Tuesday 20 October – LondonThursday 29 October – York

Sally TriceCaroline Benjamin

Food Allergy Training Consultancy

Agenda

• Introduction• Statistics, legislation & labelling• Where are the risks• 14 allergens• May contains• Matrix exercise• Break• Matrix exercise review• Communication and exercise• Allergies, Intolerances & CD• Summary

Objectives

To highlight:-

• Effective communication to the food allergy

customer

• Irregularities of food Allergy documentation

• The reasons for the ‘may contains’ clause

• The risk of allergenic cross contamination

Group exercise

TRUE or FALSE

Allergen myths

1300 asthma attacks a year – allergy related

Statistics

Myfile.net

10 deaths a year – Anaphylaxis

5-7% children suffer with allergies

1-2% adults in UK have allergies

Legislation• Food Safety Act 1990

• Gluten Free Legislation EC/2009

• Food Information for Consumers Regulations 1169/2011

Why was the regulation needed?

• To reduce number of hospitalisations and DEATHS!

• Raise awareness to caterers of the implications of inaccurate information

• Allow consumers to make an informed decision putting the onus on caterers to providecorrect information

• Giving the allergy customer responsibility to communicate their requirements to the caterer

Changes

LabellingPre packed

• ‘Contains boxes’ no longer valid• Information in one place – coloured , bold

underline, or Italic• A box can refer to ingredients list for allergens• May contains – still able to state cross

contamination risks

Non Pre packed• Any business which provides food to the

end user• Part of the supply chain

Any exclusions?

Where are the risks?

• Hidden allergens

• Cross contamination

• Communication

• Lack of knowledge

• Inaccurate information

Unilever survey July 2014 stated

Allergens

Cereals containing Gluten CrustaceansMolluscs Eggs Fish Peanuts Nuts (Tree)

Soy and SoybeansMilk CeleryMustard Sesame Lupin Sulphur Dioxide

True allergens are protein based and cannotbe destroyed by cooking, washing or sanitizers

14 allergens specified in EU FIC regulations which have to be indicated in both preparedand pre-packaged foods

The 14 allergens

Molluscs such as mussels, whelks, squid, land snails, oyster sauce

Fish in some salad dressings, pizzas, relishes, fish sauce andsome soy and Worcestershire sauces

Cerealscontaininggluten

such as wheat, rye and barley and foods containing flour,such as bread, pasta, cakes, pastry, meat products, sauces,soups, batter, stock cubes, breadcrumbs, foods dustedwith flour

Crustacean such as prawns, lobster, scampi, crab, shrimp paste

Celery including celery stalks, leaves and seeds and celeriac, insalads, soups, celery salt, some meat products

Milkin yoghurt, cream, cheese, butter, milk powders, foodsglazed with milk

Eggs in cakes, mousses, sauces, pasta, quiche, some meatproducts, mayonnaise, foods brushed with egg

Lupinlupin seeds and flour in some types of bread andpastries

Mustardincluding liquid mustard, mustard powder and mustardseeds, in salad dressings, marinades, soups, sauces,curries, meat products

The 14 allergens

Peanuts in sauces, pesto, satay, cakes, desserts, groundnut oil,peanut flour

TreeNuts in sauces, desserts, crackers, bread, ice cream, marzipan,ground almonds, nut oils

Sesame seeds in bread, breadsticks, tahini, houmous,sesame oil

Soyatofu or beancurd, soya flour and textured soya protein, insome ice cream, sauces, desserts, meat products, vegetarianproducts, edamame beans

Sulphurdioxide

in meat products, fruit juice drinks, dried fruit andvegetables, wine, beer

The 14 allergens

Oddities

• Chestnuts are tree nuts?

• Kiwi fruits and bananas belong to which family?

There are over 250 foods which can cause an allergic reaction

When training make sure caterers are aware of other cross reactions

Fenugreek can cross react & can be mistaken for a peanut allergy!

Over use of ‘may contains’

ALL our dishes May Contain; Salmonella, Campylobacter, E coli,Listeria, Bacillus Cereus, Human faeces

All our dishes may contain: Cereals containing gluten, (Wheat,Barley, Rye, Spelt & Oats), Crustaceans, Molluscs , Eggs, Fish,Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Soy and Soybeans, Milk, Celery, Mustard,Sesame, Lupin, Sulphur Dioxide

You wouldn’t run your kitchen like this!!

So WHY would you run it like this ?

Take All Cross Contamination SeriouslyFATC ©

May contains for caterers

Precautionary or ‘May Contains’ labellingHow should caterers Communicate cross contamination risks ?

What type of peanut oil does Five Guys use? They use 100% peanutoil that is refined and contains only enough preservatives….

“We cannot guarantee 100% Freefrom your allergen”

What is acceptable ‘may contains’

Vague communication

Examples of menu matrix

Review samples of the menu matrix you have been given

Can you spot the errors or highlight bad practice?

5 minutes

Review after break

Communication summary

• Training

• Verbal

• Documentation

• Policies

• Procedures

Exercise

Group Exercise

Caterers Vs food allergy, coeliac and food intolerantcustomer

Exercise follow up

•“An extreme and severe allergic reaction.The whole body is affected, often withinminutes of exposure to the substancewhich causes the allergic reaction(allergen) but sometimes after hours.”

•“A reaction to foods or drink caused by aenzyme deficiency or reactions in thedigestive tract, thus causes an inability todigest foods efficiently.”

To the sufferer the effects are all BAD

You must not differentiate betweenfood allergies, coeliac disease or intolerance

“Is an autoimmune disease, the gutreacts to the gluten preventing thebody from absorbing nutrients &vitamins causing the body to react inmany ways”

Food Allergy (Anaphylaxis) Food Intolerance

Coeliac Disease

Allergies, food intolerance andcoeliac disease

SummaryWhat the customer wants to know Food businesses understand cross contamination risks

All staff are aware of cross contamination

All staff are trained commensurate to their role – (Not just a tick box exercise!)

Food businesses clean down thoroughly for free from customers

Foods are strictly labelled & stored separately

We use clean utensils for everything

We check every label each time we use a product

Allergen information is verified and correct!

We will not use any ingredient that contains ‘traces of’

We know how many allergy friendly dishes are on the menu

Thank you

Sally TriceCaroline Benjamin

Food Allergy Training Consultancy@foodallergyawar #foodallergytraining