Allergen Labelling Requirements For Non-Prepacked Foods

New legislation on the provision of food information to consumers came into effect on 13th of December 2014. This requires food businesses providing non-prepacked food e.g. restaurants, delis, canteens, takeaways, cafes, retail outlets etc., to indicate to consumers the use of any of the 14 listed allergenic ingredients in the production or preparation of food. In Ireland all food business are required to inform their customers of all allergen information and this information must be provided in a written format.

Chef Consulting Services can assist you in putting a system that works for you in place to identify and record the allergenic ingredients being received and handled by your staff to enable you to meet the food allergen declaration requirements.

Calories On The Menu

Food businesses need to be aware that displaying the amount of calories on food and drink is a form of labelling which is regulated by food law in Ireland. The most important rule of labelling is that the consumer must not be misled. Therefore, calorie information provided on food and drinks must be accurate.

There are four principles for putting calories on menus in Ireland.

Principle 1. Calorie information is provided for ALL standard food and drink items sold

Principle 2. Calorie information is displayed clearly and prominently at the ‘point of choice’ for the consumer

Principle 3. Calorie information is provided per portion or per meal

Principle 4. Information on how many calories an average person needs in a day is given to help consumers ‘make sense’ of calories on menus

Chef Consulting Services can assist you in choosing which principle best suits your business and help you with correctly displaying calorie information on your menus.