© Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press
Bryce Blaylock, who has a peanut allergy, eats popcorn inside the peanut-free suite section of Nationals Park, at a Philadelphia Phillies versus Washington Nationals game in Washington last July. Few restaurants and retailers are knowledgeable about the risks of food allergies, a British study finds.
Bryce Blaylock, who has a peanut allergy, eats popcorn inside the peanut-free suite section of Nationals Park, at a Philadelphia Phillies versus Washington Nationals game in Washington last July. Few restaurants and retailers are knowledgeable about the risks of food allergies, a British study finds.
The British study in the journal Clinical and Experimental Allergy showed there is no relationship between a restaurant worker's knowledge of food allergy and his or her confidence in being able to provide a safe meal to a customer with a food allergy.
"There's a huge need" for better awareness and training, said Marilyn Allen, a consultant on food safety and food labelling with Anaphylaxis Canada.
Estimates are that food allergies affect as many as five to six per cent of young children and three to four per cent of adults, according to Health Canada.
Many children with food allergies have grown up and are now in the three to four per cent of adults, Allen said.
"They're people who do need to go out and eat. We live in a society that needs to frequent food service operations as part of their life."
Allen is developing an allergy course for food service and retail handlers in conjunction with TrainCan, which already offers food hygiene and sanitation courses.
Comment: For more information regarding the truth about eating meat and fewer carbohydrates and their effects on the body, see this link:
"Life Without Bread"