Allergan

Food businesses need to tell customers if any food they provide contain any of the listed allergens as an ingredient.

Consumers may be allergic or have intolerance to other ingredients, but only the 14 allergens are required to be declared as allergens by food law.

The 14 allergens are:

• celery, cereals containing gluten(such as barley and oats),
• crustaceans(such as prawns, crabs and lobsters),
• eggs,
• fish,
• lupin,
• milk,
• molluscs(such as mussels and oysters),
• mustard,
• peanuts,
• sesame,
• soybeans,
• sulphur dioxide and sulphites(if they are at a concentration of more than ten parts per million)
• tree nuts(such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios and macadamia nuts).

If food is sold online or by phone through distance selling, allergen information must be provided at two stages in the order process.

You must provide allergen information:

• before the purchase of the food is completed – this can be in writing (on a website, catalogue or menu) or orally (by phone)
• when the food is delivered – this can be in writing (allergen stickers on food or an enclosed copy of a menu) or orally (by phone).

Allergen information should be available to a customer in written form at a point between a customer placing the order and taking delivery of it.

Takeaway meals should be labelled clearly so customers know which dishes are suitable for those with an allergy.

Below is a document that should be filled in for everyone in the business to understand which allergen is in each dish. This should be printed filled out and every staff member should have training and access to the document.

Please remember you MUST provide allergen information to your customers.