’s obligation to inform the server about any food allergies
- a food allergy training requirement for food protection managers and persons in charge of restaurants
If you live in Massachusetts and would like to help pass S.2701, contact your local state senator and express your support. Contact information for your state’s U.S. senator can be found here. Feel free to download and use this sample letter (.doc ~46KB).
In Pennsylvania, H.B.1626 would require restaurant certification programs to include a training component on food allergies that would describe what food allergies are, how to avoid cross-contact during food preparation, and how to respond to customer inquiries relating to food allergies. The training component, which would be developed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, would consist of a video and written materials.
If you live in Pennsylvania, please contact your state representative and express support for this important legislation. To find contact information for your state representative, visit www.house.state.pa.us and use the “Find Members By” feature in the upper right hand corner.
Another bill in Pennsylvania, H.B.1089,
calls for allergy information to be posted in food preparation areas and requires employees to receive food allergy training.
In Michigan, H.B.4400
would require restaurants to post an “allergy warning” on menus and/or tables and would make food allergy training materials available to restaurant owners and local health departments.
In New York, A.B.5086 calls on the state commissioner of public health to approve food allergy educational materials for restaurant owners and employees. S.B.2328,
also under consideration, would require food service establishments to have on site at least one person trained and certified in multiple food safety issues, including food allergy.
Food Code Revisions
The newly released edition of the FDA’s Food Code contains a definition of “major food allergen” that is consistent with the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA). The Code now recommends that the person in charge of a food establishment demonstrate knowledge of major food allergens.
The Food Code, which is revised every four years, acts as model food safety guidelines for retail food establishments. Local, state, and federal regulators use the Code as a model to develop or update their own food safety rules, which promotes uniformity across the nation.
Public Information Campaign in New Jersey
A law passed in New Jersey in 2005 (P.L.2005, c.26) created the
"Ask Before You Eat / Know Before You Serve" public information campaign,
designed to inform New Jersey restaurant personnel about food allergies and anaphylaxis. The campaign is currently being carried out by the Rutgers University Department of Nutritional Sciences and Food Policy Institute, along with the New Jersey Restaurant Association.
If you have any questions on legislation related to restaurants and food allergies, the FDA Food Code, or the New Jersey public information campaign, please send an e-mail to
advocacy@foodallergy.org .
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