On 13 December, new legislation (the EU Food Information for Consumers Regulation 1169/2011) will require caterers in all sectors to provide allergen information about all food served on site. This will be enforced and monitored by Trading Standards as part of food safety law from December 2014.
Failure to comply is a criminal offence and may result in a criminal prosecution. A person found guilty of an allergen offence will be liable to a fine currently limited to £5,000 but when Section 85 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 is enforced, it will be for the magistrates to decide on the fine level in particular cases.
This new Regulation will require schools to set up new processes and procedures, and ensure that all staff are adequately trained as they will have to:
- Make lists of ingredients for every dish served
- Identify 14 allergens within the ingredients used
- Keep an Allergen Register
- Check ingredients and allergen information regularly
- Assign a person with allergen management responsibility
- Decide how allergen information will be communicated
To help your organisation and your catering team comply with the new Allergen Labelling Legislation, we’ve developed a free online system called PiranhaTM.
PiranhaTMis a revolutionary system which enables you to monitor and track allergen and nutritional data for every ingredient that is used in your menus. This information is taken directly from suppliers and it is displayed automatically on your computer or tablet screen!
We worked with suppliers to access the allergen details of their food products, as well as basic nutritional information. This includes calories, fat, salt and sugar content, as well as General Daily Allowance (GDA) information for men, women and children.
Within Piranha™, users can ‘build’ their menu items, add details of how each is made and even include a photo. Allergen information is instantly available for every dish, as needed. The system also includes ‘live’ menu costing functionality: using customer’s purchase invoice data, an accurate cost can be calculated for every portion made. Operators can then easily track, control and monitor in real-time how much each dish costs, what the profit margins are and make adjustments, as required.
For more information or to arrange a short online demonstration please get in touch.
