For people living with severe allergies, specific foods and drinks can be a potential threat that they live with every day. Around a quarter of the global population have a food allergy, food-intolerance, or a relate illness. In the world of allergies and food intolerances, we have much more knowledge than ever before, and the foodservice industry has become more proactive when it comes to catering for specific allergies and dietary requirements.

 

Evidence suggests that the number of food allergy related incidents is increasing worldwide. In New Zealand, the annual food-induced anaphylaxis hospital presentation rate increased almost three-fold between 2006 and 2015. In the US, the incidents of food-related anaphylaxis in children and adults increased by 177% between 2004 and 2016. And in the UK the prevalence of all types of allergies including food allergies appeared to be increasing in children between 2006 and 2020, based on a sevenfold increase in new allergy appointment capacity to meet the growing demand.

With increases in the rate of food allergies worldwide – some potentially fatal – improved testing to detect allergens, and the prevalence of legislation for food allergens, it is critically important that food businesses ensure that customers are aware of food allergens. Customers need to be able to make informed and safe choices and they can only do this when food labelling and the information provided is accurate and up-to-date.

Five steps to food allergen compliance.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland outlines the five steps that help food businesses to be compliant with allergens legislation.

1. By law, food businesses must declare the use of the 14 food allergens in writing. These allergens are:

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

2. Ensure the allergen information is legible and clear: The allergen must be indicated in the list of ingredients with clear reference to the name of the allergen and highlighted in a way that makes it stand out from the other ingredients. For example, this could be through font, style or background colour.
3. Ensure the allergen information is easily accessible to customers: This information can be provided by labelling the allergens contained in individual dishes, or by displaying a sign directing customers to ask staff for allergen information. This information must be visible, clearly legible, and easily accessible to the customer.
4. Ensure the allergen information is up to date: Allergen ingredients information should be included on ingredients labels and all allergens information should be recorded and up to date. This can, for example, be recorded digitally.
5. Monitor your suppliers’ allergen information: Suppliers should disclose, for instance, all allergenic products manufactured in the same facility as the business’s own ingredients. In addition, food businesses should be up to date on suppliers’ allergen testing procedures and preventive measures against cross-contamination.

The importance of food allergen labelling and compliance.

In the UK, the food industry is required to label common allergens in their products under the UK’s Food Information (Amendment) Regulations 2019, commonly known as ‘Natasha’s Law’. The introduction of the legislation has heightened awareness of food labelling compliance which is essential for food businesses to launch successful products that are safe for consumers to eat.

Food businesses must declare the presence of food allergens used as ingredients in their foods. High profile cases of issues with allergen packaging shows how important it is for food retailers to ensure that foods are labelled correctly, that allergen information is easily accessible, and that ingredients can be traced necessary.

As well as highlighting which foods contain allergens, labelling also serves to highlight allergen-free alternatives, ensuring that customers with allergies still have safe options to choose from.

While the growing awareness and prevalence of allergies increases the importance of compliance for food businesses and their obligations, digital solutions can help food business owners to implement safe allergens management.

• Digitalising allergen folders improves efficiencies as customers can find the information they need quickly and easily.
• This also reduces the need for paper stocks from the business, saves time spent printing, and removes the associated costs.
• Most importantly, with the ability to update digital folders more quickly and from any location remotely, it reduces the risk of human error where paper folders might not be updated by staff, sheets are overlooked, or folders in multiple locations are not updated in a timely manner or are updated at different times.

To learn about solutions for food businesses that make food allergen management safer, easier and more efficient, contact Kelsius. Our aim is to make the world safer for consumers food, through automated and digital processes that help save time and save costs.

We have solutions for allergens information management that we can tailor for your food business.

According to the UK Food Security Report 2021 (chapter, Food Safety and Consumer Confidence), most consumers in the UK trust the food they buy and eat to be safe and accurately labelled. Indeed, the level of food business compliance with food safety regulations remains generally high.

Reports of food safety incidents have increased since 2010. Although this is largely due to better detection rates and reporting, it does highlight the need for food practitioners to constantly be aware that incidents of food poisoning, outbreaks and allergic reactions are always a real risk. With this in mind, restauranteurs and caterers should make it their business to regularly update themselves and their teams on the importance of temperature monitoring for food and how bad practices can affect their customers and their business.

Implications of poor food safety

Poor food safety practices can damage your business reputation and brand. If your food is contaminated due to poor food safety practices, you will have to:

• withdraw contaminated food products,
• stop individuals from consuming them, and
• your business will potentially suffer from reputational damage.

Damage to your reputation, even when repaired, can create a dent in the perceived credibility of your business. By following proper food safety practices, you can help prevent reputational risk and protect yourself against potential litigation, bad social media reviews, and more.

Temperature control

Maintaining the correct temperature of food is crucial for ensuring food safety. Food that is not stored or cooked at the right temperature can lead to the growth of harmful bacteria, which can cause foodborne illnesses. This can be particularly dangerous for new businesses if they do not have staff with the experience or knowledge to implement proper food safety practices.

According to the Food Standards Agency of the UK, it is important to use a calibrated probe thermometer to check and monitor the temperature of food as part of your food safety HACCP management system.

Remember to ensure that temperatures measured are also recorded. To simplify the process, use a digital temperature monitoring system that allows you to take temperature readings across multiple locations if necessary, and which also allows you to record data and retrieve reports whenever these are required for audits and inspections.

 Keeping records

How many times have you tried to retrieve information of any kind, only to find that the information you need can’t be found? Maybe it was filed incorrectly, maybe it was deleted in error, or maybe the ‘correct’ file was incomplete or contained bad data. Keeping accurate, reliable and accessible records is critical in a highly regulated food safety environment.

Reduce the risks of manual processes by using a digital HACCP system that can provide your HACCP records automatically. As well as providing real-time reporting, a digital system provides data analysis and insights that can highlight trends at sites, allowing you to make data-driven decisions to help improve the business.

Securing your data

Finally, remember to always ensure that your data, particularly data kept digitally, is secure. Losing your data or being a victim of a cyber attack not only inconveniences your business, but risks losing data that you need for EHO inspections and audits. Whatever the food safety system you employ, make sure it gives you the flexibility to assign roles and permissions only to staff members as required. Opt for a system that has been developed for GDPR compliance, with vulnerability management and threat modelling incorporated into its security testing. Any system should also includes controls such as multi-factor authentication.

Food safety in always the number one priority in the hospitality industry. Poor food safety practices can risk your customers’ health and damage your business reputation and brand. Use digital technologies to improve food safety processes and reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses. By adopting best practices both in food safety and your digital technology, you can help protect your customers, your business, and your brand.

For more on digital HACCP for hospitality, contact Kelsius.

Throughout the UK and Ireland food retailers, brands and service providers consistently strive towards the highest standards when it comes to the food products and services they provide on a daily basis. The grocery trade here is characterised not only by a level of service second to none, but also by the care and attention paid to the quality of food delivered to every customer at every interaction.  

This doesn’t happen by chance. Food retailers must invest time, effort and earnings on regulatory compliance, training, audits and inspections to ensure that they meet food safety requirements. safefood’s latest research has shown that this is very much front of mind for many food businesses. Their research has found that just under half of all small food businesses surveyed (45%) claimed that ‘food safety and ensuring compliance with regulations’ is their top priority. But almost two-thirds (64%) said they are extremely concerned about the impact of a poor food safety audit or enforcement on their business.  

This should be no surprise in a sector dominated by such high standards, but the concern is reflective of an environment that is growing in terms of greater demands. Today’s customers have higher expectations with more diverse dietary needs and a wider range of health and lifestyle preferences. In food retail increasing competitiveness, higher costs, and labour shortages all merge to present a multitude of challenges for management.  

Savvy store managers will be familiar with various tools of digital transformation that help to improve store efficiencies. One tool however that addresses these multiple challenges while maintaining compliance and food safety standards is digital HACCP.  

Whether across one or many stores, a digital HACCP system saves store managers and food handlers time by automating what are otherwise time-consuming, manual processes. A robust digital HACCP system uses a wireless temperature monitoring system to significantly reduce the time staff spend recording temperatures and completed food safety tasks.  

The system removes the need for paper folders and manual paper records and eliminates the risk of stock loss due to fridge or freezer temperature excursions using automated real-time alerts via SMS, email or voice message. Such a system will also make audits and inspections easier, as data and records are available at one touch using a touchscreen device.  

For operations across multiple locations, this is particularly useful for management to remotely access live or historical records for any store. Companies such as Kelsius (www.kelsius.com) deliver digital HACCP systems to food retailers large and small and can customise a system to suit the size and needs of any retailer.  

The food sector is constantly changing and growing. Store managers who look to grow their business should look to technologies such as digital HACCP to ensure that as their operations grow, they can rest assured that this is not at the cost of maintaining high levels of compliance and excellence in customer service.

Click here to learn how wireless temperature monitoring can help your food retail business.