Statistics show that more than 150 million Europeans suffer from chronic allergic diseases and it is predicated that by 2025 half of the entire EU population will be affected,[1] which means it’s now more important than ever to make sure that your allergen information is consistently up to date.
In 2014 the law was changed meaning food service businesses were required to list 14 allergens such as nuts, gluten and mustard on their menus or have the presence of these allergens communicated by staff. An EPoS system is what many businesses have turned to in order to effectively communicate the allergens in their ingredients.
An EPoS system would allow for the allergen information to be integrated into the system and on hand-held devices, which would mean staff can easily communicate allergen information when talking to ordering customers.
It’s an unfortunate fact that in the UK, about ten people die every year from food-induced anaphylaxis[2], which is why it is so important to express to your staff the importance of communicating allergen information to prevent worse case scenarios such as this.
In the age of social media, it is vital that you are inclusive to customers as it only takes one tweet to go viral to damage your reputation completely. This was the case recently when popstar Dua Lipa took to Twitter to describe her experience with United Airlines.
“I can’t believe I’m on a @united flight rn and I told the steward that my sister was severely allergic to nuts and his reply was ‘we’re not a nut free airline so if she has an epi-pen she might have to use that as we can’t not serve other passengers in your section nuts,’” the singer tweeted. She also claimed that the steward failed to announce her sister’s allergy on the flight, and instead told her they wouldn’t serve her any nuts which contrasted with their policy listed online.
The tweet went viral and had over 40k likes and over 7,000 comments, many of which were detrimental comments about United Airlines.
With the vast variety of diet choices currently out there, it is next to no effort at all to keep track of recipes and food contents. Customer’s should be able to easily request this information, and with the help of handheld ordering systems, they don’t even need to leave their table!
Find out how a GS Systems EPoS can help you enter and keep track of allergen information in accordance to the customers dietary requirements. Speak to one of our specialists today!
[1] https://www.allergyuk.org/information-and-advice/statistics – EAACI, 2016
[2] http://allergytraining.food.gov.uk/english/food-allergy-facts.aspx
