Food Allergy Training

The law identifies 14 allergens that a customer must be made aware of if they are used in a dish or product. More information on them can be found in our knowledge bank.

There are 14 named allergens that, by law, must be declared if they are used in a food product:

• Cereals containing gluten
• Peanuts
• Nuts
• Soybeans
• Milk
• Lupin/lupine
• Mustard
• Egg
• Fish
• Crustaceans
• Molluscs
• Sesame seeds
• Celery
• Sulphur dioxide

To find out more about them, click here to view our knowledge bank post on the 14 allergens.

A food allergy is an adverse reaction caused by the body’s immune system mistakenly treating the protein in a specific food item as a threat, and releasing chemicals in response to it. Most of the time, food allergies are caused by immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies, which are produced by the immune system.

The type and severity of an allergic reaction will vary depending on several factors, including the severity of the allergy and the level of exposure. Be aware that, for some people, very small amounts of a food allergen can cause severe reactions such as anaphylaxis.

All food businesses must have a food safety management system in place to make sure the food they produce is safe. This system must contain information on food allergens and detail the measures in place to control allergenic cross-contamination.

While food handlers are primarily responsible for managing allergens in food businesses, it is recommended that everyone who works with food, including food servers, receive allergen training.

For more information on food hygiene training, visit our knowledge bank.

Almost any food can cause an allergic reaction, but most food allergies are caused by a similar set of foods. Most of the time, people with food allergies suffer from allergies to milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and/or shellfish.

Food handlers are primarily responsible for managing allergens in food processing establishments. However, it is also recommended for food servers to also receive allergen training.

There are several food hygiene regulations that apply in the UK, including:

• The Food Hygiene (Wales) Regulations 2006
• The Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013
• The Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006

More information on these regulations can be found in our knowledge bank.

Alongside allergen information, most food businesses are also required to provide nutrition labels and calorie information with their products.

This has been the case with pre-packaged food for a number of years and, as of 2022, also applies to non-packaged products, such as restaurant meals. To find out more about these new requirements, click here to view a relevant article from our knowledge base.