A free and potentially life-saving online food allergy training program for cooks and chefs has been launched by the National Allergy Strategy.
Food allergy rates in Australia are rising, with about one in 20 children between the ages of 10-14 and 2-4 per cent of adults affected.
Food-induced anaphylaxis has also doubled in the past 10 years, and fatalities from food-induced anaphylaxis increase by seven per cent each year.
The strategy has launched the training with the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy and Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia.
It has been developed in conjunction with chefs and cooks with experience in commercial kitchens, and aims to help people who eat at restaurants feel more confident with what they order.
Cooks and chefs will be educated on the safest way to handle, prepare, cook and store food to prevent food-related allergic reactions.
"Majority of fatalities from food-induced anaphylaxis occur when people are eating out," Associate Professor Richard Loh, co-chair of the National Allergy Strategy, said.
"So that is our area of focus. We've developed this specifically for cooks and chefs to maximise their understanding of food allergies and hopefully reduce the number of food-induced allergic reactions we see."
There are two versions of the new training program. One for general food services such as restaurants and cafes, and one for camp food services, such as school camps or sports camps.
Common causes of food-related allergic reactions in commercial settings include wait staff not communicating the customer's food allergy to cooks and chefs, using utensils across several food types, not checking the ingredients label on pre-prepared products such as mayonnaise or tomato sauce, customers not informing kitchen staff about their allergy, and customers not clarifying whether their request is due to an allergy, an intolerance or that they simply dislike something.
