How to Create an Allergy Protocol For Your Restaurant

An estimated 33 million Americans have food allergies. That’s roughly one in ten.

While the FDA Food Code only requires that restaurant managers be educated and prepared to deal with food allergies, an increasing number of states are expanding regulatory requirements for allergy awareness in the industry.

What should you do to ensure a safe dining experience for everyone? What does a comprehensive allergy protocol include, and what steps can you take to work toward one? We’ll explore these questions below.

Identifying Common Allergens

There are over 170 foods that can induce allergic reactions, but luckily, 90% of food allergies are caused by nine ingredients. That makes allergy-safe dining a little more attainable.

In order of allergy, the “Big 9” are:

• Shellfish (~8 million allergic)
• Milk (~6 million)
• Peanut (~6 million)
• Tree nuts (~4 million)
• Egg (~2.5 million)
• Finfish (~2.5 million)
• Wheat (~2.5 million)
• Soy (~2 million)
• Sesame (>1 million)

A comprehensive restaurant allergy protocol needs to go further than memorizing this list. There’s also the matter of understanding each category. What counts as shellfish, tree nuts, or finfish? What processed or bulk-ordered foods contain these ingredients where you might not expect them?

Creating a Restaurant Allergy Plan

Creating a comprehensive restaurant allergy protocol can be intimidating because there are many moving pieces, but you can start small and expand your efforts to make it more manageable. Allergen-free dining is a logistical commitment, but there are many steps toward a safe dining experience that don’t require as much effort.

Communicating with Customers Effectively

Uncertainty is the biggest enemy for customers with food allergies. If they’re not sure whether a food contains an allergen, they have to assume it’s dangerous.

So, one of the most basic steps you can take is to have someone who knows their stuff and can provide definitive answers when a customer asks. Better yet, have someone knowledgeable create a cheat sheet of answers for your entire staff to use as a reference.

Although you want to provide solid answers, it’s also important to know your limits. It’s quite difficult to guarantee allergen-free dining. It requires a separate food prep area and separate utensils. If you haven’t made this effort, you should include a caveat with any answers. This can mean the difference between life and death for people with extremely sensitive reactions.

Implementing Clear Menu Allergy Labels

Adding allergy labels to your menu is a good place to start – it enables your customers to protect themselves without asking, and an increasing number of states are adding menu allergy labels as a requirement.

There are a variety of options, some of which don’t even require you to reprint your menu.

A common choice is to add a single allergy statement to your menu that warns patrons that you can’t guarantee “no contact” with Big 9 allergies (or to specify that you can do so upon request if you have the means). You can do this with a sticker or a handwritten addition if you’re not ready for a reprint. Be specific.  Only list the allergens you use in your kitchen, but be sure to include all ingredients, even if you rarely use them.

Another low-cost option is to print a limited number of special menus that list all ingredients for each dish. A complete ingredient list enables customers with rarer allergies or sensitivities to benefit. Train staff to provide these upon request.

If you’re ready for a menu reprint, consider a two-pronged approach where you add both an allergy statement and flag dishes with specific symbols or notes to indicate allergens.

Training to Handle Allergy Emergencies

Another early step you can take toward a safe dining environment is to train staff in recognizing and handling allergy emergencies. Customer-facing staff need to be able to recognize the symptoms of a food allergy event and know the best way to respond.

This way, you can make your restaurant safer for those with food allergies without offering allergen-free dining.

Staff Training for Allergies

We’ve mentioned more limited staff training in earlier sections, but providing more comprehensive allergy awareness training to your staff can help ensure they understand the seriousness of the issue and know how to accurately answer questions.

This is true regardless of whether your kitchen will be capable of offering allergen-free dining. Knowledge is power.

And knowledge doesn’t have to be expensive.

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As a respected online training provider for over 20 years, we can provide comprehensive and cost-effective food allergy training. You can even bundle it with food handler training, responsible alcohol training, food safety manager training, and other necessities.

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