Suburb Allergen Policy
1. POLICY
1.1 OMH Prop Co Group Ltd and SB Meadowhall Ltd T/A Suburb Bar & Restaurant (“Suburb Bar & Restaurant”) are committed to reducing the risk to guests and staff with regard to the provision of food and the consumption of allergens in food, which could lead to an allergic reaction.
1.2 This policy will be available in all allergen folders and will be reviewed annually.
2. STATEMENT
2.1 Suburb Bar & Restaurant operates in an open kitchen environment and is unable to guarantee a completely allergen-free environment. With this transparent information disclosed to our customers – the customer(s) should make a safe and informed decision which suits their needs and/or allergy/intolerance needs, even if it means they should avoid visiting us or dining with us or ordering food or drink to eat in or take away from our restaurant.
2.2 Every guest who identifies as having an allergy or intolerance shall be directed to the Allergen Folder containing comprehensive allergen information (which is kept in our office at Suburb), which should be read carefully by them before they make an informed decision whether or not to order food from our restaurant.
2.3 Due to the nature of our kitchens and the type of cuisine prepared and served at Suburb Bar & Restaurant, we cannot guarantee a completely allergen-free environment and/or product(s). Therefore, guests ordering with allergies or intolerances do so entirely at their own risk. However, we take every measure possible to reduce risk and cross-contamination albeit we cannot guarantee elimination of cross contamination, risk and traces of allergen in our drinks, products and dishes.
2.4 Suburb Bar & Restaurant will aim to minimise the risk of exposure, encourage self-responsibility, and plan for an effective response to possible emergencies. This requires you and the customers to be vigilant.
3. OBJECTIVES OF THIS POLICY
3.1 To promote food allergen awareness to staff and guests at Suburb Bar & Restaurant.
3.2 To provide clear guidance to all staff on their responsibilities for the provision of food to anyone visiting Suburb Bar & Restaurant who may have a food allergy, food intolerance or coeliac disease.
3.3 To ensure that relevant food allergy training and food hygiene training are provided for all staff.
3.4 To ensure appropriate information and support are available for managers, staff and customers.
4. ALLERGY LABELLING LEGISLATION
4.1 Article 9(1)(c) of the Food Information to Consumers Regulation requires information regarding known allergies in ingredients or processing aids. These allergies are listed among the fourteen main allergens. This criterion applies if these substances are employed in creating or preparing the food and remain in the finished product, even if they have been modified in some manner during the process.
5. WHAT IS A FOOD ALLERGY?
5.1 A food allergy is an immune system response that arises shortly after consuming a specific meal. Even trace amounts of the allergy-causing food can cause digestive issues, rashes, or enlarged airways. A food allergy can sometimes induce severe symptoms or a potentially fatal reaction known as anaphylaxis.
5.2 Food allergies develop when the immune system misidentifies a harmless food protein as a threat and produces substances such as histamine to defend against it. Milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat, fish, and shellfish are among the most common food allergies.
5.3 Food allergies can cause symptoms ranging from mild to severe, which may include:
- Skin responses including hives, eczema, itching, and swelling.
- Respiratory problems (such as wheezing, nasal congestion, or difficulty
breathing) - Gastrointestinal symptoms (e.g., stomach discomfort, diarrhoea, nausea, or
vomiting) - Anaphylaxis is a serious, sometimes life-threatening reaction that needs
rapid medical intervention.
5.4 Managing a food allergy entails avoiding the allergenic food and being prepared to manage inadvertent exposures, frequently with drugs like antihistamines or epinephrine auto-injectors.
6. WHAT IS FOOD INTOLERANCE?
6.1 This does not involve the immune system in the same way and is not usually as severe as a food allergy. Symptoms usually take longer to appear and may include headaches, fatigue and digestive problems.
6.2 Food intolerance is harder to diagnose than a food allergy. A person with a known allergen trigger may know what food ingredient will provoke a reaction. However, they may well have eaten this food or a specific dish previously and had no adverse reaction.
7. COELIAC DISEASE
7.1 Coeliac disease is a chronic autoimmune condition caused by a sensitivity to gluten. It affects approximately 1 in 100 people. Symptoms can include bloating, diarrhoea, nausea, gas, constipation, fatigue, sudden or unexpected weight loss, hair loss, and anaemia. The diagnosis is followed by a lifelong gluten-free diet as the primary treatment.
8. WHO IS AT RISK?
8.1 Anybody can develop a food allergen or intolerance at any time in their life, irrespective of whether they have consumed the food previously. A person with an allergy is at risk even if they consume a small amount of the food allergen.
8.2 Food allergies and intolerances are life changing. In the UK, they affect around 8% of children and 2% of adults. To make it simpler when purchasing food or dining out with an allergy or intolerance, the law governing how food businesses provide allergen information changed in December 2014.
8.3 Students and young people living away from home are a vulnerable group who may be at higher risk if they have allergies. This is due to a number of factors that are associated with learning to look after themselves in a new environment and, in addition, possibly not wanting to appear different from their peer group. It is because of this high-risk group we will provide as much information as possible to any customers with food allergens or intolerances.
9. COMMON FOOD ALLERGENS
9.1 There are currently 14 allergens, which must be clearly stated if they are present in the food on offer. People may report allergies to other foods not on the list below. Most common in the UK are kiwi, peas, other legumes (beans, etc.), other seeds and other fruits and vegetables. In some cases, people only need to avoid these when raw and can have them cooked.
9.2 The 14 allergens are:
- celery
- cereals containing gluten (such as wheat, rye, barley, and oats)
- crustaceans (such as prawns, crabs and lobsters)
- eggs
- fish
- lupin – milk – molluscs (such as mussels and oysters) – mustard
- peanuts – sesame – soybeans – sulphur dioxide and sulphites (if the sulphur dioxide and sulphites are at a concentration of more than ten parts per million)
- tree nuts (such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios and macadamia nuts)
9.3 This also applies to additives, processing aids and any other substances which are present in the final product.
10. RESPONSIBILITIES
10.1 Ms Agnes Szabo, Manager at Suburb Bar & Restaurant is responsible for ensuring all food contains accurate allergy information. They must ensure that recipes and allergen details are precise and current. Ms Agnes Szabo, Manager at Suburb will keep allergen information for common food allergens up-to-date and accessible.
10.2In the event Ms Agnes Szabo is not on shift the team leader of any given shift is responsible for handling the customers’ orders and enquiries who have allergies and intolerances.
11. STAFF TRAINING
11.1 All kitchen and front of house staff have been provided with our allergen policies, procedures and training. All future staff will also be provided with the same together with refresher training as and when necessary. It is a strict requirement of the role for all staff to familiarise themselves with our Food Safety policies, Allergen Policy and staff handbook etc.
11.2 All training records will be maintained by the manager and stored in a shared training file, which will be regularly updated.
11.3 Staff who have not completed the above training and signed off as having read and understood Suburb Bar & Restaurant’s Food Allergy Policy and Service Procedures will not be eligible for service shifts.
12. GOOD KITCHEN AND SERVICE PRACTICES
12.1 All dishes that are produced in-house will use standard ingredients from approved suppliers. Any ingredient changes/supplier changes affecting standard ingredients will be detailed.
12.2 Equipment and utensils used in the preparation of food for people with a food allergy must be thoroughly cleaned.
12.3 All foods that are prepared for special diets must be prepared in an area that is sanitised and free from cross-contamination. Separate colour-coded equipment will be used for this purpose.
12.4 When cooking food for customers with a food allergy, this should be done on the equipment and area specified.
12.5 Where dishes contain any of the 14 allergens, this is listed in the allergen folder.
12.6 The manager should provide any relevant food information updates or issues to front-of-house staff on a daily basis.
13. FOOD SERVICE PROCEDURE
13.1 When seated by a host or staff member, guests should be asked if anybody in their group has any Food Allergies or Intolerances.
13.2 If any Guest at a table has highlighted that they have a food allergy or intolerance, this information should be brought to the attention of the manager immediately. The manager should then take over the entire order for this table.
13.3 Under no circumstance should a Waitstaff take an order from a table who has been identified to have an allergy. In, addition, managers should not allow any staff other than themselves, or a team member ranked team leader or above to deal with and allergy table.
13.4 The manager must then provide the guest with an Allergen Folder. They should then highlight the allergy policy and statement, and specifically mention that:
”…While every effort has been made to ensure this information is accurate,we prepare all of our food fresh to order in an open kitchen. Therefore, some traces of allergens may be present in all dishes.
Please could the customer specify their exact allergy.
In the interest of transparency, we confirm the following to you in order to inform you and your guests who may suffer from any allergies and or nut allergies that we are not an allergen free and/or a nut free restaurant/environment.
If this is an issue for you and your guests, you should make a safe choice (by considering whether you should attend our restaurant which is not allergy free and/or is not a nut free environment).
Although we have strict kitchen and bar protocols to prevent crosscontamination, and provide you with accurate allergen information, cross contamination cannot be fully and reliably prevented due to the style of restaurant and cuisine that we prepare and serve.
Our products may contain traces of nuts and by way of further example they may contains traces of nuts and other ingredients (such as gluten, dairy, nuts of all kind such as peanut, sesame, soy beans), and other items such as sulphur dioxide and sulphites (if at a concentration of more than 10 parts per million) celery, crustaceans (prawns, crabs lobsters) eggs, fish, lupin (milk, molluscs (such mussels and oysters) & mustard) to which you or your guest may have allergy which we cannot fully remove or eliminate.
Whilst all of our staff are trained on all allergen information and understand the difference between them. For example only (but not limited to) the difference between peanuts, tree nuts and other nuts and understand that reactions could be life threatening. It is difficult for us to fully and reliably provide an allergen free and nut free environment and dishes and/or fully prevent cross contamination as some of the dishes may contain traces of nuts and other allergens aforementioned.
Certainly, our kitchen environment contains allergens aforesaid including but not limited to nut ingredients, and you should be aware of this before attending and/or remanning in our premises if you have already entered.
We prevent cross contact, sanitise surfaces to prevent cross-contamination as much as possible – however this is not guaranteed for the reasons outlined herein.
We use dedicated tools and utensils to keep allergen free dishes as safe as possible however sometimes (depending on the severity of yours and your guest’s allergy) our prevention methods in and of itself may not be enough and this is a risk which you and your guests are urged to very carefully consider before dining with us and/or ordering food and/or drinks and/or other consumables at our restaurant.
In light of the above please could you kindly confirm whether you still wish to dine with us and/or order food and/or drink having considered this information and disclaimer?..”
13.5 The manager must identify on the till (and subsequently the kitchen and bar tickets), using the relevant buttons provided that this table and individual has an allergy and specify which allergy.
13.6 THE TICKET SHOULD ALSO INCLUDE details of all items to be removed or substituted to allow this to be made accurately by the kitchen and bar teams following company procedures for handling food allergy tables. Kitchen and Bar teams should then prepare the item or dish exactly to the specification on the till and ticket.
13.7 Separate colour-coded utensils must be used during service to avoid crosscontamination of allergens. There is also a company guide and colour code for the use of specialist milks that all staff should be trained on and adhered to. Care should be taken when delivering food and drink to tables not to let ingredients pass from one plate to another.
13.8 All staff must have a signed an acknowledgment of reading and understanding the company allergy policy and procedure sheet in order to work on shift.
13.9 No staff member should be on shift without having completed company allergen training, provided during on-boarding and a signed declaration of having read and understood Suburb Bar & Restaurant’s Food Allergy Policy.
14. MILK ALLERGEN POLICY AND STEAMING PROCEDURE
14.1 At Suburb Bar & Restaurant, we are committed to ensuring the safety and satisfaction of all our guests, including those with allergies or dietary requirements. It is imperative that staff read and execute orders correctly when making hot drinks and that milk choices are clearly marked on tickets and for correct procedures below are used when completing orders.
14.2 To accommodate guests with dairy allergies, we have implemented the following procedures:
14.3 Colour Coding:
Cow’s Milk: Green
Oat Milk: Yellow
14.4 Steam Wand Usage:
The left-hand side (as you look at the machine) of the coffee machine is exclusively for alternative milk (Oat).
14.5 Procedure:
Cow’s Milk (Green):
Use the steam wand on the right-hand side of the coffee machine.
Ensure thorough cleaning with a green cloth and purging of the steam wand before and after use.
Alternative Milk (Yellow):
Use the steam wand on the left-hand side of the coffee machine.
Keep the designated wands and jugs are stored separate from those used for cow’s milk.
Clean all equipment rinsed with the tap and placed through the dishwasher to prevent cross-contamination.
Wand wiped between uses with a yellow cloth.
14.6 Communication:
Guests with milk allergies should inform their server of their allergy and a manager should take the order. This information should have been ascertained at time of arrival with a host/staff member.
14.7 Labelling:
Milk jugs and steam wand handles are labelled with corresponding colours relevant to the milks.
This policy and procedure are to be strictly followed by all servers involved in preparation of drinks.
Yellow cloth used for alternative milk
Blue cloth used for general cleaning FOH and BOH
Green cloth used for cow’s milk
Red cloth used for Toilets
15. COMMUNICATIONS
15.1 Managers are encouraged to communicate with customers who have specific dietary requirements; however, they should not give any advice on the customer’s requirements; all relevant information should be contained in the Allergen folder.
15.2 The Restaurant will endeavour to provide as much information as possible on the website, on the daily menus and in the Allergen folder.
15.3 If customers need further information, they are encouraged to ask the Duty Manager to solve any queries.