<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
There is a bill in the Massachusetts Senate, opposed by the restaurant
association, that would require restaurants to train their employees
about food allergies etc. I am going to contact my state representative
and senator and request that they support this bill - the only way it
will pass is if lots of legislators know their constituents are
interested. Text of the bill is below.
After going to a restaurant yesterday where the chef told me it would be
ok for me to eat the pasta, which was what he called "100% semolina," I
know that there is a lot of education that needs to happen. Semolina is
wheat.
A/
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SENATE, No. 153
By Ms. Creem, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 153) of
Cynthis S. Creem <http://www.mass.gov/legis/member/csc0.htm>, Susan C.
Fargo <http://www.mass.gov/legis/member/scf0.htm>, Alice Peisch
<http://www.mass.gov/legis/member/ahp1.htm> and another for legislation
relative to food allergens. Community Development and Small Business
<http://www.mass.gov/legis/comm/j47.htm>
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
ACT *RELATIVE TO FOOD ALLERGENS*
/Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:/
SECTION 1.
Chapter 140 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
section 6 the following section:-
Section 6B. All restaurants located in the commonwealth, including
take-out facilities and catering businesses serving food in the
commonwealth must:
a. train food servers, chefs and all other employees coming into contact
with food about serious consequences of food allergies;
b. conspicuously list on the menu or in a conspicuous location, a
current list of those food items served by the business containing in
any ingredient tree nuts, nut oils, peanuts, peanut oil, soy beans,
milk, wheat, fish, shellfish, eggs, or any other allergens. For purposes
of complying with this section, it shall not be sufficient to suggest
that all or substantially all of the food products served may contain
allergens;
c. have an on-site person in possession of all relevant food ingredient
information and available to answer consumer inquiries about food
ingredients.
d. inquire of, and obtain detailed written ingredients information from
vendors or distributors of food to be consumed in the restaurant or to
be served by the caterer that is not initially prepared on the premises
or by the restaurant or caterer.
The department of public health shall promulgate rules and regulations
to accomplish the intent and purpose of this section.
**
A violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of $500 for a
first offense and a fine of $1,000 and suspension of required licenses
for a second and subsequent offense.
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Here is the Mass. Restaurant Association position:
http://www.marestaurantassoc.org/govtpositionpapers.htm#foodallergies
*Food Allergy Legislation*
*Background*
The Massachusetts Restaurant Association has a deep commitment to food
allergy awareness and strongly believes that education is the best
mechanism for making restaurants allergy-safe. We have taken several
steps to promote comprehensive education of the food allergy issue among
restaurants.
All ServSafe® classes have been mandated by the MRA to include food
allergies as part of the Food Safety Manager Certification. Instructors
use the Food Allergy Anaphylaxis Network’s /Food Allergy Training Guide
for Restaurants and Food-Services/ as part of all ServSafe® classes. We
are also working with FAAN to create an educational poster outlining the
10 basics of food allergies for restaurants. The MRA will then sponsor
legislation to mandate the display of this poster in all licensed
food-service establishments. There is a Massachusetts Restaurant
Association Food Allergy Committee devoted to the promotion of food
allergy education and awareness, composed of restaurateurs, Department
of Public Health officials, food service representatives, and prominent
food allergy advocates.
*Position*
*The Massachusetts Restaurant Association opposes SB 153 (Sen. Creem,
D-Newton), which would require restaurants to list all major food
allergens contained in any menu ingredients and mandate employee training.*
* The training component would be overly burdensome for restaurants
to train all chefs, food-servers and employees. We would, however,
support legislation to mandate that all food safety courses in
Massachusetts be mandated to show the FAAN/NRA training tape as
the MRA does.
* The training language in the bill is too vague to be supported.
The MRA will be sponsoring legislation requiring a poster that is
presently being developed by advocates.
* Listing all ingredients that contain allergens of any type is
burdensome and expensive. This requires advanced knowledge of
complex ingredients in order to identify such allergens, which is
currently not required. The responsibility of identifying
potentially harmful allergens should fall upon the patient, rather
than the restaurant employee.
* Maintaining a list of all ingredients is something that the MRA
urges restaurateurs to do. However, we realize that at any point
and time the list may not be current due to substitutions for menu
ingredients and specials. Relying on such a list, except under the
most organized of facilities, could create a false sense of
security that could easily result in disaster.
* The most important words relative to food safety and food
allergens when said honestly are “I don’t know.” This proposal
would make these words illegal!
*Support summarization of posts, reply to the SENDER not the CELIAC List*
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