Level 3 Food Allergen Management (RQF)

Level 3 Food Allergen Management (RQF)

The Highfield Level 3 Award in Food Allergen Management in Catering (RQF) is aimed at learners involved in the purchase, delivery, production and service of food in the catering industry, or who own or manage a smaller catering business. Give your food handlers the knowledge around allergens to handle food confidently.

Topics include:

• The manager’s role in ensuring food ingredients are effectively managed
• Accurate communication of ingredient information from supplier to consumer
• The importance of practical controls to reduce the risk of allergenic contamination
• Methods of managing ingredient controls and procedures

Course aims

1. Understand the manager’s role in ensuring that food ingredients and allergens are effectively managed

• Explain the responsibilities of employers and managers in ensuring food ingredients and allergens are effectively managed in line with good practice
• Summarise the importance of food ingredient and allergen management procedures

2. Understand procedures relating to the communication of ingredient information from supplier to consumer

• Outline ways to obtain accurate ingredient information from suppliers
• Outline suitable methods of communication at process steps throughout food production in a catering environment
• Explain the importance of staff training with regard to allergen and ingredients control

3. Understand the importance of implementing practical controls to prevent contamination and cross contamination from allergenic ingredients

• Assess how good practices can be implemented or adapted to facilitate the control of allergenic contamination from purchase to service

4. Understand methods for managing ingredient controls and procedures

• Recognise factors to consider when determining likely risk from allergens and other food ingredients in a catering premises
• Outline ways to develop food ingredient control systems, monitoring and recording ingredient control procedures
• Describe suitable corrective actions to take when allergen contamination has occurred
• Identify methods for verifying and reviewing food ingredient controls and procedures

Learning Outcome 1

Responsibilities of employers and managers to include:

• Commitment to providing suitable equipment and premises in order for adequate allergen control to take place
• Commitment to developing and implementing suitable allergen control policies and procedures from purchase to service
• Systems for the regular monitoring of controls and putting timely and suitable corrective actions in place
• Providing suitable training to all staff on an ongoing basis regarding recognising allergenic contamination hazards and how to report them, including legislative updates
• Ensuring the allergen control policy is carried out by all staff
• Creating, improving and assessing a positive culture in relation to food allergen management

Importance of ingredient and allergen management procedures to include:

• The consequences of poor ingredient control for food businesses, customers and employees:
  • Moral
    • Ensuring accurate information is provided to reduce the likelihood of a customer suffering a reaction
    • Allergies are increasing worldwide and can be fatal
  • Economic
    • Following appropriate controls so that premises can maintain a good reputation
  • Legal compliance
    • Regarding food safety, labelling and information for food businesses and consumers

Learning Outcome 2

Ways to obtain accurate information to include:

• Transfer and continuity of ingredient information from suppliers and throughout the process, including:
  • Suppliers (including delivery, wholesale and mail order)
  • Storage
  • Preparation
  • Cooking
  • Service (either by managers or those who have been fully trained regarding allergens and their control, i.e. designated personnel)
• Traceability
• Using reputable suppliers and potential for food fraud substitutions
• Ensuring menu descriptions and available information are correct against the ingredients supplied

Methods of communication at process steps to include:

• Labelling and menu information to meet consumer requirements relating to allergens and ingredients, including:
  • Labelling requirements
  • Use of ‘may contain’ claims
  • Menu requirements
  • Changes/alterations to ingredients communicated
• Ways to achieve this:
  • Effective communication between all departments from purchase to service
  • Effective communication of allergenic ingredients with customers i.e.
    • Accurate ingredient information
    • Potential to eat from a standard menu item
    • Potential to eat a standard menu item with some things left off e.g. sauce, wafer biscuit (knowing what can and can’t be achieved within the business)
    • Whether staff can prepare something specially in an area free from the allergen
    • Times when appropriate that staff suggest to the allergic person that precautions currently in place might not be adequate to protect them from contact with the allergen they need to avoid
  • Effective responses to questions regarding allergens from customers
  • How to communicate standards and procedures to other staff members
• How to ensure Information about allergens and their control is easily accessible at all times in a verifiable way
• Dealing with cultural and language issues

The importance of effective staff training regarding allergens, including;

• Induction and ongoing training practices
• Regular update training, including training in new procedures/changes to existing controls

Learning Outcome 3

How good practices can be implemented or adapted to facilitate the control of allergenic contamination from purchase to service, including:

• Awareness of principal causes of contamination hazards:
  • Human factors (including lack of effective supervision)
  • Unsatisfactory or absence of labelling
  • Cross-contamination
  • Handling issues
  • Storage
  • Service
  • Menu information and labelling
• Purchase and supply
  • Importance of specifications and purchase controls
  • Systems in place for substitution, changes and local purchases
  • Systems for changes to suppliers and ingredients
  • Implementing delivery controls for allergens (labelling, monitoring etc.)
• Design
  • Assessing workflow to avoid contamination
  • Implementing controls in storage
  • Dedicated equipment and work areas
• Personal hygiene
  • Ensuring measures are in place for provision of protective clothing and its use
  • Controlling allergenic hazards from personnel, including overcoming barriers to handwashing and job allocation, movement and supervision of personnel in respect of allergen control
• Cleaning
  • Organisation of cleaning for allergens, including methods and its supervision.
  • Provision of suitable equipment and chemicals
  • Management of waste in regard to allergen control
  • Spillage control
• Preparation and cooking
  • Recipe and menu development control, management of changes to ingredients, preparation and cooking of dishes not on the regular menu and variations to standard recipes.
  • Controlling order of production
  • Implementing cooking controls (dedicated area, equipment, fryer etc.)
  • Plating and garnish control
  • Management of leftovers and labelling
• Service controls
  • Identification of ingredients for service, including allergen free dishes
  • Procedures for segregation, labelling and provision of equipment for allergen free food
  • Control of self-serve, event catering, delivered orders (for example working lunches) and buffets with regard to allergens

Learning Outcome 4

Factors to consider when determining likely risk from allergens to include:

• Importance of assessing risk and being aware of ingredients in food products and meals
• Factors to consider regarding food ingredients that must be declared as an ingredient and those of global interest/concern, including:
  • Physical nature of allergen
  • Awareness of threshold implications
  • Any particularly vulnerable groups in the population
  • Common symptoms of an allergic reaction
  • Common derivatives of allergens and ingredients of global interest/concern
• Interpretation of food labels and recipes to identify ingredients

Ways to develop food ingredient control systems, monitoring and recording ingredient control procedures to include:

• The inclusion of ingredient control into existing food safety systems (HACCP based) or developing separate allergen control systems
• The typical contents of a food ingredient control procedure, including allergen risk assessment
• Developing an action plan for allergen management
• The requirements for monitoring and recording ingredient control procedures, including:
  • Methods of monitoring at all stages of food production in a catering environment for foods intended for those with specific dietary requirements
  • Monitoring activities and performance against organisational standards and targets
  • The importance of up-to-date, accurate documentation and records, and examples of the type of records that may be used in a catering business

Suitable corrective actions to include:

• When to dispose of food
• Potential to re-label or use in different product, including where products are decanted
• Re-clean
• Re-training of staff
• Review of accuracy and currency of information provided to customers
• Review of menu
• Review of procedures
• Need for additional monitoring and supervision, for example to take account of staff turnover, new staff, casual staff, staff covering a different work area or food service type, event booking teams
• Complaints procedure, including logging complaints and reporting to avoid a recurrence

Methods for verifying and reviewing controls and procedures to include:

• Verification of procedures
  • Audit
  • Benchmarking against industry standards
  • Reference to allergy related incidents within the industry
  • Importance of reviewing and implementing procedures to investigate an allergenic related allegation
• The importance of providing feedback to the people responsible for the food safety procedures and the types of issues you need to address
• Need for regular review/update when changes occur including:
  • Suppliers and ingredients
  • Menus
  • Methods of food production
  • Change in staff
• Change in premises/workflow or equipment used