Helpline
New Food Allergen Guidance from the Food Standards Agency
We welcome new guidance from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) which encourages food businesses such as restaurants and takeaways to offer written allergen information for non-pre-packed foods.
The Allergen Information for Non-Prepacked Foods Best Practice guide from the FSA is aimed at helping food businesses improve their understanding of allergies. It provides information on 14 main food allergens which can, in turn, be shared with customers.
Allergy UK welcomes the guidance as a positive step forward – but there is still a lot of work to do in raising awareness and ensuring that everyone, from waiting staff to head chefs and business owners truly understand the life-threatening nature of allergic reactions and the importance of clean communication between staff and customers. Unclear or inconsistent information on allergens can make dining out with a food allergy stressful.
We also continue to encourage everyone to ask questions if they are unsure about the ingredients in any dish or meal and to remain vigilant, even in familiar places as menus and personnel change throughout the course of a year or even every few months.
The updated guidance from the FSA calls for written information on allergens to be made available on food that isn’t pre-packed. The intention is that the information can be used as part of a conversation between servers and customers about their needs when they are ordering food or contemplating making a booking at a restaurant.
Consumers should also know that the FSA is offering businesses a range of free tools to help support implementation of the guidance. These include allergy icons, an allergen matrix and an allergy poster for use on menus – again to raise awareness for customers and staff alike – websites and more.
The guidance encourages businesses to:
- Provide written and easy to find allergen information on menus, labels, or allergen matrices so customers can access it without having to ask. Businesses may provide allergen information using words or symbols with accompanying words.
- Support the information with conversations between staff and customers to help clarify allergen risks and build trust.
- Keep all allergen information up-to-date and review regularly.
- Ensure staff are trained to understand the severity of food allergies and the importance of sharing accurate information.
- Ask every customer if they have any allergies, and have processes in place to ensure any allergen requirements are passed on to the kitchen and acted upon.
It’s also important that people in the allergic community note that the guidance applies to businesses operating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland but not Scotland.