At the end of September, the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee made several key recommendations about allergies, in particular food labelling, allergy awareness in catering establishments and peanut sensitisation. These recommendations are in a report, which is now available.

According to the report, the United Kingdom now has epidemic levels of allergy sufferers and health services are struggling to keep up. It is important that people trained in handling allergies are made readily available so as to not only treat patients but also provide awareness and education.

As the list of allergens to be declared continues to be added to, pressure is mounting on the food industry to become consistent across the board with regards to labelling. It is also imperative that strict controls and good practice guidelines are adhered to within food manufacturing sites thus optimising allergen control and eliminating any possible cross contamination.

The Food Standards Agency highlights that science has not yet been able to set thresholds for the allergens in food and is therefore working with a European consortium on this matter.

Sensitivity levels to allergens can vary greatly from person to person which is why it has been difficult to set legislative limits and also why the subject is open to constant review within the European Union.

As a result of this, the Lord’s report recommends “food labels should clearly specify the amount of each allergen listed within the European Union Directive, if it is contained within the products, and we endorse the Food Standards Agency’s initiative to discourage vague defensive warnings.”

It is documented that many deaths caused by severe anaphylactic shock brought on by a food allergy, could have been avoided. It is documented that eating out poses a high risk to allergy sufferers and can cause occasional deaths however some degree of responsibility does lie with the allergic consumer.

It is important that as many precautions as possible are taken and sufficient education is provided. The report made several recommendations within this key area including the need to train caterers and enforcement officers as well as the inclusion of food allergy in the food safety modules of the national occupational standards for the hospitality sector.