Allergen Awareness among Food Service Staff

In December 2014, the requirement to declare food allergens on prepacked food was extended to include non-prepacked foods by the Food Information for Consumers (FIC) Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 (non-prepacked food is defined as all food sold in loose form or packed on the premises at the request of the consumer, or packed for direct sale or supply to the final consumer or mass caterer). All EU member states were thus obligated to introduce national legislation to effect the law within their respective jurisdiction. Ireland, through the Department of Health Statutory Instrument (S.I.) No. 489 of 2014, complied by stipulating that food allergen information for non-prepacked food must, as a minimum, be provided in written format, but can also be provided verbally at any time. As a result, Irish food businesses such as restaurants, cafes, bars, takeaways, delis, and canteens, are now legally required to have a written allergen declaration on their premises and by extension, must ensure that their staff are sufficiently "allergen aware" to protect the health and wellbeing of their customers . 

Our healthpro Menu Mentoring food analysis and menu labelling programme has been helping such Irish food businesses to attain compliance with allergen legislation and also market their food based on allergen and nutritional composition. With a sizeable number of Irish consumers subject to allergic and intolerant responses to food and a growing sector opting for lifestyle dietary modifications such as wheat-free/gulten-free diets, a unique commercial opportunity exists for businesses willing to invest in professional analysis and labelling services. To assess current allergen awareness within Irish food businesses, healthpro are conducting a nationwide research project via a short on-line survey. The survey, completely anomymised and taking less than 2 minutes to complete, is designed to assess the prevalence of food allergic/intolerant customer encounters within businesses and staff awareness of food allergens and associated legislation.

We would be extremely grateful if you could take a brief moment to complete the survey and also invite your staff members to do likewise by clicking on the link below;  

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FFQ9V5Z

To find out more about our expert menu analysis services, visit https://www.healthpro.ie/menu-mentoring or call us on 00353864119222 to book a free consultation.