Related Searches: Tea Vitamin Nutrients Ingredients paper cup packing

Food & Health Ingredients
Health & Nutrition
Processing & Packaging
Starch & Starch Derivatives

FSA says written allergy information should be a legal requirement

New Food Magazine 2023-12-19
Share       
Tag: FSA

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has announced that it wants written allergen information be mandated in the non-prepacked sector, including on restaurant menus, and will be writing to Ministers to discuss its Board’s view.

Known as ‘Owens Law’, the campaign was initially started by Owen Carey’s family following him suffering a fatal anaphylactic reaction after eating a grilled chicken burger at a Byron Burger restaurant in London. The campaign was created to see a change in the law that “compels restaurants to state the allergens in their dishes, specifically on the face of the main menu”.

When ordering the restaurant in 2017, despite “having explained his allergies to the server and having no other information on the menu to the contrary, Owen Carey was assured would be ‘plain grilled’ and therefore safe for him to eat”, however the chicken burger had been marinated in buttermilk, something that he was “highly allergic” to.

Food Integrity Global 2023

Food Integrity Global is BACK AND IN-PERSON from 17-18 October 2023 at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel in Kensington, London.

Join us as a sponsor at Food Integrity Global and you can:

~ Put your company, products and services in front of senior-decision makers from all facets of the f&b industry

~ Build new, and grow existing, relationships – every application for a VIP pass is screened, so you are guaranteed to only meet those at the top of their field

~ Network with an unrivalled gathering of like minded industry leaders from around the world

~ Connect with our speakers who are internationally renowned and of high calibre - giving you direct access to figureheads that you wouldn’t normally get access to

~ Reunite with your peers, face to face, during networking breaks and social events

VIEW SPonSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

After the campaign received thousands of signatures, the topic was debated in UK parliament on 15 May 2023.

Jumping to the present, the FSA discussed the proposals in its 2023 December Board meeting and has confirmed that it wants to make it mandatory for restaurants and coffee shops to publish allergy information on menus.

The FSA has said it will also be working to “develop strong guidance for food businesses on how to provide written allergen information to help drive up compliance and make it easier for people with a food allergy, intolerance and coeliac disease to protect themselves when eating out”.

In addition, the Board has highlighted that it believes there “should be an expectation for a verbal conversation to take place between customers and food business staff, to ensure an added layer of protection for consumers”.

Commenting on the FSA backing ‘Owen’s Law’, Professor Susan Jebb, Chair of the FSA shared: “At the FSA we are committed to making lives better for the two million people who have a food allergy, food intolerance or coeliac disease.

“In today’s discussions, it was clear that the Board feel that we should set an expectation that food businesses like coffee shops and restaurants provide allergen information in writing as well as having a conversation.”

Jebb emphasised the Board understands that in order to “maximise the likelihood of this happening, written information should be a legal requirement, rather than just guidance.”

“I will write to Ministers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and contact my counterpart at Food Standards Scotland to discuss the Board’s position as the Board would like to see them take this forward on a four-country basis,” continued Jebb.

“Meanwhile I want us to do all we can in the FSA to provide guidance and support to business so that we can quickly start to make improvements that will be helpful for people with food hypersensitivities when they are eating out”.

Jebb also took the time to thank the Carey family for “all their work in highlighting the importance of this issue” .

Speaking to New Food about the FSA’s announcement, Paul Carey, father of Owen, said that he “welcomes the FSA board’s decision to write to ministers recommending that the provision of written information detailing allergens in restaurant food is made mandatory through changes in the law”.

Paul went on to state: “We look forward to hearing the government’s acceptance of this recommendation.”

E-newsletter

Subscribe to our e-newsletter for the latest food ingredients news and trends.

Tags

Recommended Products

Complex Protease ZF101

Complex Protease ZF101

Jackfruit Peptide

Jackfruit Peptide

POTASSIUM ACETATE

POTASSIUM ACETATE

Birch Bark Extract

Birch Bark Extract

Centrifugal dicing machine

Centrifugal dicing machine

Top

SJGLE B2B Website : 中文版 | ChineseCustomer Service: 86-400 610 1188-3 ( Mon-Fri 9: 00-18: 00 BJT)

About Us|Contact Us|Privacy Policy|Intellectual Property Statement

Copyright 2006-2023 Shanghai Sinoexpo Informa Markets International Exhibition Co Ltd (All Rights Reserved). ICP 05034851-121