Food Allergy Awareness - Online Learning

Anyone who works with food needs to know about allergens and allergen labelling. They particularly need to be aware of the changes to the rules which were introduced in December 2014. In the UK it’s estimated that 2 million people have an allergy to foods, and over the last 15 years hospital admissions for food allergies have increased by 500%.

As there is no cure for food allergies, they must be managed and the only way to do this is to avoid the foods which cause the allergy. It is therefore important that people with food allergies can easily find out which products contain the ingredients they are allergic to. In order to comply with the new EU FIC Regulations, everyone working in the food industry is required to understand how to make this information readily available to consumers should they need to know.

Learning outcomes

• Learn about the 14 major Food Allergens and their labelling
• Understand and work towards compliance with the Food Information Regulations and understand the laws surrounding food
• Learn how to avoid cross contamination

Course contents

This training course is broken down into 3 sections

1. 1 What are Allergens?
2. 2 The Laws Regarding Food
3. 3 Cross Contamination and How to Avoid It

SECTION 1

In this section we look at what an allergen is, how food allergens affect people and what the 14 major food allergens are. We look at different allergic reactions, particularly looking at what to do in an emergency – if someone is having a severe allergic reaction to food. Do you know which food allergens can found in common foods or menu selections? We have an interactive exercise to highlight the use of allergenic ingredients in foods you may not expect!

SECTION 2

The Laws regarding foods and food products are there to keep consumers safe. In this section, we look at the legal requirements. We look at how allergenic ingredients must be declared on labels and we look at the new law which means that even products without labels must present allergy information or have it easily available – this includes foods such as pizza from pizzerias, the salads in salad bars, loose foods bought from supermarkets, delicatessens, or from restaurants, and coffee shops.

SECTION 3

People with food allergies can be affected by the tiniest amount of the food they are allergic to, so it’s really important that great care is taken to avoid one food being contaminated by another. This section looks at ways to reduce the risk of contamination to a minimum. This includes personal cleanliness, cleanliness of surfaces, utensils and machinery, design, layout and organisation of food preparation and storage areas and disposal of waste.