Allergen and ‘free from’ claims
May contain nuts
If a dish contains nuts or nut by-products it is a good idea to include the name of the nut in the name of the meal, alternatively state that your dish ‘may contain nuts’ in the description.
It may not always be clear from a label that a product contains nuts or nut by-products. Recipes need to be completely checked and ingredients checked with suppliers. If it is not possible to ensure there is no cross contamination of nuts across dishes state on your menu ‘nuts may be present in any of these dishes’.
Extreme care must be taken if saying ‘nut free’ as nuts can kill those who have a nut allergy. Staff need to know why some people ask about nuts and know how important it is to give the customer accurate information.
GM free
If any dish contains genetically modified (GM) ingredients they must be identified. If no GM ingredients are used in any dishes on the menu you can state on your menu or anywhere in the restaurant ‘all our dishes are GM free’.
All Brakes products are GM free. However, if any dishes containing genetically modified or irradiated ingredients (most commonly herbs and spices, soft fruit and shellfish) are served, a general notice or statement is required on the menu to explain these terms and to advise customers that they can ask for more details about them. Make sure this detail is available for your staff to use.
Other allergies
Caterers should have a record of all the ingredients in all dishes and a nominated member of staff to help customers. A statement on the menu should invite people with allergies to ask about the contents of dishes. A statement on a menu could read “if you have an allergy ask one of our staff about the ingredients in our dishes”.
