There is no cure for food allergies, but FAAST is a solution
Due to the prevalence of food allergies, FAAST (Food Allergy Aware System & Technology) and its simple application, eliminates allergy-related dining anxiety for guests, enhances food service readiness, and mitigates legal accountability concerns for restaurants. FAAST is a standardized, color-coded system that enables allergy sufferers to efficiently and accurately communicate their allergy restrictions.
With FAAST, patrons, staff, and proprietors, can all benefit from the knowledge with a standardized system to protect everyone.
Food allergies are widespread, affecting upwards of 32 million Americans and 3 million Canadians. Exposure to allergens can trigger serious reactions, even leading to death in the most extreme cases. And with the deficits in several areas of the current level of food service preparedness to handle allergies, these reactions are all too common. Thirty-nine percent of children with food allergies have experienced a serious allergic reaction.
FAAST Founder and CEO, Susan Cameron, knows first-hand how common accidental food-related allergic reactions can be, and just how serious they are. Cameron lives with a rare condition that causes her to experience anaphylaxis when exposed to any fish or seafood. Four trips to the ICU and twenty-six surgeries later, living the life of a “foodie” was impossible for Cameron. She founded FAAST to remove barriers to dining out and minimize health risks.
Susan Cameron, FAAST/2023
“FAAST’s systems tackle allergy preparedness with a three-pronged approach with components to rework how allergies are handled in the front of house and the back of house, in addition to providing allergy education and awareness,” says Cameron.
“In practice, this involves remodeling restaurant menus to contain allergy alerts and alternative suggestions. Until now restaurants have operated on a different level of allergy safety than food manufacturers, as while the latter are required to list priority food allergens with their ingredients, restaurants are not. As a result, the customer must inquire about potential allergens and miscommunications between the front of house and back of house or staff mistakes leave much room for a serious error,” she adds.
FAAST isn’t just for dining out either. Until now, take-out and delivery services faced similar shortcomings in available information and the potential for error. FAAST offers benefits for tourism, events, big box stores, and schools as well. A lack of food allergy preparedness is a major shortcoming for organizations across all sectors that provide food service.
Breaking down barriers to dining away from home for those with allergies opens the floodgates of a new sector of customers who are fearful due to a lack of transparency. Even better, Cameron has plans to soon work with leading brands and grocers to implement a QR code system on packaging in stores to help combat the allergy battle for millions of consumers.
“FAAST mitigates the legal risks associated with allergen exposures by providing kitchen workers, servers, and customers with comprehensive details of what is safe to eat and what is not,” says Cameron. “And most importantly, FAAST will avoid unnecessary health risks. So when a customer orders from a food service provider they’ll only be thinking about the great taste.”
Reach out to them today and learn more about this innovative platform.
