Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - January/February 2024 - 6

1 HR
CE
CBDM APPROVED
MANAGEMENT CONNECTION
TRAINING
APPROACHES
TO STRENGTHEN NUTRITION AND ALLERGY
EXPERTISE AMONG STAFF
BY CHRISSY CARROLL, MPH, RD
AS A FOODSERVICE MANAGER, you'll likely need to
plan group trainings on topics like allergy awareness and
nutrition guidelines. These workshops enhance knowledge
and skills of employees (Grappasonni et al., 2018), positively
impacting habits. Several studies have linked higher
knowledge levels in nutrition, allergies, and food safety to
better practices in the kitchen (Bean et al., 2019, Jianu &
Goleţ, 2019, Young & Thaivalappil, 2018).
Similarly, research in the Army identified nutrition
knowledge deficits and inadequate culinary skills as
barriers to implementing nutrition interventions in food
service, both of which can be addressed through training
(Armstrong et al., 2020). And proper training also aligns with
the 2022 Food Code's updated allergen awareness protocols,
emphasizing that both the person in charge and employees
must be able to describe food allergens and allergic reaction
symptoms (Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition,
2022).
By ensuring your team is well-versed in these concepts,
you'll improve the safety and quality of the meals served and
help your department meet industry standards.
HOW SHOULD YOU STRUCTURE YOUR
TRAININGS?
While understanding the rationale behind training is
essential, it's even more important to implement strategies
to enhance the effectiveness of the sessions. Research in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public
6 NUTRITION & FOODSERVICE EDGE | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2024
Health examined training preferences of school foodservice
managers and employees (Flure et al., 2020). Although
specific to school food service, similar preferences may
extend to other non-commercial settings, like long-term
care.
When it came to logistics, participants expressed a slightly
stronger preference for face-to-face learning activities, with
86 percent rating those as " like somewhat " or " like a great
deal. " In contrast, 74 percent chose those ratings for online
learning activities (Flure et al., 2020). It's plausible there may
be generational differences among those who prefer online
training, though this was not examined.
Similarly, participants preferred training with others
compared to training alone. Only 62 percent rated " training
by myself " as " like somewhat " or " like a great deal, "
compared to 68 percent for training with a group, and 71
percent for training with a partner (Flure et al., 2020).
When you're planning your in-services or workshops,
consider that folks preferred sessions take place on Tuesdays
or Thursdays for a duration of 1 to 2 hours (a duration of
4+ hours was least preferred) (Flure et al., 2020). The least
favored training month was December, presumably since
people are preoccupied with the holidays (Flure et al., 2020).
Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - January/February 2024

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