EU food information regulations to cost up to £200m per year, says BHA

The British Hospitality Association (BHA) estimates that the cost of implementation for the new EU food information regulations could cost food businesses up to £200m per year.

The food industry, including restaurants, hotels, pubs, take aways, motorway service stations, café owners, festival caterers, schools, hospitals and prison meals services will need to communicate to consumers which menu items contain any of 14 of the most common foods that can cause allergies, including nuts, shellfish and eggs.

The aim of the new EU regulations, which are due to come into force from 13 December, is to provide information to consumers about the food they are consuming.

Around eight billion out-of-home meals are served every year. About 2% people suffer from allergies while 20% people believe that they have some sort of food allergy, according to data from the NHS.

The association said that owing to this, there could be millions of requests for information for food businesses to deal with.

Designed by its food advisory team, the British Hospitality Association is launching a guidance toolkit to help hotels, restaurants and caterers implement the new regulations and handle the requests for information effectively.

BHA policy director Jackie Grech said: "These new regulations coming into force this autumn and will make it easier for people to get information about which allergies are present in the food they are eating out of home.

"Food businesses will be expected to learn how best to communicate these new regulations to their customers and the BHA is today launching a toolkit, forum and workshops to help food businesses of all sizes."

The association said that the implementation of these regulations could be particularly challenging for restaurants that change their menus frequently. It also noted that smaller establishments might struggle with the resources to identify and record all of the allergens used.

As a result, the association has estimated that the cost of the implementation of the rules and management processes, adaptation of menus and websites and training of staff could be up to £200m per year.