The purpose of our study was to determine the knowledge and practices regarding food allergies among food service workers operating in western Romania (Timiş, Arad, and Caraş-Severin counties). A self-administered, multiple-choice questionnaire was completed by 121 Romanian food service workers from 23 food service units from July to September 2016. The food service workers interviewed had a moderate level of knowledge and practices regarding food allergies. The results highlight knowledge gaps in the areas of cross-contact and control of anaphylaxis emergencies, indicating the need to retrain food service workers. Our study revealed positive results according to education level, better practices used by more experienced staff, and differences between job positions and eating places. Higher knowledge levels of trained employees coexisted with better practices reported by employees who attended specific courses on allergens. All of these findings (significant at the 5% level) support the hypothesis that training programs must be adapted to the participants' needs and characteristics (professional experience, field of activity, and food service education level) to be easily accessible and to lower costs.
Keywords: Food allergies; Food service workers; Knowledge; Practices; Romania.