New allergen legislation comes into force in key trading time

03-Aug-2014 - Last updated on 04-Aug-2014 at 14:04 GMT

Related tags Food standards agency Asthma Allergen

Publicans will face unlimited fines for failing to warn customers about possible allergens in their food

New EU rules due to come into force in the middle of the Christmas rush will mean publicans facing unlimited fines for failing to warn customers about possible allergens in their food.

From 13 December this year any business serving food must provide information on allergenic ingredients either in writing or verbally.

Last week the Food Standards Agency issued guidance on coping with the regulations, which revealed that anyone found guilty of an allergens offence could face a fine of “any amount”, to be decided by a magistrate.

Ali Carter, managing director of CaterCost, said: “The timing of this couldn’t really be less helpful for licensees. Right in the middle of their Christmas campaigns they are going to have this complete overhaul of how they display their food offer. A lot of people are going to see this as just more red tape but they have to face this. If they do, this can be seen as an opportunity.”

The EU Food Information for Consumers Regulation act means any business providing food, even if it is given away, must provide information on any food which lists one of 14 allergens in its ingredients. According to the FSA this information must be “easily accessible, in a conspicuous place, easily visible and clearly legible” to customers, whether or not they have a food allergy.

Staff training

The information can also be provided orally by staff. However, the FSA has stressed that if staff are responsible for giving the information it must be signposted, verifiable in some way and consistently given. The guidance suggests nominating a staff member to deal with allergen enquiries.

All staff should receive training on handling allergy information request from their first day in the job.

The guidance also warns food businesses to closely check their deliveries to ensure no products have been substituted for similar brands that may have different ingredients.

Carter said: “If you take the example of home shopping deliveries, you could opt not to receive substitutions but then you run the risk of having a quarter of your delivery missing.”

Other advice from the FSA includes making sure kitchen staff use the same recipes every time; keeping a copy of ingredient information on labels of pre-packed foods and filing a copy of the labelling information.

For more guidance on the new allergen legislation visit www.food.gov.uk