As H&C News readers know, from 13 December new Food Regulations require businesses to clearly mark all food products that may contain any of 14 known allergens. Comprehensive ingredient listings with allergens marked in bold must be available to all customers.
The new legislation is undoubtedly a challenge to the UK hospitality sector, and the British Hospitality Association predicts it may cost food businesses up to £200 million a year.
However, some customers with allergies think the new regulation does not go far enough, stating that cross-contamination is still a concern. And many people with severe allergies currently prefer not to risk eating out, or rely on larger chains with known menus.
Software and apps designed to help foodservice operators of all kinds
The introduction of the new Regulations has resulted in increasing ‘noise’ as advisers and suppliers seek to communicate how they and their products can help foodservice businesses of all kinds to manage and comply with the challenges. And there’s no doubt that good advice and software is emerging and available, and worth checking out for benefits to your business.
Food Labeller app
Now, there’s a new Food Labeller app being launched which H&C News readers can check out. It’s free to use, and designed to help hospitality businesses stay in line with the law. Users say the app also helps to streamline communication between kitchen and front of house and make recipes more profitable.
No instructions are needed: the Food Labeller is designed intuitively so users can easily input the recipes they sell. The app provides an information sheet and label for each product, detailing the allergens, nutrition and price of each portion sold.
Food Labeller contains over 1000 pre-listed ingredients, with more being added regularly. Ingredients that are not pre-listed can be entered as required.
Created by Jenny Ridgwell of the online Nutrition Program
The app’s creator Jenny Ridgwell is based in Lewes, East Sussex and has worked in food education for 40 years. Jenny has run the online Nutrition Program for 8 years, an IT resource for teachers and students of Home Economics, Food Technology and Catering.
Jenny Ridgwell: “My team designed The Food Labeller to be easy to use, no instructions needed, to give caterers an easy, quick way to record their recipes online, and show the allergens, nutrition and costings.
“Food Labeller does exactly what it says on the tin, nothing more complicated than that. If the EHO comes in and asks if your business is compliant, our users can answer ‘yes’.
“If you’ve got staff guessing at recipes, Food Labeller puts all the information in one place so others can make them, see how to serve them, and know exactly how much they cost on the date entered.
“I’ve run the Nutrition Program for schools for eight years and used these skills to develop this app for the hospitality industry. I know busy caterers will find it useful, and it will help them be compliant with the new FIC Regulations that come into force in December 2014.”
Listening and developing
Jenny Ridgwell, the program’s founder says:
“We created an online Nutrition Program in 2006 which is used by schools and colleges and has over 100,000 users. With this skill, we developed The Food Labeller and we are listening to customers and making improvements over the next year, during that time it will be free of charge.
“We are a small company with no connections to other catering organisations – just going through a research phase to develop something for the industry based on our previous experience.
“The program is entirely ready to use but over the next year we will be speaking to users and adapting it to meet their needs in the best way we can. The Food Labeller has been and is being tested by restauranteurs.”
For more information about Food Labeller click here
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