Food allergens

If you own a food business in the Northern Territory (NT), you have certain responsibilities around declaring and managing food allergens.

This is required under the NT Food Act 2004.

An allergen is a substance that can cause an immediate allergic reaction in a person.

Allergic reactions differ in severity and can be life threatening. A life threatening reaction can happen quickly even from tiny amounts of an allergy-causing food.

Types of food allergens

Any food can cause an allergic reaction in a person.

In Australia, there are common foods and food groups that make up 90% of all food allergies. They are declared allergens in the Food Standards Code:

• egg
• crustaceans - e.g. crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp
• fish
• mollusc - e.g. clams, mussels, oysters, scallops, octopus, squid
• peanut
• milk
• sesame seed
• soybean - e.g. soy, soya
• tree nut  - e.g. almond, brazil nut, cashew, hazelnut, macadamia, pecan, pine nut, pistachio, walnut
• wheat
• cereals containing gluten
• lupin
• added sulphites.

How to manage allergens

To help meet your requirements, make sure:

• your staff know of any allergens in each menu item
• you separate food products to avoid cross contamination
• you give customers accurate information about food ingredients.

Packaged food

You must include allergen information on packaged food labels. This means:

• highlighting allergens in the ingredient list in bold font
  • the font must not be smaller than other ingredients
• including a separate statement in bold font beginning with the word 'contains'. For example, 'contains milk'
  • this must be next to the ingredient list.

For more information, go to the Food Standards Australia New Zealand website.

Unpackaged or unlabelled food

Customers must have access to allergen information. If a food item is not packaged or labelled, the allergen and ingredient information must be:

• displayed on or around the display of the food or
• provided to the customer on request.

If a customer discloses an allergy

When a customer advises that they have a food allergy, you must tell them what allergens may be in the product.

Allergen-free meals

You're not required to provide allergen-free meals on your menu. However, you must ensure a meal is ‘allergen free’ if this is stated on a menu.

This includes statements on menus such as 'gluten free' or 'vegan'. These statements imply that a particular allergen will not be in that food item.

Staff training

All staff should know about food allergens.

Anyone who handles food should complete the All About Allergens online training course.

The training is free and takes about an hour to complete. It provides an overview of allergen management in food businesses.

To find out more, go to the Food Allergy Training website.

Contact

Find your local Environmental Health office on the NT Health website.