ALLERGEN LABELLING COULD SOON CHANGE AS DEFRA CONSULTATION ENDS
By Luke Chillingsworth
The consultation on improvements to allergen labelling laws is set to end on March 29th according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
MPs backed calls for Defra to look at ways to change allergen labelling laws after the death of 15-year-old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who fell ill after eating a sandwich purchased at Pret a Manger in 2016.
Defra has opened discussion on four options for the future of labelling. These options include the possibility of there being no change to the law or could see a complete redraft where food providers would need to disclose a full ingredients list for dishes, an approach favoured among those in the allergen community.
Nathalie Newman, a food allergy blogger, said: “The only thing that everyone is asking for is absolute transparency in terms of what’s being said, it’s not okay to be vague about what’s being used.
Defra consultation could lead to stricter labelling laws.
“It’s more about transparency and allowing us to make a judged and informed opinion rather than not telling us,” she said.
Despite there being EU laws in place, the UK gives food business operators more freedom by allowing allergen information on non-packaged food to be relayed by a member of staff instead of through labelling.
If changes were made to the law, businesses would be responsible for funding labelling changes themselves which would increase operating costs.
London restaurant closures hit a 29-year high last year as 117 independent eateries closed their doors.
Tony Rodd, owner of Copper Ink and former Masterchef finalist, said: “I think you need to strike a balance as an industry.
It’s difficult for independent restaurants like ourselves, we haven’t got the weight of the bigger business behind us, so we need to look at every single penny we spend.”