We all go more or less regularly to restaurants and places to enjoy food. But for people with some kind of allergy These foods can pose a serious risk to your health. They should look at the allergen information that appears on the restaurant menu. For this, there is a regulations about the obligation, by the establishment, to provide ingredient data allergens of all dishes. However, not all Spanish restaurants and bars comply with these rules, according to a study carried out by the consulting firm in food safety GET OUT.
What does this regulation say?
European Regulation 1169/11 published in the BOE forces the restaurant or place where food is consumed to offer detailed information on the ingredients of all the products that appear on the menu. This obligation covers both bars and restaurants like a soup kitchens or hospitals. As well as points of purchase or sale in bulk.
On the other hand, this regulations does not oblige these establishments to offer information on the possible presence of traces. Nor on cross contamination in their products. Despite this, many restaurants are choosing to offer such information, as a security measure for their potential customers.
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Allergenic foods
To be more exact, this regulation classifies 14 allergens on which restaurants are obliged to report. It should be noted that with this new regulation, previous European regulations have been modified. These 14 allergens to watch out for are:
- Cereals containing gluten
- Crustaceans and their derivatives
- Eggs and their derivatives
- Fish and its derivatives
- Peanuts and their derivatives
- Soy and its derivatives
- Milk and its derivatives
- Nuts
- Celery and its derivatives
- Mustard and its derivatives
- Sesame seeds and their derivatives
- Sulfur dioxide and sulphites
- Lupins and their derivatives
- Mollusks and their derivatives
It is essential to emphasize that it is a obligation report on each of the dishes containing any of these 14 allergens. In addition, all workers in the establishment must know the ingredients of each dish. As well as the enfermedades that it can lead to if correct information is not given about them to allergy sufferers. Failure to comply with this regulation could be punished with large financial penalties.
Food Safety Study
As we have already mentioned before, the study carried out by SAIA indicates that not even half of the Spanish restaurants comply with this directive.
Although, despite the fact that this law was implemented several years ago, more than 15% of the establishments have not been able to carry out this task correctly. It should be noted that one of the main mistakes they commit is not to present clearly the corresponding information about the foods on your menu.
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The results of this study have determined that only 11% of Spanish restaurants They have the perfect allergen information. On the other hand, around 21% do offer this essential information, but their menu has small errors in the indication of allergenic products. The most worrying thing of all is that about 50% of them They do not offer this information in the letter, nor do they report that they have such information about allergens.
Meet to enjoy
As we have seen, the vast majority of restaurants do not strictly comply with the law imposed by the European institutions. Therefore, this non-compliance directly charges against health of those who suffer from some type of allergy. Since, although they are especially careful when choosing the type of food they want to consume, they can be at risk due to the mismanagement of the place they have chosen to eat.
It is essential that all Spanish gastronomic spaces comply with these regulations on the information on allergens in restaurants. This is the only way to guarantee the fullfilment of security requirements of your customers and ensure their rejoicing when enjoying the delicacies of Spanish cuisine.
