Advancing Allergen Management…Safe to Trade Shares Expert Guidance for Hospitality Businesses
Alec Kyriakides, Chair of the Safe to Trade Technical Standards Committee (TSC)
The recently released Imperial College London findings estimating that the number of people living with food allergies in England has increased significantly between 2008 and 2018,* together with the tragic death of 13-year-old Hannah Jacobs, after drinking a takeaway hot chocolate that she believed to be made with soya milk, is another reminder of the huge responsibility that every person in the food industry has in relation to food safety.
This comes on the back of equally sad and avoidable deaths of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, aged 15, from an allergic reaction to sesame in a shop-bought baguette in 2016 and of Owen Carey, who died in 2017 celebrating his 18th birthday after consuming a restaurant meal containing buttermilk.
Highly experienced food safety consultant Alec Kyriakides, Chair of the Safe to Trade Technical Standards Committee (TSC), the first voluntary, third-party assurance scheme for the hospitality industry that puts people’s health first, shares his view on the cruciality of effective allergen management in the hospitality sector and offers guidance…
As a food safety professional who has established and enforced allergen policy throughout the supply chain for a major grocery retailer and who has advised Standards bodies in their third-party food safety management certification schemes, I have seen the real challenges everyone faces in managing and communicating allergen risks. I also have a particular vested interest in getting this right as my wife has a severe allergy to nuts and peanuts, something that presents her with the daily challenge of making life-or-death decisions about what she eats. I know this sounds somewhat dramatic, but any person with a severe food allergy has to do this with every food they consume on every occasion for their entire life. I have only experienced one occasion when my wife consumed nuts and I can tell you that had it not been for the fact it happened in hospital, after the birth of our first child, my wife would not have survived. Of course, had she not eaten a vegetable bake at the hospital restaurant, which she was assured did not contain nuts (but actually contained ground almonds), then this would not have happened at all but this was definitely a case of being eternally grateful for the quick action of the A&E department to rectify the mistake of the catering department.
So, I am somewhat uniquely positioned to understand the challenges to both the food industry, and also the consumer regarding managing and communicating allergens. You will notice that I refer to the challenge as “managing and communicating” because this is essentially how I see this issue. I know that important work is ongoing to understand the basis of the underlying reasons for allergy and severe allergy and to employ therapies to modulate the immune response and temper the adverse effects of exposure, but this is a very long-term aspiration and there will always be a need to manage and communicate risk.
Food Safety Management Systems are Key
Given my background, I am bound to say that strong, underpinning food safety management processes within businesses are necessary to rise to the challenge including understanding and, where possible, eliminating or reducing allergen risk from ingredients, during processing/preparation and when sold or served to consumers. Fundamental to this is effective supply chain management and manufacturing/catering/retail processes with food safety management systems to ensure a business knows what allergens are in their products and that they are effectively managed and, where appropriate, communicated to consumers through on-pack labelling or point of purchase/consumption information.
The large number of allergen recalls in manufactured products are testimony to the fact that there is more to do to get this right but, in the most part, these are generally a consequence of the food manufacturer or retailer identifying the allergen labelling error (as it is mostly a labelling issue) before anyone has suffered a reaction and then conducting a precautionary withdrawal or public recall. It is a good thing that this is spotted and rectified, and effective verification processes and incident management are very important elements of a businesses’ food safety management processes. It is also important that businesses encountering such issues undertake root cause analysis to identify the underlying reason that allowed the issue to occur and put measures in place to ensure this cannot reoccur. Many of the deaths due to allergen consumption have occurred in hospitality/food service where the food is served/sold directly for consumption, and consequently where the entire management of the allergen risk is essentially discharged to the individual preparing the food in the establishment.
Food Safety Culture is the Critical Missing Piece
Whether in manufacturing, retail or hospitality, no one actively seeks to put the consumer at risk. So, is this just about having good food safety management systems, labelling, menus, training and inspection/audit? These are unquestionably important and I am a huge advocate for all of them but they have one thing in common – they all rely on people. Unless someone feels a sense of responsibility to deliver safe foods, these elements become things to comply with or tick boxes. Have you ever been in a restaurant or shop and asked the waiter or assistant about an allergen and been given a response of “I think….” or “I’m pretty sure…..” or a vague look that tells you that you cannot really trust their advice? Contrast that with someone who says “I don’t know but let me get the allergen sheet….” or “There are no nuts in the recipe but we handle them in the kitchen…”. Your confidence is driven as much by how much someone cares, as by how much they know, and this is in turn driven by the culture in the business.
Positive Reinforcement Drives Improved Culture
The real answer is that these system-based solutions have to be aligned with a culture in an organisation that makes food safety management and, in this case allergen management, second nature. This is not easy to achieve but something that comes with effective training, great systems including documentation, clear labelling and communication and, importantly, reinforcement. My experience is that colleagues respond positively to role modelling by their peers and managers of the right behaviours and being praised for their delivery. This constant reinforcement supports the delivery of the correct food safety (and allergen) behaviours.
And, as a customer, this can also work by praising the attentiveness and responsiveness of staff in food businesses who display these behaviours by giving feedback with a quick “Thank you for asking about my allergies…” to online feedback about how well a business manages allergens.
We can all make a difference to improve allergen management and communication if we truly believe we are all in this together.
References
* https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/255793/food-allergy-doubles-uk-over-last/
About Alec Kyriakides
In addition to his role as Chair of the Safe to Trade TSC, a group responsible for the ongoing maintenance of the Safe to Trade standard, Alec Kyriakides is Chair of the BRCGS International Advisory Boards, Non-Executive Director at Campden BRI, Trustee of the IFST, Honorary Lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast and former Head of Quality and Safety at Sainsbury’s.
About Safe to Trade
Safe to Trade is the first voluntary, third-party assurance scheme for the hospitality industry that puts people’s health first. A standard that leads and directs the sector, devised in collaboration with leading industry experts and regulators, and implemented by highly trained, competent and impartial Environmental Health Practitioners from Shield Safety, who are the first Certification Body for Safe to Trade.
The Safe to Trade Hospitality and Catering Standard is aligned with the latest food safety and health and safety regulations. It incorporates best practices and expands on the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme by including additional criteria such as allergen information, front-of-house cleanliness, and food claims.
Approved businesses are listed on the online Safe to Trade register, providing transparency that helps protect people’s well-being and drive business growth.
