Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing allergen labelling for menus in restaurants and cafes in England.

All food businesses are under a legal obligation to provide information on the presence of the 14 major allergens in food, including in the non-prepacked sector, such as in restaurants and cafes, so that allergic consumers are able to make safe food choices. Current requirements state that for non-prepacked food items, allergen information must be clearly signposted and can be provided in writing or orally.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA), which has policy responsibility for food safety, is currently considering how to improve the provision of information for people with allergies, and is researching different approaches for the provision of written and oral information in the non-prepacked food sector. Any changes must be carefully considered to assess the impacts for both consumer safety and food businesses.

The FSA has been working on food hypersensitivity for many years and its current work programme is focused on policy, research and evidence, supporting enforcement and engaging with consumers and businesses.