Boutique contract caterer Artizian is celebrating after receiving the first ever Allergen Accreditation in Business and Industry Sector at the Telegraph Media
Group headquarters in Victoria, London.
The accreditation means that the new EU legislation is fully complied with across all of its business, giving customers with allergies the confidence that Artizian can cater to their requirements.
Allergen Accreditation CEO Julian Edwards had high praise for Artizian’s approach to the new egislation: “Artizian have embraced the new EU regulations, going above and beyond the basic requirements and setting industry standards for best practice. The level of engagement and knowledge demonstrated by the whole team, strongly supported by their client, is fantastic”.
In order to meet with the award criteria, Artizian had to implement a fully documented and traceable journey of foods and beverages from supply to service that includes all of the 14 EU food allergens. The awarding body felt that Artizian had shown extreme diligence in questioning labels and allergen information.
Industry guidelines also advise at least one front of house and one back of house Allergen Advisor be present during any one shift. So judges were particularly impressed by the fact that all of Artizian’s on-site staff were able to act as Allergen Advisors and respond to customer queries.
Other elements which the boutique caterer won praise for included their excellent crosscontamination controls, clear customer-friendly signage and an abundance of well-located food allergen charts. Allergen Accreditation CEO Julian Edwards continued: “Essentially Artizian scored 100% from 45 key interrogation areas for the Allergen Accreditation application form that was backed up with supporting evidence.
“This was a real challenge that required skill and determination on their part. It meant new policies, procedures and a new way of handling foods and beverages to remain within the new EU FIC law.”
Judges also commended the way in which Artizian involved their client, Telegraph Media Group, in the process. Ceri Jones, services manager, Telegraph Media Group commented: “Artizian, as always, are ahead of the pack, and completely took over the handling of this for us. Any worries were allayed as the whole catering team were fully trained, and all labelling in place, months in advance of the 13th December 2014 deadline. We couldn’t have done it without them.”
Naturally staff at Artizian are delighted with the accreditation, as Artizian’s manager for Nutrition and Wellbeing, Catherine Attfield explained: “This accreditation demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that customers with allergies and intolerances can eat with confidence in all of our restaurants.
“We’re thrilled to be leading the sector with the first award. The EU Food Information for Consumers Regulation is a positive and progressive thing for our customers. It caters to the customer need for clearer and more consistent allergen information on all food.
“By helping our customers to make safer food choices, a greater sense of wellbeing is achieved.”
Please see the links below for further information
http://fcsihub.org/allergen-
