1. Understanding the new food allergen rules
Dr. Chun-Han Chan
Food Allergy Branch

2. Key facts ~1.92m people have food allergy in the UK
1 in 100 people have coeliac disease in the UK
estimated 4,500 hospitalisations
10 deaths / year attributed to food allergy
There is no cure, therefore need to observe avoidance
Read ingredient labels
Look out for hidden allergens
We estimate that around 1.92million people live with a diagnosed food allergy in the UK. However, this figure excludes food intolerance so the number of people which food allergen labelling is of importance is much greater.
There is no cure for food allergy and therefore there is a need to observe an avoidance diet and to enable this regard should be given to information provided to the consumer.
An avoidance diet could be successfully be achieved through reading the details of the ingredients labels and looking out for hidden allergens.

3. Food labelling is changing
Moving from General Labelling Regulation (2000/13/EC) to Food Information for Consumers Regulation (1169/2011/EC)
Three year transition period from the coming into force date – from 13 December 2014 new rules on allergen labelling shall apply
Existing requirements for pre-packed foods are retained – but new requirement to emphasize allergenic foods in the ingredients list
Introduction of new requirement to provide allergy information for unpackaged foods
**Read off slide**

4. Scope of the Regulation
Covers business operators at all stages of food chain concerning provision of information to consumers:
Food intended for the final consumer
Foods delivered by mass caterers
Foods intended for supply to mass caterers
Also applies to catering services provided by transport leaving from the EU Member States
airline catering
trains
boats / ships
**read slide**

5. Cereals containing gluten
Annex II – The big 14
Peanuts
Nuts
Milk
Soya
Mustard
Lupin
Eggs
Fish
Crustaceans
Molluscs
Cereals containing gluten
Sesame
Celery
Sulphur dioxide
The list of allergens remains unchanged from the previous legislation.
There is a provision within the new legislation to review this list to add or remove allergens. These fourteen allergens represent the most prevalent and potent allergens in the EU.

6. Mandatory particulars
Article 9(1)c - Any ingredient or processing aid listed in Annex II, or derived from a substance or product listed in Annex II causing allergies or intolerances, used in the manufacture or preparation of a food and still present in the finished product, even if in an altered form
Article 9(2) - The specified allergenic foods to be indicated with words and numbers - they may additionally be expressed by means of pictograms or symbols
Article 9 outlines the mandatory information and this is any ingredient or processing aid as listed in Annex II which can cause an allergy or intolerance used in the manufacture or preparation of a food and is still present.
Article 9 (2) covers the use of pictograms or symbols. These cannot be used without word or numbers. In the picture below we have a gluten free labelled food and the crossed grain logo with a statement on its suitability for coeliacs.
The sole use of logos or pictograms can only be used if there is demonstrable and uniform understanding of these logos. The use of such logos will need consideration at a European level before they are used widely.

7. Article 12 & 13 Clarity and Legibility
For prepacked foods, mandatory information to appear directly on the package or on a label attached to it
Mandatory food information to be available and easily accessible for all foods
Mandatory information to be marked in a conspicuous place, be easily visible, clearly legible and, where appropriate, indelible. It should not be hidden, obscured, detracted from or interrupted by other written or pictorial matter
The new legislation will introduce requirements which will mean that the presentation of allergen information will be clearer.
***read slide***

8. Article 14 Distance selling
In the case of foods offered for sale by means of distance communication, mandatory food information to be available before purchase is concluded and to appear on the material supporting the distance selling or be provided through other appropriate means clearly identified by the food business operator
All mandatory information to be available at the moment of delivery
Examples of distance selling can be online purchases, telephone orders, meals on wheels.
***read slide***

9. Article 21 Labelling of allergens
Unless exempt, allergens to be indicated in list of ingredients with clear reference to name of the substance or product as listed in Annex II i.e. whey (milk)
Allergenic ingredients to be emphasized through a typeset that clearly distinguishes it from the rest of the ingredients by means of the font, style or background colour
In the absence of a list of ingredients, the indication of the allergenic ingredients to comprise the word ‘contains’ followed by the name of the substance or product listed in Annex II
Where several ingredients or processing aids in a food originate from a single allergenic ingredient, the labelling shall make it clear for each ingredient or processing aid concerned
Article 21 covers the way allergens are labelled. When providing foods non-prepeacked you will need to be aware of how allergen information is provided on the packaging of prepacked food so you can record this.
They must be indicated in the list of ingredients with a clear reference of the substances or product as listed in Annex II for example whey powder or casein are not immediately clear they are from milk and so will need some qualification that they are from milk.
Allergenic ingredients to be emphasised through a typeset which will clearly distinguish it from the rest of ingredients and this could be achieved through contrasting font, style, background colour for example.
In the absence of an ingredients list such as a bottle of wine. The allergens used to be expressed through a contains statement followed by the name of the allergen for example a bottle of wine with a Contains: Sulphites statement.
Where several ingredients or processing aids come from a single ingredient, the labelling and emphasis will be made for each ingredient used. This is for the purpose of consistency and clarity.

10. EU FIC Labelling
Going forward we will see labelling changing. For example here we have a chocolate product with milk emphasised using a contrasting colour.
And below we have an example in bold.
As you can see the information about allergenic ingredients can be found with ease.

11. Article 21 continued
Where the name of the food (i.e. box of eggs, bag of peanuts) clearly refers to the allergen concerned, there is no need for a separate declaration of the allergenic food
Use of Allergy Boxes
The voluntary use allergen advisory boxes to declare the presence of allergenic ingredients in prepacked foods with ingredients lists not permitted
Allergen information found in a single and consistent place
**read slide**

12. Article 36 Voluntary information
The Commission has option to introduce new rules on the following voluntary information:
‘information on the possible and unintentional presence in food of substances or products causing allergies or intolerances’
Precautionary allergen warnings (“may contain”) can still be used for prepacked food and non-prepacked – to be applied after a thorough risk assessment and to communicate a real risk to the consumer
Permits the introduction of agreed phrases or allergen reference doses for the unintentional presence of allergens in prepacked foods
At the moment there are no quantitative levels (reference doses) to inform precautionary allergen labelling. However, this article enables us to introduce rules on how to apply precautionary allergen labelling.
**read slide**

13. Article 44 non-prepacked food
A new requirement for allergen ingredients information to be provided for non-prepacked foods and food provided prepacked for direct sale
Foods are offered to sale to the final consumer or to mass caterers without pre-packaging, or where foods are packed on the sales premises at the consumer’s request or prepacked for direct sale, the provision of the information about allergenic ingredients is mandatory
The biggest change the EUFIC brings is for non-prepacked food and this is where significant effort is required by all.
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14. Article 44 –non-prepacked foods cont’
Oral provision also permitted, provided the business indicates clearly that such information can be obtained upon request
Oral information must be accurate, consistent and verifiable upon challenge
What is consistent? Is there a process in place to enable consistent information to be provided? For example to refer queries to the nominated person(s)
What is verifiable? Ingredients information on a chart, recipe book, ingredients information sheets, scrap books with labels etc
To acknowledge the variety of food business models, the UK has sought a national provision to introduce a flexibility on how allergen information for non-prepacked food could be provided.
**read remaining bullets on oral provision**

15. Article 44 –non-prepacked foods
Could declare allergen ingredients information through a contains statement, charts, tables etc.
i.e. chicken tikka masala – Contains: milk, almonds (nuts)
Consider Article 12 and 13 on accessibility of mandatory information - Marked in a conspicuous place, easily visible, clearly legible
Signposting is required when information is not provided written and upfront. It should be where consumer would expect to find allergen information e.g in a folder, on menu board, at till or on the menu card
You can provide allergen information in any format as long as it suits the way your business is run and can be updated easily when required.
For example, it could be as simple as a contains statement next to the name of the meal.
Consider Articles 12& 13 when providing allergen information for non-prepacked food.
Such information must be placed in the conspicuous place, easy visible, clear and legible and not hidden somewhere where someone is not expected to make a food choice.
Where allergen information is not provided upfront and in writing to provide an upfront signpost to where allergen information will be obtained e.g. in a folder, on a menu board, at the till or a special menu card

16. Food Allergies & Intolerances
Before you order your food and drinks
please speak to our staff
if you have a food allergy or intolerance

17. Providing allergen information
Dish
Cereals containing gluten
Crustaceans
Eggs
Fish
Peanuts
Soyabean
Milk
Nuts
Celery
Mustard
Sesame
Sulphites
Lupin
Molluscs
Lasagne  
wheat 
Mushroom risotto
Lemon cheesecake
almonds
Here is an example of an allergen matrix for meals provided, you have the 14 allergens at the top and the menus on the side.

18. Article 44 – non-prepacked food
How are dietary requests communicated from front to back of house? e.g. use of chef cards, order tickets, receipts
Preparing foods for allergic consumers- what process is in place
Do you use Safer Food, Better business (SFBB) “Safe Method: Allergy”?
Are you making specific claims i.e. gluten free
How this claim is verified or validated
Would no gluten containing ingredients (NGCI) statement be better? – more factual rather than attributed to a set level
When handling special dietary requests consider what processes are in place?
**read slide**
The Agency already provides voluntary best practice guidance on the provision of allergen information for foods sold non-prepacked. However under the Governments Red Tape Challenge agenda, we are not able to produce best practice guidance

19. What to do when someone cannot make a choice?
Consider due diligence and safe guarding of those in your care
Nurseries, primary schools, care homes, hospitals (too young, mental illness)
What process is in place – reference to care plan and medical records with details of dietary history
Communication between kitchen staff, nurses, care givers or those serving food

20. Regular reviews, keep it current
Food businesses need to have processes in place to ensure the information they provide is accurate
Regularly review the ingredients information
Where ingredients change, review the accuracy of the recipe
Do garnishes or dressings change the allergenic profile of the meal? Check!
Accuracy is dependent on the information on labelling, updating allergen information for dishes, updating staff and consumers
**read slide**

21. Communication is key Think about the chain of communication
The person buying the food
The person handling the food
The person taking the order
The person ordering the food
Is the person buying the food telling anyone about any changes to the ingredients being sourced for example the chef?
Is the person handling the food telling anyone about the changes to the ingredients or the recipe?
Is the person taking the order aware of the changes made by the person buying the food and the chef so they can provide correct allergen information?
Is the person ordering the food asking for allergen information?
Whilst the last point about the consumer is out of control of the business, I will now explain why it is important.

22. Communication is key Engage with serving staff Recipes change
Ingredients change
Communication is key and this is also the case for food allergic individuals and the FSA and allergy support organisations encourage that those suffering from food allergy engage with the serving staff and never assume that recipes can change and that ingredients change.
As businesses, encourage this dialogue and be understanding when handling such requests.

23. Cross contamination with allergens
The unintentional presence of allergens is not covered under the EU FIC. This is covered under the Food Safety Act and General Food Law.
Regulation No. 178/2002 General Food Law: Article 14, 2a. Food shall be deemed to be unsafe if it is considered to be injurious to health
Article 14, 3b In determining whether any food is unsafe, regard shall be had to the information provided to the consumer, including information on the label, or other information generally available to the consumer concerning the avoidance of specific adverse health effects from a particular food or category of foods
Outside of the EU FIC regulation also consider General food law, this is where the unintentional presence of allergens is covered and the use of precautionary allergen labelling.
**read slide**

24. Supporting businesses – non-prepacked
Developed in collaboration with food industry and consumer support organisations

25. http://multimedia. food. gov

26. Support for businesses - prepacked

27. Allergy E-learning
Access free on:

28. Statutory Instrument
Food Information Regulations 2014 – to be published by August 2014
An offence has been committed for failure to comply with allergen provisions
To outline functional working arrangements for LAs
Government Guidance to support Regulation to be issued on GOV.UK ~ July 2014
FSA allergen guidance to support SME’s to be issued on ~ July 2014
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29. Changes to enforcement
Broadening responsibility
Unitary authorities and London boroughs, employ both TSOs and EHOs  - up to them whether they use one or other or both to enforce the UK Food Information Regulations (FIR).  This will be in most cases EHOs where there is involvement with non-prepacked food but in some cases it will be TSOs – it depends on the arrangements locally
Where responsibility is split into two tiers, to extend the responsibility of second tier (district councils) to include allergens checks under FIR in England
As there will be a new requirement for allergen information to be provided for non-prepacked foods, this will introduce changes to enforcement
**read slide**

30. Changes to enforcement (2)
FIR will introduce
Improvement notices – outlines necessary changes to reach compliance, timebound
First tier tribunals – businesses to challenge / appeal IN’s
Criminal sanctions for breaches in food allergen provisions – food safety
EHOs / TSO’s to help educate the food businesses and to maximise the opportunities of LAs to talk to businesses
**read slide**

31. EUFIC communications Joint messaging
Allergy Awareness Week (28 April – 4 May 2014)
Revised advice issued on “Consumers leaflet” ergy-leaflet.pdf
Revised advice and leaflets for SME’s - June 2014
Engagement with our interested parties
Food allergen information and updates on the regulation can be obtained from:
To ensure that the message is spread as widely as possible we are relying on joint messaging to cascade the changes to the food allergen rules.
**read slide**
As I mentioned we are relying on a cascade, speak to you colleagues, share with them what you have learnt today and develop good working practices in your businesses.

32. Next steps
Second round of enforcement officer training October – February 2015
Joint messaging – cascade of change
Engagement with our interested parties
Reaching out to smaller businesses
Healthcare professionals and consumer groups
FSA technical allergen guidance – to be finalised ~July shape-our-policies/allergy-guidance/
For more information please look through this websites

33. Thank you for listening
For more information on food allergen information: Or