News

Allergy UK is launching the Allergy Aware Scheme, a new accreditation scheme for catering outlets after conducting research that found food allergy and intolerance suffers do not feel confident eating out.

The survey found that 87% of the food allergic community do not feel confident eating out at a restaurant they haven’t eaten at before and 96% do not feel confident ordering a takeaway they haven’t used before.

There is a lack of trust in the allergy knowledge of catering staff with 75% stating this as a reason for choosing to not eat out.

Allergy UK’s CEO Carla Jones, said: “The Allergy Aware Scheme provides recognition to catering outlets that not only take allergies seriously, but go above and beyond legislation to deliver an exceptional service for those with those affected.

“We want to ensure that the 88% of food allergic and intolerant individuals we surveyed that have a lack of confidence in eating out at an unknown establishment, will be assured by the robust procedures of the scheme.

“Eating out should be an enjoyable experience for all, this scheme is about making the allergic community feel included and not isolated. With 92% of this community saying that they would feel more confident eating at an Allergy UK accredited restaurant, we hope that we can achieve this.”

To gain accreditation catering outlets will undertake an internal audit to show ‘front of house to kitchen’ allergen knowledge and practice. An Environmental Health Officer or food safety expert will then visit and complete an independent review to see if the catering outlet has achieved the standards required.

Each outlet will be required to sign an Allergy Aware Scheme Charter. The scheme is assured by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH).