A disturbing story – ‘People don’t realise how serious a nut allergy can be’ – featured in The Sunday Times of Malta on February 8, tells the story of a woman who went to a restaurant in Malta asking if the food she was about to order contained nuts, since she was allergic to them. A member of staff told her she was there at her own risk.

This misinformed and grossly irresponsible reply reflects, beyond a shadow of doubt, the ignorance among restaurant staff about serious food allergies and the new, mandatory food allergy law that came into force on December 13, 2014, which applies to restaurants and all catering establishments within the EU.

EU Regulation 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers requires that catering establishments such as restaurants, bistros, pubs and gastro pubs, wine bars, brasseries, coffee shops, outside caterers, fast food outlets, retail stores, banqueting and conference facilities, leisure attractions, museums, cinemas and theatres, welfare caterers, such as schools, universities, hospitals and old people’s homes, the army, navy and police force and transport caterers, such as planes, boats and railways, will have to supply details of menu items that contain any of the EU top 14 allergens.

Details of these allergens will have to be listed clearly, such as on a menu, chalkboard, information pack or tablets. Each dish on any menu requires a breakdown of allergens contained within the recipe and preparation.

According to the European Academy of Allergy, food allergies affect more than 17 million people across Europe

Restaurateurs can no longer state that they are not aware of an allergen that is present or that foods ‘could’ contain allergens. Any oral statement has to be backed up in writing and non-compliance will result in large fines.

The young woman’s experience and the new mandatory regulations prove that staff working in the food sector must be trained at all levels.

Have the Maltese authorities concerned with food and health even started to inform restaurants, hotels, snack bars and caterers about the necessary requirements?

As a restaurant reviewer who dines out regularly and who has interviewed a number of chefs about this matter, I do not think that anything has yet been done. We have not seen one single menu or restaurant conforming with the EU requirements. The authorities have had three years, during which time they should have started educating the hospitality sector about this very important issue.

Lack of conformity could land food establishments in trouble, especially if a local or one of the 1.7 million foreigners who visit Malta dies as a result.

Will the new regulations cause the MTA, the Tourism Ministry and others concerned with the licensing of any catering establishment to revise their licensing laws or proposed assured quality labels which, under these circumstances, have no basis unless these are issued in complete conformity with this EU legislation?

Should a fatality occur due to lack of enforcement, who should be held responsible? The restaurant or catering establishment, the health authorities, the Tourism Ministry, the MTA? It’s not easy to have staff trained in time to understand the requirements of food allergic customers and how to prevent cross contamination, but unless we start immediately, we shall never get there.

Under the new legislation, customers must be told if their food contains any of the following 14 allergens: celery, including any found in stock cubes and soup; cereals containing gluten, including spelt, wheat, rye, barley; crustaceans like crabs, lobster, prawns and shrimp paste; eggs, including food glazed with egg; fish; lupin - can be found in some types of bread, pastries, pasta; milk; molluscs, mussels, land snails, squid, also found in oyster sauce; mustard; nuts; peanuts, also found in groundnut oil; sesame seeds, found in some bread, humus, tahini; soya, found in bean curd, edamame beans, tofu; and sulphur dioxide, used as a preservative in dried fruit, meat products, soft drinks, vegetables and alcohol.

According to the European Academy of Allergy, food allergies affect more than 17 million people across Europe. In the UK alone, around 5,000 need hospital treatment for severe allergic reactions each year, some of which are fatal cases, causing an average of 10 deaths annually.

Experts say the majority of these deaths and visits to hospital are avoidable, with some being a result of incorrect ingredient information. The legislation is a huge step forward for those with allergies, who should now feel more confident with more information.

We must start and move on with urgency and purpose to conform with this EU legislation, which does not only concern the population of Malta but also the 1.7 million visitors we host each year, a percentage of whom suffer from food allergies and intolerances.

lineking@onvol.net

Reno Spiteri is director of Wines and Restaurants of Malta.Com.

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