The Importance of Up-to-Date Allergen Advice in Your Business

November 1, 2018 Robert Fernandes

With there being some prominent stories with disastrous consequences currently appearing in the news we thought it was a good time to remind you of what is required of you and what we offer to help you. Since new legislation came into effect in December 2016 allergen ingredients information should be recorded and should contain product specification sheets, ingredients labels and recipes or explanations of the dishes provided.

Since new legislation came into effect in December 2016 allergen ingredients information should be recorded and should contain product specification sheets, ingredients labels and recipes or explanations of the dishes provided.

Allergen information can also be provided as part of a conversation with a customer, but this needs to be backed up by the information being in writing to ensure the information is accurate and consistent.

The customer has a responsibility to tell you about their allergy or intolerance. Recording allergen information and clear communication with your staff, customers and suppliers will help to ensure that customers with food allergies are given accurate information.

Food products that contain any of the allergens as an ingredient will need to be declared by your business. Businesses must detail any of the 14 major foods which can cause allergic reactions.

These are:

• celery

• cereals that contain gluten

• crustaceans

• eggs

• fish

• lupin

• milk

• molluscs

• mustard

• Tree Nuts

• peanuts

• sesame seeds

• soybeans

• sulphur dioxide and sulphites

Allergens must be declared if you provide:

• prepacked food or drink

• non-prepacked food or drink

At V.A.Whitley we take our responsibility in the labelling of Allergens very seriously - as a customer, you are able to access, freely, all of the information you require. We offer this in a number of ways…

1. We produced and sent out a list of all products purchased by accounts in the form of a printed report - you can easily display this in your shop or at least have it available on request. If you require an up to date report be sure to ask the tele-sales team on your next call.

2. We clearly state the Allergen Information on each relevant product on our new website. This is accessible by simply going to the product in question, going under the product description and choosing the tab “Allergen Information”. This can be done easily on a mobile device as well as on the computer.

3. We clearly state on all of our packaged goods all of the necessary information. This includes Allergens, Nutritional Values, Ingredient Declarations, Manufacturing Address, Storage information, Batch Details and Manufacturing Dates.