Managing Food Allergens: Awareness and Training Programs for Handlers of Ethnic Foods.
Alfonso Tirado, Department of Human Nutrition, Food, and Animal Science and Aurora A. Saulo, Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Hawai`i at Manoa.
USDA CSREES Award# 2003-51110-1729

About 11 million Americans are believed to be allergic to foods, resulting in approximately 30,000 emergency room visits and 150-200 deaths. Most of these occurrences result from accidental exposure to risky foods in foodservice situations. Since the number of foods eaten outside the home is increasing, especially ethnic foods, we developed a simple, easy-to-use educational program on food allergy for foodhandlers preparing predominantly ethnic foods. The educational package is a complete food allergy awareness and training certification course consisting of a 9-minute DVD, an instructional manual (with certification exams), quick reference posters, and stick-on labels. These materials covered up-to-date information (till 2008) on food allergy including the new labeling law, the role of the food service industry in preventing food allergic reactions, procedures for addressing the needs of food allergic guests, traditional cooking practices and use of ingredients that may result in hidden food allergens, and how to avoid hidden food allergens. By educating foodhandlers on the effective management of food allergens, Hawaii aims to serve as a leader and model to other States in providing the food allergic consumer with choices ordinarily available only to non-food allergic individuals.

• Food Allergies - Let us know. We care.
  [Windows Media Format - 10 min 9 sec]
  [Real Format - 10 min 9 sec ]
  [Quicktime - 10 min 9 sec] (This is a higher-quality video, but will take a few minutes before the video starts)
  
  
• Food Allergies: Let Us Know, We Care (Manual)
  
  
• Food Allergies Could Mean Life or Death (Poster)
  
  
• Please Let Us Know (Sticker)
  

The FOOD ALLERGIES – LET US KNOW. WE CARE. Educational materials are also available by the project collaborators. We expect to have all updated materials posted on this website by June 2011. In the meantime, if you are interested in organizing a workshop on personal hygiene, sanitation, or any other practices to improve the safety of the food you manufacture or handle, please contact Dr. Aurora Saulo via email (aurora@hawaii.edu), voice (808 956 6564), or text (808 226 1950).