IMPORTANT TO KNOW - It is important to know what to do if you serve a customer who has a food allergy, because these allergies can be life-threatening.
LEGAL REQUIREMENT - it is a legal requirement for food businesses to provide accurate information about allergenic ingredients used in the food and drink they serve.
NB: Chef's Book Can Help With This.
Don't forget, if you use the full Chef's Book system it will help you simplify and standardise allergen management, providing consistent information for you and your team.
SAFETY POINT
If someone asks if a dish contains a certain food, check all the ingredients in the dish (and what they contain), as well as what you use to cook the dish, thicken a sauce and to make a garnish or salad dressing. Never guess. A customer may also give you a ‘chef card’ listing the foods that they are sensitive to.
WHY?
If someone has a severe allergy, they can react to even a tiny amount of the food they are sensitive to.
You can find out more about allergies at
food.gov.uk/safereating/allergyintol/guide/
SAFETY POINT
Keep a copy of the ingredient information of any ready-made foods you use.
WHY?
This is so you can check what is in them.
SAFETY POINT
When you have been asked to prepare a dish that does not contain a certain food, make sure work surfaces and equipment have been thoroughly cleaned first. Make sure staff wash their hands thoroughly before preparing the dish.
WHY?
This is to prevent small amounts of the food that a person is allergic to getting into the dish accidentally.
SAFETY POINT
Give detailed information in the name or description of dishes on the menu, especially if they include the foods listed over the page, e.g. chocolate and almond slice, sesame oil dressing. Remember to update the menu when recipes change.
WHY?
This allows people with food allergies to spot that dishes contain certain foods.
Please describe you process for the following:
1. If you do sell PPDS, explain below how you label the products so that your customers can clearly see any allergens included in the food.
2. Secondly, how do you ensure that food labels are changed if the ingredients within a product change?
3. Where do you keep allergen information for the foods you serve??
4. Do you team know where to find up-to-date allergen/ingredient information for the foods you serve?
5. How often do you review and refresh team training in allergen management?
6. When do you update you labels?
NB: Chefs Book Can Help With This.
Don't forget, if you use the full Chef's Book system food labels are created automatically directly from your recipes, which can be printed and attached to your products.
For loose foods, such as meals served in a restaurant, canteen etc.you need to provide allergen information about the allergens in the dishes being served.
WHY?
Customers with allergies need to know this information so they can make safe food choices to avoid an allergic reaction.
.
There should be a way to check hat the information provided is correct and complete.
1. How do you advise them in writing?
2. If you advise customers verbally, how do you verify this in writing?
NB: Chef's Book Can Help With This.
Don't forget, if you use the full Chef's Book system all of your allergen information has been stored by you in the cloud on your organisations Chef's Book for ingredients, recipes and menus.
These details can be shared table-side using a tablet or phone.
Alternatively, copies of menus can be printed off for allergen identification purposes.
However, it should also be noted that as recipes ingredients change, recipe allergens may also change making printed versions out of date and unsafe, so always refer to the online versions first.
You must ensure take away orders for customers with food allergies can be clearly identified.
WHY?
This allows customers with food allergies to know what is in the food they are ordering so they can choose what is safe for them to order/eat so they don't have an allergic reaction.
If you are a takeaway or home delivery service, describe how:
1. You advise customers upfront about the allergens in their dishes before they order?
2. You clearly label foods for customers to identify the allergens in any dishes sold?
3. How do you avoid cross contamination of foods during the delivery process?
4. How do you identify meals prepared for a customer with a food allergy at the point of delivery?
NB: Chef's Book Can Help With This.
Don't forget, if you use the full Chef's Book system food labels are automatically generated that you can print off and attach to packaging to clearly show allergens within a dish.
Your team must know where allergen information can be found, for example, recipe sheets and food labels, and be able to handle allergen information requests.
Describe below how you support your team to do this.
1. How do you train your team about allergens and how to handle customer requests?
2. Where is allergen information kept within your organisation? Is it keep centrally, in a folder, elsewhere?
3. Have all team members taking orders over the telephone or online been fully trained as to how to take the order for food allergy customers?
4. Have all team members completed a training record to confirm their complete understanding of how to deal with phone and online orders?
4. How often do you review and deliver refresher training on your allergens process?
NB: Chef's Book Can Help With This.
Don't forget, if you use the full Chef's Book system all of your allergen information has been stored by you in the cloud on your organisations Chef's Book for ingredients, recipes and menus.
These details can be shared verbally over phone.
If you do advertise foods as "free from",you must take care not to add or contaminate the food with the allergen it is "free from".
You must also make sure that the environment is free from the allergen and that there is no risk of the food coming into contact with the allergen,
WHY?
If allergen information or labels state a food is 'free from' an allergen, customers may assume there is no risk of allergens coming into contact with that food.
Even really small amounts of allergens can be enough to cause an allergic reaction, which can be potentially fatal.
HOW DO YOU DO THIS?
Explain below how you ensure the dishes are not changed to include ingredients with allergens or how you ensure they are protected from cross contamination.
Do you have a dedicated area for preparing foods for customers with allergies, with clean or dedicated equipment?
Your team must know where allergen information can be found, for example, recipe sheets and food labels, and be able to handle allergen information requests.
Describe below how you support your team to do this.
1. How do you train your team about allergens and how to handle customer enquiries?
2. Where is allergen information kept within your organisation? Is it keep centrally, in a folder, elsewhere?
3. Have all team members completed a training record to confirm their complete understanding of the training?
4. How often do you review and deliver refresher training on your allergens process?
NB: Chef's Book Can Help With This.
Don't forget, if you use the full Chef's Book system all of your allergen information has been stored by you in the cloud on your organisations Chef's Book for ingredients, recipes and menus.
These details can be shared table-side using a tablet or phone.
Alternatively, copies of menus can be printed off for allergen identification purposes.
However, it should also be noted that as recipes ingredients change, recipe allergens may also change making printed versions out of date and unsafe, so always refer to the online versions first.
NB: Chef's Book Can Help With This.
Don't forget, if you use the full Chef's Book system all of your allergen information has been stored by you in the cloud on your organisations Chef's Book for ingredients, recipes and menus, which can be accessed through the use of various log in permissions.
These details can be shared table-side using a tablet or phone.
Alternatively, copies of menus can be printed off for allergen identification purposes.
However, it should also be noted that as recipes ingredients change, recipe allergens may also change making printed versions out of date and unsafe, so always refer to the online versions first.
If someone asks if a dish contains a certain food, this must include all allergenic ingredients in the dish and what they contain.
Describe below how you manage this requests.
NB: Chef's Book Can Help With This.
Don't forget, if you use the full Chef's Book system all of your allergen information has been stored by you in the cloud on your organisations Chef's Book for ingredients, recipes and menus.
Specifically for these kinds of requests, your recipe ingredients are listed individually by name, alongside which, the relevant allergens and any "may contain" allergens are also specified.
Allergens shown in any sub recipes you may have used are displayed in the same way
Describe how you maintain up to date, consistent and accurate allergen information within your organisation.
NB: Chef's Book Can Help With This.
Don't forget, if you use the full Chef's Book system all of your allergen information has been stored by you in the cloud on your organisations Chef's Book for ingredients, which informs your recipes and menus.
If you manage you ingredient information accurately your recipes and menus will follow.
The ingredient section allows you to add packaging photos to evidence where you obtained allergen information from.
Additionally, your Chef's Book logs the last change and who by.
Thirdly, Chef's Book's ingredients can be added to categories, which in turn allows you to sort and review allergens easily
Finally, as you update your ingredient allergens, all recipes and menus are updated instantly for you.
For loose foods such as meals served in restaurants, there must be clear signposting letting customers know where to obtain allergen information if they need it.
WHY?
Customers need this information so that they can make safe and informed food choices.
Customers should let you know if they need allergen information so you can help them make safe food choices.
How and where do you proactively and clearly let customers know where they can find allergen information?
It is best practice to give allergen information in the name or description of dishes.
WHY?
This helps people with food allergies to spot which dishes contain certain ingredients.
Remember, you still need to have information on all allergenic ingredients available.
If your menu changes, make sure you change theblist of ingredients with the allergens for that food or drink and change the ingredients labels for PPDS foods.
WHY?
If you do not have the correct ingredients listed, customers with food allergies could get the wrong information and could suffer an allergic reaction.
How do you manage you menu printing for new menu items or display allergens for specials board items?
How do you manage updating allergen content when you change your menu?
NB: Chef's Book Can Help With This.
Don't forget, if you use the full Chef's Book system your menus are stored online with all allergens automatically attached by ingredient.
However, as all restaurants print different styles of menus you will need to ensure your printer is aware of the allergen data to be included.
Once you have a proof copy, you can check this against you new menu on Chef's Book before the final print run.
Describe your process for undertaking a risk assessment.
Check deliveries to make sure you have the correct order and labelling information is provided.
WHY?
If you receive the wrong order or a different (replacement) produc, there may be allergen changes in the food.
How do you manage deliveries and check that the order is correct and the food labelling is provided?
If you receive a different or replacement product, what do you do to ensure you allergen information is up to date?
NB: Chef's Book Can Help With This.
Don't forget, if you use the full Chef's Book system you can attach photos of previous product packaging to each ingredient. These photos can be used to check if the information is up to date or has changed, at which point it can be updated.NB: Chef's Book Can Help With This.
1. Don't forget, if you use the full Chef's Book system all of your allergen information has been stored by you in the cloud on your organisations Chef's Book for ingredients, which informs your recipes and menus.
If you manage you ingredient information accurately your recipes and menus will follow.
2. The ingredient section allows you to add packaging photos to evidence where you obtained allergen information from.
3. Additionally, your Chef's Book logs the last change and who by.
4. Chef's Book's ingredients can be added to categories, which in turn allows you to sort and review allergens easily
5. As you update your ingredient allergens, all recipes and menus are updated instantly for you.
Finally, if you receive and use a different product, once you have added this to your ingredients list, you can clone any recipes that might be affected in using this new ingredients and change the original ingredient for the replacement, helping manage correct allergen information.
