Food safety in independently owned and operated restaurants: Comparing owners' knowledge and attitudes towards foodborne illness and food allergy reaction prevention

Foodborne illnesses are a serious threat to public health that may be associated with virtually all food commodities of animal and plant origin. Food allergy or adverse immune response to certain food proteins affects about 12 million Americans. Restaurants have key roles in providing safe food to consumers. Of all reported foodborne illnesses, 59% are associated with restaurants. The restaurant industry is one of the largest private-sector employers with 13 million employees in 945,000 locations to serve more than 130 million individuals per day. Independently operated restaurants may be defined as those foodservice establishments not associated with national or corporate restaurant chains. Such independently-operated restaurants are often small in size and have limited resources to provide employees with food safety and food allergy training. The purpose of this project is to examine independently-operated restaurants owner-operators' knowledge and attitudes regarding foodborne illness and food allergy reaction prevention. A random sample of independently owned and operated restaurants in the United States was surveyed using a mailed questionnaire. The results suggest greater knowledge of foodborne illness risks and prevention measures compared to food allergy reaction risks and prevention measures. Additionally, many restaurant owner-operators related food safety to foodborne illness prevention but not to food allergy reaction prevention. The research highlights the need for greater education and training on food allergy prevention at independently owned and operated restaurants.