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Food allergy knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) among restaurant's staff in Jordan: a cross-sectional study

Nour Amin Elsahoryi (Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of Petra, Amman, Jordan)
Refat Alkurd (Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of Petra, Amman, Jordan)
Leena Ahmad (Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of Petra, Amman, Jordan)
Amin N. Olaimat (Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, The Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan)
Fwzieh Hammad (Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan)
Richard Holley (University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada)

British Food Journal

ISSN: 0007-070X

Article publication date: 10 December 2020

Issue publication date: 30 September 2021

466

Abstract

Purpose

People with food allergies rely to a great extent on restaurant staff to have a safe meal. The purpose of this paper is to acquire novel data to evaluate knowledge, attitudes and practices of food allergy among the restaurant's staff and factors that could be associated with these domains.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional study involving 306 restaurant staff in Amman City, Jordan was conducted using a validated self-reported questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors independently associated with knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP).

Findings

The results showed that most restaurant staff had moderate to excellent knowledge, positive attitudes, low to moderate risk practices regarding food allergy. Knowledge level was significantly associated with the staff's age, position, education level and restaurant class. Further, attitude level was significantly associated with staff age, experience, gender, education level, restaurant class and whether the restaurant held food safety certificates. Similarly, staff behavioral practices were significantly associated with staff position, restaurant class and the presence of valid food safety certificates.

Practical implications

This study suggests that more training for the staff in restaurants would be associated with a lower risk of providing unsafe meals.

Originality/value

This study demonstrated the need for the pre-employment theoretical and practical tests for restaurants’ staff to determine their knowledge level and provide them mandatory developing training programs to support and facilitate food allergy risk management and to develop food allergy policies.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support received from Scientific Research Board of Petra University, Amman, JordanFinancial support: The Funding was provided by the Dean of Scientific Research and Graduate Studies, University of Petra, Amman, Jordan.Author contributions: Nour Amin Elsahoryi designed the study, collected, analyzed, interpreted data and wrote the manuscript. Refat Alkurd contributed in designing the study, data collecting and writing the manuscript. Leena Ahmad contributed in writing the manuscript. Fwzieh Hammad contributed in designing the study and data analysis. Amin N. Olimat and Richard Holley revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.Conflicts of interest: There are no conflicts of interest.

Citation

Elsahoryi, N.A., Alkurd, R., Ahmad, L., Olaimat, A.N., Hammad, F. and Holley, R. (2021), "Food allergy knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) among restaurant's staff in Jordan: a cross-sectional study", British Food Journal, Vol. 123 No. 9, pp. 3056-3069. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-06-2020-0522

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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