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CulinaryTraining every employee for their duties

Servers, cooks and dishwashers do different jobs around the same allergy. Under the FDA Food Code the person in charge ensures employees are properly trained in food safety, including food allergy awareness, as it relates to their assigned duties. In Massachusetts, the trained person in charge trains the rest of the staff, and the allergen poster stays in the employee work area.

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Scenarios

  • A new server starts on Monday.
  • A dishwasher moves to the prep line.
  • The restaurant chooses an allergen awareness course for its person in charge.

The steps

  1. Train each employee in food allergy awareness for the duties they have.
  2. Teach the major food allergens and the symptoms they can cause in a sensitive person.
  3. Cover the risks of offering food with major allergens, ingredient identification and labeling, how to prevent cross-contact, and the establishment's own procedures, communication and controls.
  4. Teach how to recognize the symptoms of an allergic reaction and how to respond.
  5. In Massachusetts, the person in charge trains the other staff members according to their assigned duties.
  6. Post the allergen awareness poster, at least 8.5 by 11 inches, in the employee work area, with the nine allergens, the risks, the procedure, to ask when unsure and "Call 911" prominently visible.

Safety rules that stop the station

  • No employee takes on a duty without the allergy training for it.

To pass

  • Each establishment can build training for its own operation; the rule does not require every food employee to pass a test that is part of an accredited program.
  • In Massachusetts, a course is approved if it is ANAB-accredited with the state's content areas, approved by FARE in its FAREcheck program, or an interactive video with an exam that covers the content areas; the old state video no longer counts.

Official source

Federal · FDA Food Code 2022, 2-103.11 (O) and Annex 3

FDA Food Code 2022 (full document)

The FDA publishes the 2022 Food Code free: 2-103.11 (O) and its Annex 3 explain the food allergy awareness training of employees.

Making Synapses is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by the FDA, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health or any certification provider. Agency names are named only to describe the content.

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