Food allergy training event for restaurant staff; a pilot evaluation

Samuel Bailey, Tiffany Billmeier Kindratt, Helen Smith, David Reading

A previous cross-sectional survey highlighted that restaurant staff in Brighton had gaps in their knowledge of food allergy, which could lead to the provision of unsafe meals to food-allergic customers. A food allergy training event was developed by a multi-disciplinary team (health service researcher, clinician, teacher and patient group representative) to equip restaurant staff with the knowledge and skills necessary to safely serve food-allergic customers. This evaluation summarises the training event's impact on participants' knowledge of food allergy and their satisfaction with the event. No attendee had previously attended any formal training on food allergy. The percentage of participants who answered all true-false questions correctly increased from 82% before the training event to 91% afterwards. The percentage of participants who were able to name at least three common allergens increased from 9% to 64%. Both quantitative and qualitative feedback was positive. Restaurant staff require a good understanding of food allergy to ensure that food-allergic customers are kept safe, and their restaurants operate within the law. This food allergy training event improved participants' absolute knowledge of food allergy, and attendees changed practice. Recommendations are made which could improve the impact and uptake of future food allergy training events.