The knowledge, attitudes and practices of food allergy of restaurant employees in İstanbul, Turkey

The purpose of this study was to examine food allergy knowledge, attitude and practice among restaurant employees in İstanbul, Turkey. In the study 490 participants consisting of managers, kitchen workers and service staff were included. The average knowledge score of the participants was 41.74, the attitude score was 69.42 and the practice score was 75.26. According to these results, the level of food allergy knowledge and attitude of the restaurant employees were 'moderate' and the practice level was evaluated as 'low risk practice'. It was found that only 22.9% of the participants attended food allergy training and very few of the participants (26.9%) stated that they could provide appropriate service in order to prevent food allergy. The knowledge and practice scores of the participants receiving food allergy training were statistically higher than those not receiving food allergy training (p<0.05). The knowledge (56.61), attitude (75.86) and practice (84.09) scores of the managers were higher than those in other positions (p<0.05). It was found that knowledge, attitude and practice scores increased significantly as sector experience increased (p<0.05). Only less than half of the participants identified cow milk, eggs, nuts, peanuts, shellfish, wheat, soy and fish as one of the eight most common food allergens. A significant positive correlation was observed between knowledge with attitudes (rs=0.12, p<0.05), knowledge with practices (rs=0.39, p<0.05) and attitudes with practices (rs=0.245, p<0.05).