Legislation
In the UK today there is currently no legislation in place despite the work the charity Allergy UK have done to raise awareness of the social implications food allergies have as well as the physical impacts. In an article published on the Big Hospitality Website they state,
“Unfortunately there is no legislation for restaurants, or the hospitality industry in general when it comes to lisitng allergens on menus. It is down to the individual outlet as to whether they choose to take a proactive role in providing this information for allergy suffers”.
According to government figures published in 2004 the annual cost of hospital admissions due to allergies is £68million.
With restaurants beginning to provide allergen menus for those who suffer from allergies whom choose to eat out. Separate allergy menus are often limited and there is still risk of contamination of food due to cooking methods, work surfaces and human error.
Through research many websites offer there advice to allergy suffers who plan on eating out – Looking on the Boots Web Doctor website one key piece of advice is to plan ahead and all the chef. Although this helps allergy suffers the ability to spontaneously eat out if restricted.
Restaurant Case Studies
After looking into the background of allergies and working to gain an understanding of the issues that allergy suffers face the next stage was to look at some restaurants that offer allergen menus. This would allow for an insight to be gained seeing the choices available and how informative the establishment chooses to be.
As found in research the decision to offer an allergy menu is dependent on the restaurant or brand itself.
Zizzi, Nottingham - http://www.zizzi.co.uk/food
Pizza Express, Nottingham - http://www.pizzaexpress.com/our-food/our-restaurant-menu/
The Windmill, Wymswold - http://thewindmillwymeswold.com/food/eating.html
Wagamama, Nottingham - http://www.wagamama.com/our-menu
It was decided to look at these four restaurants as they offer allergy menus as part of their everyday operation as a business. What I found was that there are option for people with allergies to eat at restaurants, although the choice is limited. It is this consideration of offering a wider variety as well as a safer cooking environment that is to initially be looked at within the design.
“Unfortunately there is no legislation for restaurants, or the hospitality industry in general when it comes to lisitng allergens on menus. It is down to the individual outlet as to whether they choose to take a proactive role in providing this information for allergy suffers”.
According to government figures published in 2004 the annual cost of hospital admissions due to allergies is £68million.
With restaurants beginning to provide allergen menus for those who suffer from allergies whom choose to eat out. Separate allergy menus are often limited and there is still risk of contamination of food due to cooking methods, work surfaces and human error.
Through research many websites offer there advice to allergy suffers who plan on eating out – Looking on the Boots Web Doctor website one key piece of advice is to plan ahead and all the chef. Although this helps allergy suffers the ability to spontaneously eat out if restricted.
Restaurant Case Studies
After looking into the background of allergies and working to gain an understanding of the issues that allergy suffers face the next stage was to look at some restaurants that offer allergen menus. This would allow for an insight to be gained seeing the choices available and how informative the establishment chooses to be.
As found in research the decision to offer an allergy menu is dependent on the restaurant or brand itself.
Zizzi, Nottingham - http://www.zizzi.co.uk/food
Pizza Express, Nottingham - http://www.pizzaexpress.com/our-food/our-restaurant-menu/
The Windmill, Wymswold - http://thewindmillwymeswold.com/food/eating.html
Wagamama, Nottingham - http://www.wagamama.com/our-menu
It was decided to look at these four restaurants as they offer allergy menus as part of their everyday operation as a business. What I found was that there are option for people with allergies to eat at restaurants, although the choice is limited. It is this consideration of offering a wider variety as well as a safer cooking environment that is to initially be looked at within the design.