merrion street

Pictured are Dr. Pamela Byrne, Chief Exective, FSAI, Health Minister Leo Varadkar and Prof. Mary Flynn, Chief Specialist Public Health Nutrition, FSAI

A new, online and mobile compatible tool has been developed by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland  to assist Ireland’s 22,000 food service businesses identify and manage allergens in the food they serve. The easy-to-use facility was launched today by Health Minister Leo Varadkar to help food businesses comply with their legal requirements to display allergen information on food so that consumers can make more informed choices about the food they purchase. The tool is an additional application as part of the FSAI’s MenuCal calorie calculator, which is available free-of-charge.

The legal requirement to display allergen information applies to all food businesses, including restaurants, pubs, takeaways, contract caterers, food stalls, as well as businesses offering delivery services. Retail outlets such as shops and supermarkets selling prepacked food are also required to display allergen declarations for non-prepacked products. Written food allergen information must be easily located and accessible to the consumer and clearly identify the food allergen associated with individual food items. The 14 categories of allergens covered include gluten, peanuts, tree nuts, milk, celery, eggs, fish and shellfish.

Minister Varadkar said:

Many people with allergies have to be extra careful when they eat out. Last year I made it compulsory for food businesses to label allergens on non-prepacked food products. This new MenuCal facility is a really useful online tool that reminds businesses about allergens when they’re calculating the calorie content of their menus. Well done to the FSAI for designing MenuCal and I’m delighted that other countries are now looking to adopt it. I hope it makes life easier and safer for both customers and food providers.