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New figures from the British Hospitality Association (BHA) estimate the cost of implementing new EU Food Information Regulations could cost businesses up to £200m a year.
By the end of 2014, all food businesses will have to accurately track, record and communicate to the public what menu items contain any of the 14 of the most common foods to cause allergic reactions, such as nuts, shellfish and eggs.
The regulation will apply to all food business including hotels, motorway service stations, take away, restaurants, café owners, schools, hospitals and prison meal services.
Around 8 billion out-of-home meals are served every year, with up to 2% of people being food allergy sufferers and 20% of people believing they have some kind of food allergy according to NHS figures.
The BHA says the new rules, which come into force on December 13, could mean millions of requests for food businesses to deal with.
Jackie Grech, policy director for the BHA, said: “These new regulations [are] coming into force this autumn and will make it easier for people to get information about which allergens are present in the food they are eating out of home.
“Food businesses will be expected to learn how best to communicate these new regulations to their customers and the BHA is today launching a toolkit, forum and workshops to help food businesses of all sizes.”
The new toolkit designed by the BHA’s food advisory team aims to help hotels, restaurants and caterers implement the new regulations and cope with these requests for information.
The BHA claims that the regulations will be a greater challenge for restaurants who frequently change their menus, pop-ups or caterers, establishments with high staff turnover and smaller establishments with less resources.
