Protecting food on sale from allergy risks

Food Hygiene legislation requires people selling food to look at all their activities and to identify hazards which might occur from people eating the food they make or sell. This includes the need to look at allergy risks.

In practice, this means understanding how you might sell something for which you can't identify the ingredients or which might be inadvertently contaminated by a key allergen.

• Keep supplier information up to date
• Double-check that food delivered exactly matches what was ordered (beware of suppliers changing brands)

You also need to identify ways in which allergens may get into other foods in which they are not expected (i.e. cross-contamination). Then you need to see whether these can be controlled (e.g. by washing hands, work areas, utensils and equipment).

However, if you have an environment where cross-contamination is difficult to control and routine cleaning is not going to remove all traces, then it is important to ensure that customers who are very allergic to that particular food can avoid it. Examples here might include loose nuts and seeds in a dry bakery environment and cleaning methods which do not remove allergens (e.g. re-using an oiled wok without washing it thoroughly.)

You should record the hazards you have identified and what measures you have put in place to control them. In some cases, you may need to suggest to an allergic customer that controls in place will not be sufficient to meet their needs. It is vital that all staff are fully trained and understand that this may be the only suitable control available.