In what is probably a legal first, a restaurateur was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence and six food safety offences.
Visiting an Indian restaurant in North Yorkshire, customer Paul Wilson asked for a nut free curry, but his curry contained peanuts. This tragic incident occurred prior to the Food Information for Consumers Regulations, which requires restaurants to share information about allergenic ingredients in food with customers. There has always been a requirement for people to be told the truth about food. The court heard that the restaurant had been reckless, because it transpired that a few weeks before this incident, another person had suffered an allergic reaction for the same reasons from one of the owner’s six restaurants. She survived but was hospitalised.
Dr Lisa Ackerley, Food Safety Advisor at the BHA said: “Many businesses may be tempted to buy cheaper ingredients, particularly as in this case, where the restaurant was in debt and struggling, but our message is “beware” – you get what you pay for. Check your ingredients and be mindful of food fraud as substitutions and adulterated products can be dangerous. If it is too good to be true, then there is probably something wrong with it.”
The British Hospitality Association is launching the Industry Guide to Good Hygiene Practice: Catering 2016, which is recognised by the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland. This new guide for caterers will help businesses serve food that’s safe to eat.
“This is about more than just complying with the law. We believe that constantly striving for improved standards can only be good for the reputation of the industry as whole. All catering businesses should familiarise themselves with this guide as soon as possible – nobody likes the adverse headlines that food safety can generate when it goes wrong. But it’s also in everyone’s interest that they try to keep raising their game to drive up the standards in the hospitality industry as a whole.”
She added: “The role of the British Hospitality Association is to continue to help businesses get up to speed with the regulations, decoding them into practical, useful support for members.”
Caterers need to take heed:
- Be vigilant about what goods you order and check that they are what you asked for.
- Make sure that you are totally confident about the ingredients in yours dishes.
- Consumers have a right to know about allergenic ingredients in food, and will ask questions.
- If you don’t know, you risk facing criminal action, and harming your customers.
- Make sure all your team is allergen trained and know exactly what is in your dishes
- Don’t allow substitutions without involving trained managers who can then make the appropriate process changes
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