Seven takeaways have been told to stop serving customers with food allergies following a district-wide spot check by Lancaster City Council.
The council’s food safety team ordered meals at 10 takeaways and stated they had an allergy to either Dairy (Milk), Soya or Crustaceans, with samples of the dishes received then sent to a laboratory to be analysed for specified allergens.
Seven of the businesses served food found to contain levels which could lead to a customer with an allergy having a reaction from eating the meal. They have been served with a STOP agreement, preventing them from serving food to customers with allergies.
The agreement with the council will only be removed after the completion of an allergen audit, proving the business has reviewed its practices and procedures and demonstrates robust systems are in place to ensure they can provide allergy free food, which is free from allergen contamination.
Businesses who ignore the agreement and where a customer has an allergic reaction, could be prosecuted.
Food safety officers will be visiting more takeaways to undertake samples in the New Year.
Councillor Paul Hart, Lancaster City Council’s member with responsibility for Environmental Health and Enforcement, said: “Failure by food businesses to ensure food served to customers with allergies is not contaminated could have severe consequences.
“The reaction caused to a person with a food allergy is unpredictable and a customer could react to even low levels of the allergen."
“It is of paramount importance that food businesses take the necessary and required precautions to prevent cross-contamination of allergens in their food, which is why our officers will continue with covert food sampling and following up with food business who have been issued STOP agreements.”
The council’s food safety officers are urging residents with a food allergy, intolerance or Coeliac disease, to ensure they inform food businesses about their allergy. They also recommend ensuring they have been given enough information to make an informed decision about whether the food would be safe for them to eat and, if necessary, ask to look at the packaging.
The team recommends that food businesses always ask customers whether they have a food allergy or intolerance and ensure that staff are adequately trained to understand the needs of the allergic customer.
The council offers a series of free allergen awareness courses. The next one takes place at Lancaster and Morecambe College on January 23, 2025.
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