Research on Food Allergy Information using Smart Mobile Media Devices to Enhance Communication at Restaurants

Abstract

Dealing with food allergies in the restaurant industry is becoming important as more customers have needs and restaurants are concerned with corporate social responsibilitiy (CSR). This research discusses how to provide information to facilitate the communication between the restaurant industry that is interested in dealing with food allergies and the patient’s family who wants to enjoy eating at restaurants. The authors used a mixed method, combining qualitative and quantitative research, and divided the research into three steps (Creswell, 2008). First, the authors researched patients’ families and companies to organize communication. The authors conducted an interview with Company A, a big company in the restaurant industry, to parallel the research of patients’ families. In the second step, they developed a tool and verified the method of obtaining information. Lastly, to verify the effectiveness of the information providing measure, they set up a focus group consisting of responders from the questionnaire given to parents who have children with food allergies. They found that the lack of information about ingredients and the lack of knowledge of the employees when patients’ families are selecting from the menu are responsible for the inconsiderate customer service and misses in operation.

Enabling healthy food choices in the workplace: the canteen operators’ perspective

“…Digital or e-menus can deliver a great amount of information, and they enable transparency on the part of the food service operator (Bundasak and Chinnasarn 2013). Digital techniques also allow information to be provided in a personalised, interactive and efficient manner (Ogawa et al, 2012).…”

Shaping smarter consumer food choices: The FoodSMART project

“…For decades, printed mediums have been predominately used for information provision in an eating out scenario but digital platforms can deliver richer information in a more efficient manner (Ogawa et al . ). The rapidly growing numbers of smartphone users, with penetration rates of 68.4% in North America and 64.7% in Western Europe and estimations of use by over a third of the world's population (Statista ), highlight the value of using apps and technology to deliver dietary information (Lowe et al .…”

A Mobile Phone App for the Provision of Personalized Food-Based Information in an Eating-Out Situation: Development and Initial Evaluation

“…For decades, printed mediums have been the most common platform used for information provision in an eating-out scenario, but digital or electronic menus can deliver rich knowledge in an efficient manner [16,26] and may offer a neat solution to the existing constraints highlighted earlier [16,22,26]. Several studies have highlighted the potential that technology may hold in providing information [16,22], and a small number of mobile phone apps have been developed specifically for providing food-based information [27,28].…”

“…Increased information provision via digital platforms may also enable transparency and evidence of greater integrity for the food service operator [16,17,26,34]. Consumers with specific dietary needs are often limited in their choices not just by their personal constraints but also by a lack of information available from serving staff or a lack of trust in the information provided [22,26,35]. Lack of control, insufficient knowledge, and a lack of trust in any information provided can be key concerns when eating out [22,23,26,34,36].…”

“…Consumers with specific dietary needs are often limited in their choices not just by their personal constraints but also by a lack of information available from serving staff or a lack of trust in the information provided [22,26,35]. Lack of control, insufficient knowledge, and a lack of trust in any information provided can be key concerns when eating out [22,23,26,34,36]. Trust is an important component of health-based decision making [34][35][36], and catering operators that are open and transparent demonstrate commitment and trustworthiness to consumers [17,34].…”