Food Allergy Knowledge and Attitudes of Owners and Managers of Independently Owned Restaurants in Metro Orlando, Florida

Anirudh Naig, Nelson Placa Biblographic citation: Food Protection Trends, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 204-214, May 2023 Volume 43, Issue 3: Pages 204–214 DOI: 10.4315/FPT-22-029

Owners and managers (n = 102) of independently owned restaurants in Metro Orlando, FL, completed a web-based questionnaire that assessed food allergy knowledge and attitudes. Participants were confident in their knowledge of food allergens (4.28 ± 0.63). The attitude item with the lowest mean score was “not all restaurants needed to comply with food allergy policies” (2.70 ± 1.26), suggesting participants believed compliance with food allergy policies was critical in all restaurants. Eighty (78.4%) participants correctly answered all 10 knowledge questions. The mean knowledge score was 7.7 of 10 possible points. Florida requires foodservice workers to be knowledgeable about food allergies but does not mandate food allergy training or certification. It is in the best interest of foodservice estab-lishments to train workers on food allergies to safeguard customer health.

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