While much has been done to educate food handlers on safe food-handling practices, continued training in food allergies is needed by workers to recognize the initial signs of allergic reactions – and the best practices for safely preparing food for and serving food allergic guests.<\/p>\n
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Although most food allergies cause relatively mild and minor symptoms, some food allergies can cause severe reactions, and may even be life-threatening.<\/p>\n
There is no cure for food allergies. Strict avoidance of food allergens \u2014 and early recognition and management of allergic reactions to food \u2014 are important measures to prevent serious health consequence.<\/p>\n
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While more than 160 foods can cause allergic reactions in people with food allergies, the law identifies the eight most common allergenic foods. These foods account for 90 percent of food allergic reactions, and are the food sources from which many other ingredients are derived.The eight foods identified by the law are<\/em><\/strong>:<\/em><\/p>\n
These eight foods, and any ingredient that contains protein derived from one or more of them, are designated as\u00a0\u201cmajor food allergens\u201d by FALCPA.<\/p>\n