It’s the job of food service professionals to protect not only their establishments but also their customers. Chemical hazards, such as allergens, are a hidden threat. The most common food allergens are tree nuts, soy, fish, peanuts, shellfish, eggs, wheat, and dairy.
Here are 4 ways to prevent a food allergy disaster in your establishment.
Know Your Products Ingredients
Allergens are the sneakiest chemical hazard that can affect consumers. Employees should be informed of all ingredients used and sold within the establishment. If a customer asks about an allergen, employees should be able to provide accurate ingredient information.
Prevent Cross Contamination
All ingredients should be segregated and clearly labeled. Labeling is especially important if there are common allergens within the products. Before food prep begins, the work surface should be cleaned thoroughly; and again when food prep is complete. The employee preparing the food should follow proper handwashing protocol and wear gloves at all times. After preparation, the surface should be cleaned thoroughly. All cooking utensils used should be cleaned before coming in contact with other ingredients.
Choose Your Suppliers Wisely
Your ingredients come from your suppliers. Choose your suppliers wisely. Be picky; only select suppliers that you can trust. The last thing anyone wants is to choose a supplier who falsely advertises the contents of their products or doesn’t inform you of the other foods prepared within their facility.
Make Product SDS Available
Having all Safety Data Sheets (SDS) on file is crucial to preventing chemical hazard disasters. An SDS provides all employees with the information needed in the event that someone does get poisoned. It provides the origin of the product, symptoms, reactions, first-aid information, and more.
To learn more about how to prevent food safety disasters, check out our Food Safety Webinar. You can watch the recording of our live webinar, hosted by Rochelly Serrano, and download a copy of the slides here.
The eight allergens named above are the ones kitchens have trained on for years: tree nuts, soy, fish, peanuts, shellfish, eggs, wheat, and dairy. Sesame is now a ninth major food allergen in the United States. The FDA’s FASTER Act page is the source for that addition. A recipe card or a supplier sheet that still lists only eight can miss it.
The four steps in this article depend on that list being current. Staff can answer an allergen question only from the ingredients they were given. Segregated, labeled ingredients and a clean station limit cross-contact. The supplier has to say what else is prepared in the facility. The safety data sheet is the separate file this article describes for a poisoning: where the product came from, the symptoms, and the first aid.
For more on restaurant food safety, read How to Pass a Restaurant Health Inspection: A Guide for Owners and Essential Temperature Control Tips for Restaurant Food Safety.