Food Allergen Awareness

New Zealand food businesses must manage allergen information and, for food sold without a label such as many café or restaurant meals, be able to provide required allergen information when requested.

• Use current recipes, ingredient labels and the business's approved allergen information.
• Check substitutions, garnishes, sauces, oils and pre-prepared ingredients rather than relying on memory.
• If you do not know, say so and ask the responsible person. Never guess.
• Follow the site's process for recording and communicating an allergy request to the people preparing and serving the food.

• Follow the workplace procedure for separating allergen-containing ingredients and foods.
• Use the required clean equipment, utensils, surfaces and protective clothing.
• Clean effectively between tasks as the workplace procedure requires.
• Consider shared oils, grills, fryers, utensils, storage and preparation areas when the procedure identifies them as cross-contact risks.
• Do not remove an allergen ingredient from a finished dish and assume the remaining food is safe.

• Listen carefully and pass the request through the approved communication process.
• Do not promise that a meal is “allergen-free” unless the business has an approved basis and process for making that claim.
• If ingredients or cross-contact controls cannot be confirmed, tell the customer accurately rather than providing false reassurance.
• If an error is discovered before service, stop the order and follow the site's correction process.
• If a customer appears to be having a serious allergic reaction, follow the workplace emergency procedure and seek emergency help promptly.

FD-002 complete

This completion demonstrates general allergen awareness only. It does not replace the business's applicable Food Control Plan/National Programme, recipe and ingredient controls, workplace procedures, supervision or role-specific competency.

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