Speak Up For Allergies campaign

Campaign to encourage young people and restaurants to discuss allergies

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has launched ‘Speak Up For Allergies’ - a campaign aimed at young people and food businesses.  The campaign will encourage young people to support friends with allergies when eating in restaurants; whilst highlighting the important role front of house staff have when a young person with allergies dines in a restaurant.  

Food allergies can have a huge impact on people’s lives and insight shows that young people feel more confident telling food businesses about their allergies when their friends are supportive and understanding. The Speak Up For Allergies campaign will promote this message across a range of social media platforms and will see the FSA work with influencers to reach young people.  

Businesses also have a role to play in supporting people with allergies. Young people often feel nervous about raising their allergies for fear that they are being difficult and slowing down orders. Therefore, how staff respond to these requests is important in making customers feel comfortable and confident. 

The campaign will support food businesses to ensure they have sufficient allergen management processes in place, and provide staff with information and training to ensure they can effectively respond to allergen enquiries from consumers.  

Food businesses can visit the FSA website where they can find free allergen training and an allergen checklist which they can use to support customers with food allergies.