Selling food online: Allergen responsibilities explained

Author: Natalie Stanton MCIEH CEnvH

Selling food online has become increasingly popular. Whether you are a home baker taking cake orders through Instagram, WhatsApp or Facebook, or a small takeaway or restaurant selling meals via your website or a third-party delivery platform, you have certain responsibilities in relation to food allergens.

What is distance selling of food?

Distance selling is where food is sold without any face-to-face contact with the customer such as when selling online. For customers with a food allergy or intolerance, this removes an important “safety check”, their ability to ask questions in the moment. Because of this, it is critical that you provide clear, accurate allergen information.

Examples of distance selling include:

Takeaway meals ordered online or by phone
Recipe boxes sold online
Food sold through online marketplaces such as eBay
Food sold through social media platforms such as Instagram or Facebook

All of these channels mean that you don’t have face-to-face contact with your customers, but you must still provide accurate allergen information to enable them to make safe and informed choices.

Different types of food and allergen requirements

One key thing to remember is that providing allergen information is always required. The only thing that changes is how that information must be provided to customers.

When selling food online, there are two main categories to be aware of:

Prepacked foods, which are foods placed into packaging before being offered for sale. These must have a full ingredients list on the packaging, with allergens clearly emphasised, usually in bold, each time they appear in the list.
Non-prepacked foods, which, in the context of online sales, could include takeaway meals or cakes made to order.

How must allergen information be provided when selling food online?

When selling foods online or by phone, this is classed as distance selling. There is one key requirement when providing allergen information: it must be provided at two stages in the ordering process.

Before the order is completed
Allergen information must be available to the customer before they place their order. This could be on a website or app, an online menu, via WhatsApp when taking an order, or over the phone.
At the point of delivery
Allergen information must be provided again when the food is delivered.

Let’s take a closer look at this in relation to prepacked foods and non-prepacked foods.

Prepacked foods

If you’re selling prepacked foods through distance selling, you need to make the same level of information on allergens available as when the food is bought from a retail environment. For example, this could be included on your website¹.

Prepacked food items must then comply with UK labelling laws. In relation to allergens, this means having a full ingredients list on the packaging with the allergens emphasised, usually in bold, each time they appear in the list. More information on general labelling requirements can be found on the Food Standards Agency website.

Non-prepacked foods

When selling non-prepacked foods via distance selling (i.e. online or by phone), you do not need to provide a full ingredients list, but you do need to provide accurate allergen information at two stages². Here’s how you could do this:

Before the order is completed
Allergen information could be provided on a website or app, an online menu, via WhatsApp when taking an order, or over the phone.
At the point of delivery
This could be in writing, such as labels or stickers on packaging, or included as part of a menu or receipt. Or verbally, such as when you deliver the item to the customer. The customer must be able to clearly identify which food contains which allergens, for example through clearly labelled containers³.

While not a legal requirement, the Food Standards Agency’s advice is that food businesses providing food for delivery or takeaway should make the allergen information available in writing both before the food is ordered and when it is delivered⁴.

The 14 allergens

By law, you must inform customers if any of the 14 named allergens are present in your food. These include:

Celery
Cereals containing gluten, including wheat, spelt, rye and barley
Crustaceans such as prawns and lobster
Eggs
Fish
Lupin
Milk
Molluscs such as mussels and clams
Mustard
Peanuts
Sesame
Soybeans
Sulphur dioxide and sulphites (if present at more than 10 parts per million)
Tree nuts such as walnuts, almonds, cashews, hazelnuts and pecans.

Even if something feels obvious, like milk in buttercream or eggs in a sponge cake, you still need to declare it. Never assume your customer knows.

When checking for allergens in any ingredients that you buy in, make sure you review product labels and ingredients thoroughly. Allergens can sometimes be found in unexpected places and are easy to overlook.

Also, if your supplier runs out of a product and provides a substitute, always check the ingredients again, as different allergens may be present. If anything changes, remember to update your written allergen information, including online, such as your website, and make sure your team are aware.

Managing allergen cross-contamination risks

Allergen cross-contamination, also known as cross-contact, happens when traces of an allergen accidentally end up in food that was not meant to contain it. Even a tiny amount can trigger an allergic reaction for a food hypersensitive customer, so this is something every food business needs to take seriously.

Allergen cross-contamination can happen very quickly in day-to-day food preparation. Common causes include foods touching during storage, shared utensils, chopping boards or surfaces, handling different ingredients without washing hands and using shared fryers or cooking equipment.

Preventing cross-contamination comes down to having clear procedures, good habits, and consistent training, even in a small setup. Practical controls include storing ingredients and prepared foods in sealed, clearly labelled containers, keeping allergenic ingredients separate from non-allergenic ones, thoroughly cleaning surfaces and equipment using a two-stage cleaning process, washing hands properly between tasks, and using separate equipment wherever possible.

When preparing food for a food hypersensitive customer, it is important to use a clean preparation area and clean equipment.

Take a step back and review your food preparation process from start to finish. From deliveries and storage through to preparation and service, every stage is a potential point where cross-contamination could occur. Identifying these risks allows you to put the right controls in place.

Just as important as managing the risk is communicating it. If there is a possibility of cross-contamination and you cannot fully control it, the customer must be informed clearly. This allows them to make a safe and informed decision about whether to go ahead with the order.

Summary

Selling food online might feel informal, especially if you are running a small business from home. But the responsibility is exactly the same. For a food hypersensitive customer, this is not just about buying a cake or a box of brownies. They are placing trust in you and your business.

In practice, this means you must:

know which of the 14 named allergens are in your products
make sure that information is accurate and up to date
ensure allergen information is provided at two stages in the ordering process, before the order is completed and again at the point of delivery
take steps to prevent cross-contamination
inform your customers of any potential cross-contamination risks
have a clear system in place for managing allergens
make sure your team is fully trained