Food Labelling and Allergies

Gill Furniss Excerpts

Monday 15th May 2023 Westminster Hall

[Gill Furniss (Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairpersonship, Sir Graham. I thank the hon. Member for Don Valley (Nick Fletcher) and the Petitions Committee for bringing forward this vital debate. I pay tribute to Owen’s and Natasha’s families and to all the people who have come to the debate. I thank them for coming here, because I know how painful it must be for them. I also thank the many thousands who signed the petition.

Owen should have turned 24 last month. This should have been a time of joy and celebration for him and his family. Instead, because of a tragic and preventable failing, he died less than 300 metres from this building. Diagnosed with severe food allergies at just six months, Owen was always careful to manage his allergies and avoid triggering a reaction. On the day that Owen passed, he took the time to inform the waiting staff of his allergies, but because of a miscommunication the information was not passed to the kitchen. That led to his consumption of a chicken burger that had been marinated in buttermilk. Despite the presence of one of the most common allergens, dairy, the information was given only in the small print on the back of the menu, not alongside the product listing. That is in line with regulation 5 of the Food Information Regulations 2014, which requires restaurants to collate allergen information but allows the information to be delivered “by any means”. The regulations do not go far enough to inform customers about what allergens might be a part of their meal. Instead, the onus is unfairly placed on those with allergies to inform their servers. That cannot be right.

Since Owen’s untimely death, his family have campaigned tirelessly for a common-sense change to the legislation, so that it reads “on the face of a menu” instead of “by any means”. That would be much like the vegan and VE vegetarian symbols displayed alongside vegetarian and vegan products in restaurants. I praise the restaurants that acted unilaterally to display allergen information prominently on their menus. That is a straightforward step that could save lives.

The number of people with allergies in the UK has steadily risen, and an estimated one in three people are affected. Owen’s law would benefit the millions of people in the UK who are allergic to a food product or who care for someone who is. Those who suffer with even a mild allergy know the detrimental impact that it can have on their quality of life, the stress caused by social interactions in unfamiliar places, the diligence it takes to analyse everything that they purchase and consume, and the constant worry that their allergy might progress and get worse with little or no warning. It is no wonder that those who are diagnosed with an allergy are more likely also to be diagnosed with depression or anxiety.

At the inquest into Owen’s death, the coroner found that a lack of data collection regarding anaphylactic reactions contributed to a failure to learn from these tragedies. I am pleased that some progress has been made on this front with the establishment of the UK anaphylaxis registry in 2021, but we need to do more to support people with allergies. The past 20 years have seen minimal investment in NHS allergy services, and I support calls for an allergy tsar to advocate on behalf of those with allergies, alongside an increased number of allergen clinics. We cannot eliminate allergens entirely, but one thing we can do is advocate Owen’s law, which would build on Natasha’s law and ensure that allergen information is displayed alongside food products in restaurants so that the proper information is provided in the most accessible manner.

I beg the Minister to ensure that action is taken. No one here has disagreed today; everyone has been in favour of more resources being deployed in this area and of having a tsar who runs a proper strategy and has the proper financial resources to research why so many people are allergic to various products. Let us change the legislation. The Minister has the opportunity to stop many more parents having to face the unthinkable and lose a child or family member. These deaths can absolutely be avoided with the right services and legislation in place.