The Food Standards Agency (FSA) Board has confirmed a series of measures to protect those with food allergies and intolerances. This comes a week after the conclusion of the inquest into the tragic death of Owen Carey, who died after having an allergic reaction to milk at a London restaurant.
The actions include:
- issuing a clear and easy to follow aide-memoire for enforcement officers (Environmental Health Officers and Trading Standards Officers) which is focused specifically on the action they should be taking within business in relation to food allergies
- publishing an urgent update of the highly-regarded ‘Safer Food Better Business’ guide, including a review of on the allergens information included
- at the end of the year, launching of an awareness campaign to remind businesses and consumers about how to keep people with food allergies safe
- implementing a pilot project to develop better reporting of allergic reactions
- focusing on the concerns raised by Owen’s case at the next Industry Leadership Forum on food hypersensitivity in November
- meeting with Byron and their local authority to discuss the detail of Owen’s case and lessons learned
- once all information is available, commission a full root cause analysis of this specific incident to ensure that lessons are shared
The Board stressed their commitment to supporting food businesses to keep consumers safe, and to develop a greater understanding of food allergens through further research, which would make a significant improvement to people’s lives in this area.
As part of the meeting, the Board also considered other major public health risks, including campylobacter and AMR. There was a strong endorsement from the Board to sustain current achievements and continue efforts to tackle Campylobacter in smaller food businesses. The Board made clear they expected the larger retailers to remain transparent about campylobacter levels with consumers, and continue testing and sharing information on their campylobacter reduction programmes with the FSA.
