Transcript Choosing safe foods

Gluten-free
& Allergen Legislation
Angela Kilday
Campaigns & Volunteers Manager
Coeliac UK
Agenda
• What is coeliac disease?
• About Coeliac UK
• The gluten-free market
• The Law and Gluten-free catering
• Coeliac UK catering services
• New EU Food Information for Consumers
What is coeliac disease?
• Autoimmune disease, often misdiagnosed as IBS
• Affects 1 in 100 people
• Only 10-15% are diagnosed
• Lifelong condition which can be diagnosed at any age
• If gluten continues to be eaten, people are at risk of
small bowel cancer, infertility and osteoporosis
What happens in coeliac
disease?
•Eating gluten damages the gut
•This prevents absorption of
nutrients from food
•Left untreated it can lead to a
range of nutritional deficiencies
eg anaemia, infertility and
osteoporosis
What is gluten?
• Gluten is a protein
found in:
• wheat
• rye
• barley
• oats (similar
protein)
About Coeliac UK
• Coeliac UK is the leading national charity dedicated
to improving life for people with coeliac disease
• It is the largest charity supporting coeliac Members
in the world
• Coeliac UK is a member of AOECS (Association of
European Coeliac Societies)
• Currently Membership is 65,000
• 1200 new Members join each month
• Over 90 Local Voluntary Support Groups throughout
UK
Our eating out survey
If people were sure gluten-free options were available:
• 60% would eat out more often
• Over 50% would eat out once a week or more
• 48% would be prepared to travel for over 45 minutes
Estimating the gluten-free pound
People go
out to eat
with 2-3
others
Average
spend of
£10 - £20
per cover
Each meal
is worth up
to £60 to
the sector
74% would eat out every 2 weeks if more gluten
free options were available
The gluten-free pound is estimated £100 million
worth of business a year
Gluten-free law
• 20 ppm or less
• Enforceable by law
• Law mandatory from Jan 2012
Asking the industry
 84% have seen an increase in gluten-free requests in the last 3 years
 82% expect this trend to continue with increasing customers requesting
gluten-free options
 Only 59% were aware of the 2012 legislation
 Only 37% trained specifically on preparing gluten-free options
What was on our agenda?
• To understand the levels of gluten in food
prepared for people with coeliac disease
• To assess whether GF labelling was
appropriate in the catering sector
• To try to identify what was needed for GF
preparation in commercial kitchens
• To support the catering sector
• Provide information relevant to all
The first steps
• We joined forces with professional catering bodies
• We contacted restaurants, cafes, hospitals,
schools, prisons and workplaces
• We wanted the findings to be representative and
relevant to all settings
• We commissioned RSSL to work with us
How did we do it?
• Detailed check lists coupled with site visits
• Monitored preparation of meals and collected samples for gluten
analysis
• Logged key ‘trends’ and effective control systems
• Identified communication with customer and between staff
Ingredient Labelling
Storing ingredients
Cleaning
Preparation
Personal Hygiene
Communicating with Customers
Staff Training
Key Findings from this research
• Delivering gluten-free was possible
• Effective communication key
• to coeliac customers and front & back of house
• Good hygienic practices = Good gluten management
• Results identified essential areas and key common practices
Themes
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Ingredients, reading labels
Choosing and using gluten-free ingredients
Storing ingredients
Cleaning
Preparation of gluten-free and non gluten-containing foods
Staff training
Communicating with customers with coeliac disease
Personal hygiene
Latest research
• Looking at controls needed when using gluten-containing
flour
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Segregation – use of barriers
Extraction – use of extraction and ventilation units
Time intervals
Distances between preparation areas
Clothing and handling
Cleaning procedures
Our catering services
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Accreditation scheme
Online training
Open training courses
In house training courses
Accredited venues
EU FIC
(EU Food Information for Consumers)
• What is it?
• What changes will we see?
• In packaged foods
• In catering
• When will the changes happen?
EU FIC
(EU Food Information for Consumers)
• EU-wide review of food and nutrition labelling
regulations
• Combine a number of regulations into one single
regulation
• Changes to allergen info but also nutrition
declarations and font size
What changes will we see?
• Changes to labels on foods
• Setting a minimum font size
• Ingredients list
• Allergy boxes
• Changes in catering
• Allergen information
Catering and loose foods, e.g. delis
• Now, caterers don’t have to provide information
on allergens in meals
• With FIR – you will have to provide this
information, could be via:
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Symbols on menus
A separate menu (like Zizzi)
Verbally
On a chalk board
It must be clear to the customer where they can find
the information
Thank you!
www.coeliac.org.uk