Allergens

All food businesses must tell you if any of 14 main allergens are in the food they sell. This includes restaurants, takeaways, shops, bakeries and sandwich bars.

These 14 allergens are:

nuts, peanuts, eggs, milk, cereals with gluten, soya, celery, sesame, crustaceans (like crab or prawns), fish, mustard, molluscs (like mussels), lupin and sulphur dioxide/sulphites. 

You should be able to find allergy information on:

• food labels
• menus
• chalkboards
• tickets
• or you can ask a member of staff and they should tell you.

If you order a takeaway, staff should ask if you have any allergies before you order. You should also be told about any allergens when your food is delivered.

Natasha’s Law is a new allergen labelling law that came into force in October 2021. It applies to prepacked food made and packed on the same place it is sold (called PPDS food) in Northern Ireland.

 

Safefood has produced a series of videos in conjunction with Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council and the Food Standards Agency Northern Ireland. To access the videos, click on the links below:

Further information on allergens for consumers is available on the Food Standards Agency website.

 

Further information for businesses is available at:

If you need any further assistance or would like to report a business that is not meeting the requirements and/or illness in relation to allergens you can do so by contacting the Food Safety Team at:

 

T: 0330 137 4024 or

E: ehealth@nmandd.org