Common food allergies and intolerances

Overview

There are eleven food allergens that you must be able to advise customers of if they ask if they are present in the food you sell.

They are:

cereals containing gluten and their products – namely wheat, rye, barley, oats and spelt
shellfish, crustaceans and their products
egg and egg products
fish and fish products
milk and milk products
peanuts and peanut products
tree nuts and tree nut products (this does not include coconut)
sesame seeds and sesame seed products
soybean and soybean products
added sulphites in concentrations of 10mg/kg or more
lupin and lupin products.

Despite the name, peanuts are actually legumes and are also know as 'ground nuts' as they grow in soil. Nuts, such as walnuts, almonds and cashews are known as 'tree nuts'.
People who are allergic to peanuts are often allergic to tree nuts too.
There are many different food products which contain these eleven allergens and it can be surprising what they turn up in.
In addition to the eleven allergens listed above, there are many other foods that can cause allergic reactions for people, such as kiwi fruit, banana, mustard and celery.
Listen to the customer, even if their allergy is not included in the list above, and treat their enquiries very seriously.
If a customer says they have coeliac disease or are ‘coeliac’, treat it seriously and handle it the same as for a gluten allergy.
Consult your supervisor or chef about the existence of allergens present in the food being sold.
Your supervisor or chef should provide you with allergen advice and updates.

You must be able to advise customers about allergens if they ask if they are present in the food you sell? A True B False

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