Allergens, labels and allergy-safe practice

Food allergy is a safety issue, not a preference. The Food Standards Agency requires allergen information to be available and expects food handlers to manage allergen risk. In practice this means staff must not guess, rely on vague reassurance or serve food as allergy-safe unless they are sure.

There are 14 regulated allergens that food businesses must declare, and the main allergens must be highlighted on packaged food labels. Children's homes staff do not need to be food-law experts, but they do need to know where to find ingredient information, how allergy plans are recorded locally and what to do when a product, recipe or takeaway is unclear.

Safer allergy practice means

• Checking labels and ingredient information every time.
• Keeping packaging or written ingredient details available where needed.
• Being alert to cross-contact in kitchens, shared utensils and serving areas.
• Calling the food business directly if takeaway allergy information is unclear.
• Refusing to guess when confidence is low.

FSA advice for young people with food allergy also warns against assuming a familiar meal is still safe. Ingredients, suppliers, staff and preparation methods can change, so a repeat order does not remove the need for a fresh check.

Manager focus: takeaways, labels and repeat orders

If the label, ingredient list or allergy answer is missing or unclear, the food is not safe to serve as allergy-safe.