Allergens

As a food business, irrespective of size or turnover, it is your responsibility to ensure that managers, supervisors and food handlers have the skills to ensure that the food you prepare, serve or sell is safe to eat. Food safety legislation not only covers general food hygiene & associated management systems but also food allergens.
The law states that everyone who works with food has a responsibility to make sure that food is not hazardous or cause harm to consumers.

Food Allergens are a food safety hazard.

It is estimated that 21 million people in the UK suffer from at least one type of allergy. Up to 8% of children and 2% of adults on diagnosed with food allergy and at least one in 100 people has coeliac disease.

It is important for consumers to be able to make an informed choice about what to eat, when eating out, or what to buy, when shopping for food.

Do not be complacent about this legislation, several food businesses have been taken to court & food business owners prosecuted for failing to manage food allergens.  Some very high profile businesses, some small local restaurants, but for all concerned customers suffered catastrophic results and in some cases died from allergic reactions.

Natasha’s Law or Prepacked for Direct Sale (PPDS)

From 1st October 2021 the requirements for PPDS food items changed with the introduction of Natasha’s Law. All business that produce PPDS food products are required to label them with the food name and a full ingredients list (including compound ingredients) with allergens emphasised in the list, similar to labelling found on shop bought products.

Both the L2 Allergen Awareness and the eLearning Allergen training courses have been updated to include clear information to assist businesses in identifying exactly what is PPDS and how to manage the new legal requirements.

Food Allergen Training

Developing food allergen awareness is key to complying with legislation. Your customers must be confident that the information you provide is complete and correct and the food you serve or sell is safe to eat.

In order to ensure food allergens are effectively managed and controlled all your staff need to be aware of the issues so in order to help businesses comply we offer the CIEH Foundation Food Allergen Awareness (Level 2) course which is great training for all food businesses. The course is delivered as a classroom based session which can be bespoke to fit with the specific requirements of the food business. CIEH allergen training is also available as an eLearning course through CIEH if this suits your business.

We are also happy to offer food allergen advice and consultations to food businesses to guide you in how best to comply with legislation.