Restaurant staff awareness of coeliac disease and gluten free foods: a focus on Italian and South Asian cuisines

Introduction

Eating from restaurants can risk inadvertent gluten exposure, and a lack of suitable options impacts the quality of life for persons with coeliac disease (CD). The study aimed to explore restaurant staff knowledge and procedures in place to serve gluten-free (GF) foods, without cross-contamination.

Methods

In 2022, an in person cross-sectional study was conducted in East Ham, London. Staff from 45 catering establishments (Indian; n=10, Pakistani; n=10, Bangladeshi; n=5, Sri Lankan; n=2 and Thai; n=2, Chinese; n=9 and Italian; n=7 cuisines) were invited to complete an 8-item questionnaire on their knowledge of coeliac disease and gluten-free catering. Inclusion criteria was customers must be able to dine within the premises and an understanding of English language. Ethical approval through procedures of the University of Roehampton.

Results

Staff from 25 restaurants completed the study (South Asian; n=16 (Indian; n=10, Pakistani; n=3, Bangladeshi; n=2, Sri Lankan; n=1), Chinese; n=2 and Italian cuisines; n=7; predominate reason for non-participation was language barrier. Responses were received from 21 chefs/cooks and 4 waiters. Four Italian restaurants sold GF meals, all other cuisines had no GF meals available. All staff had undertaken food allergy training, though only 4(16%) had training in preparing GF meals. Three Italian restaurants had Coeliac UK catering accreditation. The majority (96%) of the chefs and restaurant staff were aware of gluten containing grains, however, only 60% were aware of coeliac disease (only 25% of staff from South Asian and 70% from Italian restaurants). Only 20% of staff from South Asian restaurants were aware of possible gluten cross contamination during food preparation, compared with 100% of staff from Italian restaurants.

Conclusions

There is very poor availability of GF meals from South-Asian restaurants, this will likely impact the ease of adhering to gluten free diet and the quality of life of many patients with CD. A multilingual study is needed to further explore restaurant staff knowledge and procedures in place to serve GF foods in Chinese and South Asian restaurants.