Youngsters with food allergies get Horsham council's support

This comes following research by the Food Standards Authority (FSA), in partnership with Allergy UK and the Anaphylaxis Campaign, which reveals that 41 per cent of young people (16 to 24-years-olds) with food allergies or intolerances don’t feel confident to ask serving staff for allergen information.

The environmental health team at the council is partnering with colleagues at the FSA to launch the ‘easy to ASK’ campaign which reminds food establishments to ask customers about their dietary needs and to help put people with food allergies at ease.

It follows the simple prompt:

Always ask about allergies

Speak Up

Keep Safe

Councillor Tricia Youtan, cabinet member for community and wellbeing from Horsham District Council said: “We’ve seen real progress in how food businesses approach customers with allergies.

“However, 60 per cent of 16-24-year-olds with food allergies and intolerances have avoided eating out in the past six months because of their condition.

“It’s clear there is more to be done to encourage this particular age group to speak up and make them feel at ease when dining out.

“We want to ensure businesses are prepared with the relevant allergy information and encourage them to make it easier for everyone to ask the right questions, speak up and help keep those at risk safe.”

The research also reveals that 60 per cent of those surveyed avoid dining out due to their condition - a poor outcome for both those young people and food businesses alike.

Dr Chun-Han Chan, food allergy policy lead at the FSA, said: “Working in partnership with the Council’s Environmnetal Health team we are dedicated to encouraging conversations between food businesses and their customers across the country.

“Together we want to help young people living with food allergies be confident that the food they are served is safe to consume every time.

“Our easy to ASK campaign aims to empower customers, whether they live with a food allergy or not, to speak up and help businesses with their choices.”

The 14 allergens food businesses must be aware of and be able to provide their customers with information on are: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, cereals containing gluten, eggs, crustaceans, molluscs, fish, soya, sesame, sulphur dioxide/sulphites, celery, mustard and lupin.