Allergy Aware
Schools Catering Manual
| Home | Contents | Contact Us Buy Books | Reviews | Links |
|---|
Legal Implications
LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
Although they are often unaware of it, allergic people are well protected under existing food and consumer protection laws.
To avoid potential liability under the Food Safety Act 1990 and the Food Safety Regulations 1995 (revised from 1st January 2006), and action for damages the caterer must:
- Provide essential allergen information to their customers, especially on request or where foods contain a known or common allergen. Any information given by a member of staff must be accurate and properly researched.
- Ensure that anyone involved in the preparation or serving of the food to customers understands the risks involved, how to avoid them and the importance of giving accurate information.
If the caterer or his/her staff answer a query about a potential allergen in their products incorrectly and the customer suffers, the caterer could be guilty of a criminal offence and risk an action for damages.
Allergic individuals are under a duty to exercise more than the usual level of diligence when ordering and consuming foods. They are expected to scrutinise prospective purchases more closely than the average consumer. However, it is the caterer’s legal duty to meet their needs.
A customer suffering an adverse reaction to a caterer’s product may sue for compensation, under the Consumer Protection Act 1987, as a result of being sold a 'defective' product e.g. one whose safety is not such as the customer was entitled to expect.
A product could be considered ‘defective in respect of information’ if the presence of an allergen of which the caterer was, or should have been, aware was not made clear to a customer.
The product would also be considered ‘defective’ if it contained even a minute amount of an allergen which should not have been there. The caterer might be able to rebut charges of negligence if they can show that they have operated according to Due Diligence procedures. This requires suitable training of staff as to the rsiks, and how to respond. They will still also be ‘negligent in respect of information’ if they should have been aware of a significant risk of cross contamination and did not inform the allergic customer.