Researchers polled UK restaurant workers and discovered a staggering 68% admit they need better knowledge of allergies and how they might affect their customers.
In fact, 16% of workers polled admit they do not have any comprehensive understanding of allergies, while a quarter (23%) are not confident about advising customers with serious allergies about the food they are serving.
A further one in six say that they do not receive regular training or updates about potential allergy issues.
The parents of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse have successfully campaigned for a change in the law to require producers of pre-packed foods to list all their ingredients. The law will come into force in 2021.
Until now, takeaways and restaurants have had to inform customers only if any of the 14 most dangerous allergens - including peanuts, eggs and milk - are contained in their dishes.
Yet, over half (58%) of the 500 restaurant workers surveyed said that they worry when customers ask about whether food contains certain ingredients.
Peanuts (49%) are the top concern for frontline food service staff, followed by tree nuts, like walnut, almond and hazelnut (45%), eggs (38%), cereals (37%), milk (37%) and sesame seeds (31%).
Probed further about their knowledge, only 40% said they could identify the 14 top allergens as named by the Food Standards Agency.
And when it came to staff being faced by a customer suffering an allergic reaction, just over a third (35%) were able to cope because of staff training, while 31 percent were unsure what action to take and four percent admit that they panicked.
When it comes to consumers themselves, the research discovered that 26% have food allergies, with six percent of respondents saying their condition is serious.
Commenting on the findings of the research, which was commissioned by Fourth, CEO Ben Hood said, “The research clearly indicates the scale of the challenge our industry faces in ensuring all workers are educated in and comfortable in dealing with allergens and allergy sufferers.
'Ultimately, as we all know, this can be a matter of life and death – the touch paper has been lit for fundamental change in the way to approach allergens, but the industry needs to join together to collaborate, agree solutions and cement best practice.'
Hood continued 'As long-standing supporters of the industry, and with our technology, we’re determined to be a driving force in this challenge.
“This is the hospitality industry's cause celebre and this research underpins the absolute imperative to drive meaningful change so that both customers and servers can have absolute confidence when it comes to allergens.”
The study also revealed that on their last trip to a restaurant, a massive 73% of people were not asked if they had allergies before they ordered.
And to make matters worse, 36% of people have had ingredients on their plate which weren’t listed on the menu.
No surprise then that 89% of people think that food outlets should be more aware of allergies. With two thirds saying it is a matter of life and death.
There are positive signs from the research, with 31 percent of food workers saying they are told before each shift about any potentially problematic ingredients.
And even more comforting is that 77 percent of them are confident in their employer’s allergy policy.
(source: Fourth, image: pexels)