New guidance to help serve customers with allergies

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published free guidance to help caterers and restaurants better serve customers with food allergies.

The new guidance is targeted at businesses selling food that is not packaged, such as restaurants, sandwich bars, deli counters and bakeries.

It is part of an ongoing initiative to help businesses improve the information they make available to customers with food allergies or intolerances and is available on the FSA website.

Common allergies include aversion to such ingredients as peanuts, soya, milk, shellfish and gluten – the latter a common ingredient in bread, pasta, pastry and cakes.

It is estimated that 1.5 million people in the UK have a food allergy or intolerance, yet despite this businesses selling food prepared or wrapped on site are not required by law to indicate whether it contains ingredients that people may be allergic to.

Sue Hattersley, Head of Food Allergy policy at the Food Standards Agency, said: “Those preparing and serving food need to know about food allergies and about the information customers with food allergies need.”

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By Eddie Baker

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