Establishments that Must Display the Maryland Food Allergy Poster
The Maryland Food Allergy Awareness Poster must be posted by all Maryland food establishments. The poster must be displayed prominently in the staff area of the establishment.
Food establishments includes:
- Places where food or drink is prepared for sale or service on the premises or elsewhere
- Food or drink manufacturing and processing plants
- Food or drink storage or distributing operations
- Food or drink packaging facilities
- Any operation where food is served to or provided for the public
Purpose of the Maryland Food Allergy Poster
The Maryland Food Allergy Awareness Poster is designed to:
- Raise food allergy awareness
- Identify the most common food allergens
- Identify the steps to take when a guest alerts a worker to a food allergy
- Identify cross-contact prevention procedures
- Describe how to respond to allergic reactions
Maryland Food Allergy Poster Details
- The eight most common food allergens includes: peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, eggs, milk, wheat and soy.
- Sources of cross-contact include ingredients used to cook foods, touching an allergen-free food with an allergen-containing food, and equipment used to prepare, serve and store foods and preparation areas.
- When a customer alerts a worker to an allergy, the worker should:
- Relay the concern to a manager
- Review allergy with customer and check ingredients
- Check the preparation procedures to prevent cross-contact
- Respond to customer with information about ingredients, preparation and precautions
- Employees should wash hands and change gloves after handling allergen-containing foods.
- Employees should be prepared to call 911 if a customer has an allergic reaction.