Managing Food Allergies and Intolerances in the Hospitality Sector
Introduction
A food allergy is the response of the body to a food or protein the body perceives as injurious and therefore produces antibodies (Eigenmann, 2009).
Highly popular are allergies towards nuts, eggs or seafood. The symptoms can vary from swelling of the throat or mouth, skin reactions, noxious feeling, breathing difficulties or even collapse (Busky, 2012).
Intolerance on the other hand is the reaction when the body is not able to deal or digest a kind of food because the body misses or cannot produce certain enzymes. Most commonly known are lactose and gluten intolerances which are coeliac disorders. Triggering a malabsorption of several nutritional ingredients the sufferer has to deal with indigestion, mild abdominal (stomach) pain, bloating, occasional changes in bowel habit, such as episodes of mild diarrhoea or constipation, loss of appetite, weight loss or even vomiting (National Health Services). All these symptoms give high restrictions during daily life and require careful attention.
Further the term of anaphylaxis appears quite often in the context of food allergy. Anaphylaxis describes an extreme form of imunsystem reaction to a chemical contact with of a substance of the sufferer within the environment. It impinges on the whole body and can in worst cases lead to an anaphylactic shock which often causes death (National Health Services).
The British Allergy Foundation stated that in 2012 up to 21 million people in the UK are affected by food allergies and that almost 10 million of them are suffering from more than one allergy. They further estimated that by the year 2015 almost 50 per cent of the Europeans will suffer from an allergy.
These facts are already allowing an insight into the importance of the topic in the hospitality industry and its uprising as a contemporary issue of increasing significance.
In the following section some general information and research and three food allergy organizations will be presented more in
A food allergy is the response of the body to a food or protein the body perceives as injurious and therefore produces antibodies (Eigenmann, 2009).
Highly popular are allergies towards nuts, eggs or seafood. The symptoms can vary from swelling of the throat or mouth, skin reactions, noxious feeling, breathing difficulties or even collapse (Busky, 2012).
Intolerance on the other hand is the reaction when the body is not able to deal or digest a kind of food because the body misses or cannot produce certain enzymes. Most commonly known are lactose and gluten intolerances which are coeliac disorders. Triggering a malabsorption of several nutritional ingredients the sufferer has to deal with indigestion, mild abdominal (stomach) pain, bloating, occasional changes in bowel habit, such as episodes of mild diarrhoea or constipation, loss of appetite, weight loss or even vomiting (National Health Services). All these symptoms give high restrictions during daily life and require careful attention.
Further the term of anaphylaxis appears quite often in the context of food allergy. Anaphylaxis describes an extreme form of imunsystem reaction to a chemical contact with of a substance of the sufferer within the environment. It impinges on the whole body and can in worst cases lead to an anaphylactic shock which often causes death (National Health Services).
The British Allergy Foundation stated that in 2012 up to 21 million people in the UK are affected by food allergies and that almost 10 million of them are suffering from more than one allergy. They further estimated that by the year 2015 almost 50 per cent of the Europeans will suffer from an allergy.
These facts are already allowing an insight into the importance of the topic in the hospitality industry and its uprising as a contemporary issue of increasing significance.
In the following section some general information and research and three food allergy organizations will be presented more in
References: Abbot, JM.; Byrd-Bredbenner, C.; and Grasso D. (2007). “ Know before you serve” Developing a food allergy fact sheet. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly. Vol. 48, issue 3, pp. 274-283. Buskey RH.; Macky, RC. And Brown, NL. (2012). Food allergies: The implications for correctional facilities. Journal of Correctional Health Care. Vol. 18, issue 2, pp. 105-110. Din, N. ; Zahari, M. ; Othman, C. and Abas, R. (2012). Restaurant operator´s receptiveness towards providing nutritional information on menu. Procedia – Social and behavioral Sciences. Vol. 50, pp. 699-709. Eigenmann PA. (2009). Mechanisms of food allergies. Pediatric allergy and immunology. Vol. 20, pp. 5-7. Enz, CA. (2004). Issues of concern for restaurant owners and managers. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly. Vol. 45, issue 4, pp. 315-332. FAAN. (2010). A comprehensive program for training staff to safely prepare and serve food to guests who have food allergies. [online]. Available at: http://www.foodallergy.org/downloads/welcomingguests.pdf. [Accessed 8 November 2012]. Food Allergy Support. (2010). Sample Chef´s Card – What is on yours?. [online]. Available at: http://allergy.hyperboards.com/action/view_topic/topic_id/16086. [Accessed 8 November 2012]. Google Answeres (2006). Statistic required on how many items on an average supermarket shelf. [online]. Available at: http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=762490. [Accessed 2 December 2012]. Pizam, A. (2011). Menu labeling: The new trend. International Journal of Hospitality Management. Vol. 30, p. 221.