Study Measures How Much Restaurant Management Knows About Food Allergens
Last month, the Journal of Foodservice Business Research published a study indicating that restaurant managerial staffers have a lot to learn when it comes to food allergies--even those who have gone through training.
Researchers at Auburn University surveyed 110 U.S. restaurant managerial employees--owners, managers and chefs--from both independent and chain establishments. The overall goal was to find out how aware and prepared these staff members are in terms of serving customers with food allergies.
While the study showed that 80 percent of participants indicated they had received training about food allergies--and 70 percent had provided training to their staff members within the past year--there’s still a lot of room for improvement. Results revealed the following:
Authors of the Journal of Foodservice Business Research article indicated that “restaurateurs are evidently underestimating the severity of food allergies,”
Not only that, survey participants acknowledged running into a few barriers that hinder food allergen training for restaurant employees--lack of commitment, lack of interest in attending such training, conflicting schedules and employee turnover.