Maribyrnong City Council is working with local food businesses to assist them in identifying food allergens in the foods they prepare and sell.
Approximately one to two per cent of the population and five to eight per cent of children suffer from food allergies. They can be life threatening, with symptoms ranging from skin reactions, such as hives and swelling of the face, difficulty breathing leading to anaphylaxis and possibly death.
The only way to manage them is to avoid the foods that contain them.
Food allergens include eggs, soy, fish, crustaceans, milk, peanuts, nuts, cereals and sulphites in concentrations of 10 milligrams per kilogram or more.
Under the Food Standards Code, a food business must by law inform customers if a food contains any food allergens if requested by a customer.
To assist local food businesses in identifying allergens, Maribyrnong Council recently invited local traders to participate in a series of workshops.
Maribyrnong’s Senior Project Officer, Sandee Paterson, said Council has trained 80 local food businesses to date.
“The workshops addressed theoretical elements, such as what food allergens are and the dangers they present,” she said.
“Trainers then visited participants’ workplaces to assess what they had learnt and to help them to identify allergens by looking through their ingredients and food products.
“Businesses have now learnt to identify allergens on their own and how to train staff to identify them.
“They have also developed an allergen matrix for their businesses, which outlines what allergens are in each product they produce.
“Many businesses have now provided this information on their menus, allowing people with allergies to eat out with more confidence.”
A new free information kit and allergen fact sheets have been designed by Council to assist food businesses.
For further information contact Sandee Paterson on (03) 9688 0566.
