The experiences of people with allergies in restaurants have barely been out of the headlines in recent years – yet rarely are the stories positive. Despite that, the objective for everyone in hospitality has remained the same – to ensure that everyone can come out and enjoy a meal, regardless of what allergies they may have. That’s why the sector continues to go above and beyond to protect customers.
In recent years, restaurateurs have invested heavily, and kitchen teams worked tirelessly, to put in place processes and systems that help to eradicate, as best they can, cross-contact and to provide guests with clear information around dishes that contain allergens. In the background, UKHospitality and other organizations have been busy working with experts to put together advice and best-practice guidance to help our members and the wider industry better serve those with allergies.
In many ways, it is safer now to eat out with an allergy than ever before but that’s not to say the sector rests on its laurels. The work to improve protections for customers is ongoing and allergens continue to be an important topic for us all.
Currently, the industry is waiting to hear what the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) response to its recent Consultation on Best Practice Guidance - Allergen Information for Non-Prepacked Foods will be. It is due any time now and we at UKHospitality are hoping the proposals we put forward as part of the consultation have been taken on board.
What the sector needs, and what we’ve been very vocal about asking for, is that any advice, guidance, or legislation is underpinned by flexibility that reflects the diverse nature of the hospitality sector. We’ve been urging the FSA to recognise that restaurateurs – and publicans, café owners, contract caterers and so on – should be able to develop allergen management plans that are best suited to their own operations and therefore their own customers. What we’ve made clear, is that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach cannot work.
Indeed, such rigidity could undermine the very purpose of the guidance. Flexibility to provide allergen information based on business type must underpin any change because – clearly – what works for a silver service restaurant isn’t necessarily going to work for a café or a fish & chip shop. The draft guidance does, up to a point, acknowledge some operational differences but this must be made a key principle of any new guidance, something which we have been very clear to communicate to the FSA during our discussions with them.
What we’ve also been keen to highlight during conversations, is that this new guidance should adopt a whole supply chain approach. This is crucial for hospitality businesses due to the unpredictability of the supply chain, which as we all know is subject to the turmoil of geopolitics, climate change and global logistical challenges. Chefs are frequently forced to substitute one ingredient for another in dishes or find alternatives with which to substitute products completely. Therefore, ensuring that ingredient, allergen or product information is up-to-date, in real time, would be extremely useful for those at the other end of the supply chain, sweating in kitchens and taking orders from customers.
All of us at UKHospitality are well aware that what we are waiting for is very important guidance that will have consequences for restaurants and the wider industry. The safety of customers remains the number one priority for us all and the industry is united in its drive to do even better and even more to protect those with allergies. As we await the FSA’s response to the consultation, we will continue to engage with them and other stakeholders in order to ensure that the voice of hospitality is heard and that the guidance will work for all hospitality businesses.
Kate Nicholls is CEO of UKHospitality