As of Saturday December 13 2014, The EU Food Information for Consumers Regulation enforced legislation that requires all businesses selling food directly to the consumer to identity which of the EU top 14 allergens are contained in every menu item. This is an expansion of the legislation that has existed for pre-packaged food suppliers since 2002.
The changes need to be communicated to customers through chalkboards, menus, signposting and verbally so that they can find the relevant information they are looking for. All packaged foods must continue to include and emphasize all allergens contained in the product. Getting this right is essential as failure to comply with the law could result in criminal prosecution. With that in mind, this post details the key things proprietors need to think about and apply to their operations.
As mentioned earlier, this applies to all organisations that sell food to the consumer. Specifically the following food service organizations must adhere to these regulations:
So what are the EU top 14 allergens we here you ask. Well, the below image should make that clear for you.
The key point for restaurants and caterers is this is one of the most demanding pieces of legislation to be introduced in the UK. In fact it gets more intricate than at first thought. You see each allergen can be found in numerous different ingredients and therefore must be examined very carefully to ensure you don’t in any way misinform your customers.
These are some of the typical example foods where these allergens can be found:
| Allergen | Example foods |
| Celery | Salt, meat products, soups and stock |
| Crustaceans | Thai and south-east Asian curries or salads |
| Eggs | Cakes, meat products, mayonnaise, mousses, pasta, quiche, sauces and pastries |
| Fish | Pizzas, relishes, salad dressings, stock cubes and Worcestershire sauce |
| Gluten | Wheat, rye, barley and oats is often found in foods containing flour Baking powder, batter, breadcrumbs, bread, cake, couscous, meat products, pasta, pastry, sauces, soups and fried foods |
| Lupin | Baked goods such as pastries, pies, pancakes and in pasta. |
| Milk | Butter, cheese, cream, milk powders, yoghurt |
| Mustard | Breads, curries, marinades, meat products, salad dressings, sauces and soups |
| Treenuts | Biscuits, breads, crackers, desserts, stir-fried, ice cream, marzipan, nut oil and sauces |
| Seasame | Bread, breadsticks, humus, sesame oil and tahini |
| Soya | Bean curd, edamame beans, miso paste, tofu, soya flour, desserts, ice cream, meat products, sauces and vegetarian products |
| Sulphur dioxide | Dried fruit, meat products, soft drinks, vegetables, wine and beer |
A new cloud based computer system called Piranha™ has been introduced by Pelican, to aid food service organizations with the right information on various ingredients and foods obtained directly from suppliers. It allows you to track allergens and nutritional data for every ingredient on your menu, and provides a breakdown of portion costs. This will help food service businesses comply with the new requirements and save you significant time when preparing for these changes.
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The content of this post is up to date and relevant as at 16/12/2014.
Please be aware that information provided by this blog is subject to regular legal and regulatory change. We recommend that you do not take any information held within our website or guides (eBooks) as a definitive guide to the law on the relevant matter being discussed. We suggest your course of action should be to seek legal or professional advice where necessary rather than relying on the content supplied by the author(s) of this blog.
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