In light of a newly introduced law that requires business selling takeaway food to declare any allergens it contains, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) is supporting a campaign to raise awareness within the restaurant trade.
The new Food Information (amendment) Regulations require that any food that is pre-packaged for direct sales (PPDS) must have a label displaying all ingredients, with any allergens emphasised in bold type.
The law has become known informally as Natasha’s Law, in honour of 15-year-old Natasha Ednan Laperouse, who died in 2016 after suffering an allergic reaction to a baguette containing sesame seeds.
To highlight the new law, CTSI is promoting a range of information resources created by the Greater Gwent Food Group, with support from Lancashire County Council Trading Standards, Trading Standards Wales and the Food Standards Agency. The resources include videos, posters and presentations.
In order to reach as wide an audience – and make as much of an impact as possible – the resources have been published in eight languages in addition to English.
The campaign was the idea of Dilys Harris, Senior Trading Standards Officer at Caerphilly County Borough Council, who said: “Trading Standards Wales is proud to promote this resource and feels it is very important that allergen legislation is understood throughout the many communities we serve.”
Tim Keohane, Senior Trading Standards Officer at Caerphilly County Borough Council, said: “We have a wonderfully diverse food retail sector in the UK, but that diversity brings with it a lot of businesses where English is not the first language, and we have to try harder to get through to these businesses to help them comply.”
The allergen information resources are available here.