How many allergens are there?
Allergen legislation introduced in 2014 requires all food businesses to tell customers if any of the food they provide contains any of the following 14 major allergens - celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, soya and sulphur dioxide - as an ingredient.
This practice is now embedded into operations, but from October 2021, hospitality operators will need to embrace new standards in allergen management when ‘Natasha’s Law’ is formally introduced.
Passed as legislation in September 2019 ‘Natasha’s Law’ requires food businesses to include full ingredients labelling on all food that is pre-packed for direct sale, such as sandwiches, salads and cakes.
Named after teenager Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who died after suffering an allergic reaction to a Pret a Manger baguette, the law is designed to protect those with allergies and give them greater confidence in the food they buy.
How to manage allergens in your kitchen
While the introduction of Natasha’s Law has helped increase awareness and importance of allergen management in kitchens and improved allergen labelling to help protect guests. Many hospitality staff are still unconfident in managing allergen queries, helping customers identify allergen free options – often just referring them to the allergen menu without further help and lack knowledge of best kitchen practices. Could your teams confidently explain that the chips can’t be made gluten free because there isn’t a gluten free only fryer? Are they able to recommend adaptations to the menu that would make a dish allergen friendly?
Here are our top 10 tips for making sure your venue and kitchen are allergen aware:
1. Staff training on allergen awareness
Offer regular allergen training to all kitchen and front-of-house staff on the most common food allergens, cross-contamination risks and emergency procedures for allergic reactions.
2. Clear allergen identification and labelling
Make sure that ingredients containing allergens are clearly labelled and stored separately in the kitchen using colour-coded containers or stickers to distinguish allergenic ingredients.
3. Use dedicated equipment and utensils
Use separate, colour-coded utensils, cutting boards and equipment for allergen-free food preparation to prevent cross-contamination.
4. Strict food storage practices
Always store allergens in sealed containers on lower shelves to avoid spillage and designate specific storage areas for allergenic ingredients.
5. Thorough cleaning protocols
Implement a robust cleaning schedule, especially when switching between preparing allergen-containing and allergen-free dishes. Create a cleaning checklist to ensure surfaces are sanitised and equipment and utensils are cleaned thoroughly between use.
6. Separate preparation and cooking areas
If possible, designate specific areas in the kitchen for allergen-free meal preparation, such as an allergen-free fryer to minimise the risk of cross-contamination and offer more allergen friendly options.
7. Communication between kitchen and front-of-house
Establish a system for clear communication between servers and the kitchen regarding guests with allergies.
8. Cross-contamination awareness in serving
Train servers to avoid cross-contamination when serving allergen-free dishes. For example, ensure that allergens aren’t transferred via trays, serving utensils or garnishes.
9. Emergency Procedures
Equip staff to handle emergencies by training them on how to recognise and respond to allergic reactions, including the use of epinephrine (if available) and when to call for medical help.
10. Menu management
Use dedicated menu management software to create a more inclusive menu for allergy sufferers.
Helping your guests with their allergen needs
It can be difficult for allergen-suffering guests when eating out, often they feel like an inconvenience, especially if they haven’t been able to choose the venue they’re eating at because they’ve been invited by friends, family or work.
Hospitality is all about making people feel welcome – and there’s plenty you can do to accommodate allergen-suffering guests:
1.Ensure your staff are well trained
Make sure your staff are well trained about allergens and confident advising guests with allergies – it can make guests lack confidence in the safety of your food if staff can’t answer basic questions handling allergens.
2. Use a separate fryer for allergen friendly foods
Have a separate fryer for allergen friendly foods as when basics like chips aren’t available because of cross contamination – this can be annoying for allergy-suffer guests.
3. Flag allergen-safe foods for reassurance
Identify allergen safe food with a flag for reassurance and to make sure dishes aren’t mixed up when being served.
4. Tell your guests if you can make simple adaptations
Make it clear if your kitchen can accommodate adaptations to make menu items allergen friendly even if they aren’t labelled as such on the menu.
5. Offer a variety of allergen-free alternatives
Provide a variety of allergen-free alternatives, including gluten-free, dairy-free, and nut-free choices.
6. Promote your allergen friendly menu
Promote your allergen-friendly efforts to attract a wider customer base.
7. Make it easy for allergen sufferers to find your menu online
Allergen suffering guests will often look at the menu online beforehand to check they can eat at your venue, make sure your online allergen menus are easy to find and provide lots of choice.
8. Use visual symbols in your menu
Use clear and concise visual aids, such as symbols or color-coded menus, to highlight allergen-free options.
9. Provide allergen free options across the menu
For set menus ensure you have allergen-free options for starters and desserts as well as mains.
10. Gather dietary requirements in advance
For large parties ensure you collect dietary requirements ahead of time so you know if you will have any allergen-sufferer guests.
Using technology to effectively manage allergens
Allergen management in food processing businesses can be time-consuming and can have fatal results if not carried out correctly. Everyone – employers, staff and customers – should know what is in the food being served, so allergen ingredient recording – on product specification sheets, ingredients labels, recipes and in explanations of dishes – is essential.
In an Access Hospitality survey on operators’ use of technology in the kitchen, 71% of respondents said they were completely reliant on manual processes when it comes to allergen management, leaving them open to error. The same survey found that 48% of operators of hotels, restaurants and pubs/bars were concerned about the way they handle allergens, yet this figure dropped to 42% when operators used technology to manage this element of the business.
Interestingly, larger operators were more likely to use technology with 54% of 51+ sites favouring this method as they look for greater control and a streamlined operation.
Hospitality operators still need to be on the ball when it comes to allergen management, but technology can take some of the burden off operators and help streamline the operation, which gives a greater chance to make the business safer.
Ready to take control of allergens in your venue?
In this article, we’ve looked at allergen management in the kitchen as well as some of the ways you can improve the guest experience for your allergen-suffering customers.
Did you know that Access Procure Wizard supports hospitality operators to easily manage allergens in their venue through our allergen and nutrition feature?
Helping operators to:
• Easily obtain allergen information for accurate labelling
• Comply with nutritional labelling legislation
• Enable your guests to make the right food choices for them
• Adapt and make changes to their menus while controlling costs
