Article by Food Allergy and Food Intolerance Network Faclitator Michael Walker, highlighting the dangers of food fraud for those with food allergies. Article available below or on The Guardian website
Food allergy is an adverse immunologic reaction to food proteins. In the UK, about 1-2% of adults and 5-8% of children are reported to have a diagnosed food allergy. Many more worry about allergy and food intolerance, and the prevalence appears to be increasing.
Allergen recalls cost the food industry millions of pounds and at the end of 2014 all UK caterers will be obliged by law to provide allergen information. Burdens on consumers, the health services and the food industry are increasing.
To date, cures for food allergies remain experimental and for most sufferers lifelong avoidance of the eliciting foods is required. Food allergy can kill through anaphylaxis. We looked at the legal cases heard in the UK over the last decade due to death caused by an allergen, with interesting results.
Kuldip Bhamra was 43 when he died after suffering an allergic reaction to egg at a Sikh wedding ceremony. The invitations had indicated that the food would be served under temple rules which exclude meat, fish, alcohol and egg. Bhamra had a known allergy to egg, but as a Sikh he did not expect to find it in food served at the temple. The caterer had to provide food for a large number of extra guests at short notice and the appeal judge thought it likely that the additional food had been brought in from elsewhere without checking for the presence of egg. No food sample was retained for testing.
Trading standards officers in Cumbria, meanwhile, took part in a sampling exercise in 2011. The officers bought chicken tikka masala from two restaurants and were assured that peanuts had not been used in either dish. Tests proved both meals contained peanuts. The investigation led back to one of the country's biggest Indian food suppliers, Euro Foods, which was fined £18,000 including legal costs after being found guilty of food adulteration by substituting peanuts for the more expensive almonds when they supplied the catering trade.
In October 2012, 12-year-old Connor Donaldson died from an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts. At an inquest in March this year, an environmental health officer reported that an almond powder bought in by the takeaway and used in dishes such as kormas was found to contain 50% peanut.
A common problem in fatal and near fatal reactions to such dishes is that customers are often regulars at a restaurant or takeaway, where their allergy is well known to staff. Sudden, unexpected reactions in respected and reputable businesses suggest fraud in supply chain.
As far back as 1994, government advice was distributed on managing food allergy risks around peanut allergy. In 2008, the Foods Standards Agency consulted on and issued guidance on the "provision of allergen information for foods that are not prepacked". This covered caterers, and was used as a guide for advice that environmental health officers gave to catering businesses when they were inspected. But a new regulation coming into force this December overrides previous advice, and will require caterers and other businesses to provide detailed information about key allergen ingredients used in non pre-packed and catered food.
The cases we have looked at represent a spectrum, from unintentional or perhaps corner cutting to intentional, even criminal, addition of undisclosed allergens in food. But all endanger those with allergies and undermine the food industry's determination to manage allergens in a responsible manner.
The Elliott Review – which many people may associate with the horsemeat scandal – actually looks into the integrity and assurance of food supply networks as a whole. The interim report, published in December 2013, says a new culture is required and adopts "zero tolerance" as a core principle. Elliott comments: "In sectors where margins are tight and the potential for fraud is high, even minor dishonesties must be discouraged and the response to major dishonesties deliberately punitive".
We need to see thorough investigation of food allergy deaths – particularly in the catering sector where there seems growing evidence that deadly fraud has infiltrated. Let's not wait another 20 years and run the risk of more needless deaths.
Michael Walker is facilitator of Safefood's Food Allergy and Food Intolerance Network. Hazel Gowland is food adviser to the Anaphylaxis Campaign, and undertakes research and training through Allergy Action.
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