Managing Food Allergies

Welcome to this article about how to manage food allergies.  If you manage or work in a food service business it is important to know how deal with food allergies.

Allergic reactions to food make the body’s immune system react as if the body is under attack. Food allergies can range from mild to causing death. An allergic reaction can occur within minutes of eating a small amount of the item of food.

Time is of the essence and it is vitally important that you know what to do if an allergic reaction occurs.

The aim of the article is highlight how food business can first minimise the chance of food allergies occurring.  And what to do in the event a food allergy occurs.

We also offer an online course the provides formal Food Allergies training here

Food Allergy Frequency 

Food Allergies are becoming more common, particularly nut allergies.  Nobody really knows why for sure at the moment but we do know how frequently food allergies occur.

Currently food allergies affect 1-2% of adults and 5-8% of children. This is equivalent to 1.5 million people in the UK alone. With so many people affected, it is important all food business takes appropriate steps to reduce the risks.

Food Allergy Symptoms 

There are a wide variety of symptoms that can present themselves, including:

• Itching and/or swelling of the lips, mouth, tongue and throat.
• Skin reactions (e.g. swelling, itching, eczema, rashes and flushing)
• Diarrhoea, feeling sick, vomiting and bloating
• Coughing, wheezing or shortness in breath
• Runny nose
• Sore, red and itchy eyes
• Anaphylactic shock – which is a severe reaction that causes swelling of the throat, difficulty in breathing, a drop in blood pressure, collapse, unconsciousness and death.

Anaphylaxis is a medical emergency. Without quick treatment, it can be life threatening.

Food allergies and intolerance

Food reactions are common, but most are caused by a food intolerance rather than a food allergy. A food intolerance can cause some of the same signs and symptoms as a food allergy, so people often confuse the two.

Food intolerances can cause people to feel ill, however, they are not usually as potentially harmful, but can affect the long term health of the sufferer.

On the other hand an allergic food reaction can be severe or life-threatening.

For those with a food allergy, even a tiny amount of the offending food can cause an immediate and severe reaction.

Food intolerance symptoms generally come on gradually and don’t involve an immune system reaction. If you have a food intolerance, you may be able to eat small amounts of the offending food without trouble.

Avoiding Food Allergies

The only way to avoid an allergic reaction is to avoid the allergy-causing items. A food-allergic customer may not have the opportunity to know about the ingredients used in selected menu items. Therefore, the customer relies on the food service staff to provide safe foods. It is crucial to have a service staff that is educated on the ingredients used in their meals.

The 14 allergens are:

• celery
• cereals containing gluten (such as barley and oats)
• crustaceans (such as prawns, crabs and lobsters)
• eggs
• fish
• lupin (a legume used to make flour often used in baked goods and pasta)
• 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).

Dealing with a Food Allergy Customer

First and foremost, if a customer asks you about a meal and you are unsure about the ingredients – do not guess. If a customer claims to have a life threatening food allergy, take the customer seriously. If there is any doubt if a food is free of a certain ingredient, admit to the customer that you are not sure. Find out which member of staff has access to accurate information about the ingredients.

Refer to that person if you need information.  If a customer has ordered a dish, and then is aware it contains the food they’re allergic to and asks you to replace it, do not simply pick off the food and return it to the customer. Tiny traces that remain may be enough to cause a severe allergic reaction.

Do not serve a person who suffers from an allergy any dish that has been kept or prepared in an area where that food item has been stored or used.Advise allergy sufferers not to eat from a buffet. Another customer may have transferred a spoon from one product to another, for example, from a dish containing nuts, to a “nut-free” product.

Mistakes Happen 

Mistakes cannot always be prevented. If, despite everyone’s best efforts, a mistake is made on an order for a food-allergic customer, the only acceptable correction is to remake the order.

Afterward, review what went wrong and determine what steps can be taken to avoid similar mistakes in the future.

Information 

It is important to provide the customer with as much information as possible. By this, we mean ensure that you have an allergy-friendly menu. Review your current menu and provide as much information as possible about ingredients directly on the menu itself. This will allow customers and staff to quickly determine if an item selected is food allergy-friendly.

If you are not 100% sure about the ingredients in a menu item, say so. The customer will appreciate your honesty. Guide the customer through some other choices on the menu.

Ways to Deal with Food Allergies 

1. Food Preparation 

If a customer enquires whether or not a dish contains a certain ingredient, you must be able to identify all ingredients that are used to make up that meal, including oil that it was cooked in, sauces, garnishes and dressings.

The person responsible for the composition of the menu must ensure that all food and beverage staff (food preparation and service) are advised of any changes, no matter how small, so that guests/staff can be briefed as much as possible on the composition of any item on the menu.

2. Storage 

Store foods separately in their original container, and keep them closed. Where foods containing allergens have to be de-bagged or de-boxed they should be placed in dedicated lidded and labelled containers and made easy identifiable.

Keep labels on all ingredients so you can check if they contain any allergens.

Check deliveries to ensure you have got the product you have requested as different brands contain different ingredients.

3. Avoiding Cross Contact 

Cross contact occurs when the proteins from two or more foods mix — for example, during cooking, or while serving the foods. The protein is the part of the food that causes the food allergy.

Even a tiny amount of an allergy-causing food is enough to cause an allergic reaction in some people. Therefore, precautions must be taken to avoid cross contact from foods to which a customer may be allergic.

An example would be using cooking utensils, such as spatulas, cooking sheets, or prep stations, for both allergen-containing and non-allergen-containing products without washing them in between uses.

4. Effective Cleaning 

To effectively remove food protein from surfaces, wash the surfaces with soap and water. Simply wiping the crumbs from spatulas, cooking sheets, cutting boards, or surfaces is not enough. To be safe, one option that you could look at it is purchasing a cutting board, plates, and kitchen utensils that will be used for allergy-free foods only.

5. Food from Suppliers

Food suppliers are required to declare whether their foods contain any allergens. From this information, we must ensure that we are aware of food items containing these ingredients so that the information can be provided to customers on labelling, in menus or on request.

6. Allergen Information & Natasha’s Law

In the UK, both pre-packed foods and those packed on the same premises from which they are as sold (pre-packed for direct sale or PPDS) must be labelled with a full ingredients list. Allergens present in the product must be emphasised each time they appear in the ingredients list.

While pre-packed foods have needed allergen labelling for some time, the same requirement for PPDS foods was introduced in October 2021.  Known as ‘Natasha’s Law’, the regulations require all food retailers to display full ingredient and allergen labelling on every food item made on the premises and pre-packed for direct sale, including sandwiches, cakes and salads.

How to treat food allergies

If a customer becomes ill as a result of a food allergy, it is likely that that person or a someone with them will state that he or she is suffering from an allergic reaction. They may use the word anaphylaxis. The question is – what should you do?

These are the actions to follow:

• Immediately send someone to dial 999, and give the following information: ‘A customer has collapsed and we believe they may be suffering anaphylaxis.’
• Give the address and post code of where you are.
• Call a first aider.
• Send someone to the main entrance to meet the ambulance crew.
• Ask other customers if there is a doctor in the vicinity.
• People with severe allergies may carry adrenaline with them (called an EpiPen).   If you think a person may be suffering from an anaphylactic shock ask them if they have an EpiPen, and if you can help get it for them. Give the pen to the person to administer themselves.