Food businesses in Pembrokeshire are being reminded of the need to take food allergies seriously and to provide accurate allergen information about the ingredients in the meals they serve to customers.
The warning comes from Pembrokeshire County Council following a high-profile court case in England earlier this week.
Mohammed Zaman was jailed for six years for manslaughter after customer Paul Wilson suffered a severe anaphylactic shock after eating a takeaway containing nuts from Zaman’s restaurant in North Yorkshire.
Mr Wilson had a peanut allergy and while ‘no nuts’ was written on the lid of his takeaway container, the meal did contain nuts and subsequently caused his death.
The Council’s Cabinet Member for Environmental and Regulatory Services, Huw George, emphasised the legal responsibility on all food businesses to provide correct allergen information.
“This case shows how very important it is for all businesses to train their staff, to check that they understand the training and that everyone working there puts it into practice consistently” said Councillor George.
“Anyone who might buy different ingredients to those normally used, or who might make changes to standard recipes, must have adequate food allergy awareness training to ensure that they understand the risks and how they must be controlled.
“Ingredients should not be decanted into unlabelled containers, and all staff need to know which ingredients and dishes contain allergens or have a reliable way of finding out.
“‘Groundnuts’ are peanuts, and should be labelled as such.”
Councillor George continued: “People die from food allergies so it’s crucial that food businesses talk to their customers about their requirements.
“Even if food is sold loose, or by catering businesses, allergen information must be provided in writing, although this can be done using a notice which tells customers that the information is available if they ask.
“If a business takes orders by phone, they are required to ask their customers whether they have any food allergies, and provide written information about the ingredients used.
“Effective communication is critical and care should be taken if there might be any difficulties in this respect, for example due to different languages being spoken.”
Pembrokeshire County Council’s Food Safety team have been providing advice to food businesses about the law since 2014. It remains a key focus during food premises inspections and when advising new businesses starting-up.
Relevant information and advice is freely available to all businesses via the Council’s website at: www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/foodlawadvice
The website also includes further details on the ‘business advice service’, available to new and existing businesses, to support compliance with a range of food safety and standards requirements.
Free training, leaflets and other advice is also available on the Food Standards Agency website at http://www.food.gov.uk/businessindustry/allergy-guide.
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