Safely managing allergens in your food business

Information and guidance for food businesses on safely managing allergens and providing food allergen information to consumers

Persons hands are shown putting ingredients on a pizza in a restaurant kitchen

Managing food allergens

Food allergies can cause unpleasant and sometimes life-threatening symptoms. The only way to manage a food allergy is to completely avoid foods containing the allergen that triggers a reaction. 

Food businesses must:

  • provide allergen information to the consumer for both prepacked and non-prepacked food and drink
  • manage food allergens effectively when preparing and serving food and drink

Unlike bacteria, food allergens cannot be removed by cooking at high temperatures. This is why it’s essential to practise good kitchen hygiene, as well as careful separation, storage and labelling of ingredients when preparing food. Effective cleaning is one of the most important strategies for preventing cross-contact of food allergens.  

Failure by a food business to follow allergen requirements, such as serving someone food to which they are allergic, can cause serious harm to the consumer, and could have reputational, financial and potentially criminal ramifications for the business.

14 major food allergens

Food businesses must tell consumers if the food they sell contains any of the 14 allergens which must be declared by law in the UK. Allergens which must be declared are:

While these 14 allergens are recognised by law as the most common food allergens in the UK, it's important to note that people may have allergies to other foods not on this list. 

Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers (known as "FIC") contains a list of 14 substances or products which may cause food allergies or intolerances. 

Providing food allergen information to customers

When any of these 14 allergens are used as ingredients, a food business must make this information available to the consumer. The requirements for this depend on how the food is packaged and presented to the consumer. This can be:

  • prepacked
  • Prepacked for Direct Sale (PPDS)
  • Non-prepacked (loose)

Read our detailed guidance on how to correctly provide allergen information on labels.

Free allergen training for food businesses

Food businesses must make sure that their staff are trained on allergens.

Our free online food allergy training offers more detailed information and guidance on how to ensure the food you produce and serve to consumers is safe.

We've also developed a free advanced online allergen training tool. This can to be used in addition to the online allergy training for a more in-depth understanding of allergen management in hospitality and catering settings. 

These tools operate independently from one another so you don't need to complete the first before moving onto the advanced tool. 
 

Did you find this helpful? We would love to hear from you.
Thank you for your feedback!