Food: Allergies
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to encourage (a) allergen awareness and (b) cross-contamination training for staff in (i) hospitality and (ii) food service businesses.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) regularly runs campaigns to raise awareness of allergens for both consumers and businesses.
In March 2025, the FSA published new best practice guidance to help food businesses provide clearer written allergen information for those in hospitality, such as restaurants. This is available at the following link:
It is recommended that this is supported by a conversation with the consumer. Additional guidance includes the ‘Safer Food Better Business’ guide, along with the FSA’s ‘Food allergen labelling and information requirements technical guidance’.
The FSA is dedicated to improving the provision of information for people with allergies and working with food businesses to increase allergen training in the sector. Free training is provided on the FSA website for local authorities and food businesses, including those working in hospitality and food service. The training covers all aspects of allergen management, including mitigating and communicating the risk of allergen cross-contamination.
Under food safety regulations, businesses are expected to ensure their staff are competent in managing allergens. The FSA training has proved to be very popular, with 915,238 users since the launch of the platform in September 2020, and the FSA is currently working to improve the offering.
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