Are you a food business? Are you up to date with allergy awareness laws around food management?

The Isle of Wight Council has you covered with free online allergy awareness training for Island food businesses.

The training is aimed at those who are involved in the management, handling and preparation of food. Only food businesses registered with the council’s Regulatory Services can attend and spaces are limited to 30 places per webinar and must be booked in advance.

It will cover:

• Allergies, Coeliac Disease and intolerances

• Understanding the 14 major allergens

• Allergens and the law including Natasha’s Law

• Controls and contamination.

This webinar will be hosted via Zoom, we recommend downloading this before joining the webinar.

The council’s Strategic Manager for Regulatory and Community Safety Services, Amanda Gregory, said: “The primary cause of food allergy deaths in the UK are as a result of food consumed outside the home, where allergenic ingredients have not been declared.

“Since ‘Natasha’s Law’ came into force last October, any business that produces pre-packed food for direct sale is required to label it with the name of the food and a full ingredients list, with allergenic ingredients emphasised within the list.

“The council is committed to supporting local companies so I would urge Island food businesses to sign up for the free webinar training on offer to make sure they understand their responsibilities in law and the life-saving information they must provide to the public, as well as gaining a better understanding of why allergy awareness is so important.”

The Webinar sessions will be provided by Food Allergy Aware – who specialise in Allergy Awareness training and consultancy for the food services industry – and will be a summary of the basic allergen management information your staff needs to be aware of to be compliant under the current Food Information Regulations (EC No 1169/2011. It will also touch on the new ‘Natasha’s Law’ regulations which came into force on 1 October 20021.