UK allergy news, food alerts, and what they mean for eating out safely — posted regularly, mirrored here from LinkedIn.
Follow on LinkedIn →21 September 2026
There's a labelling question coming down the line that's worth getting ahead of, and for once it isn't a recall. The Food Standards Agency has set out its position on allergen labelling for foods made by precision fermentation — a technique that brews proteins in a tank rather than taking them from an animal. Several …
19 September 2026
Anaphylaxis UK published guidance this week aimed at students starting university, and the barrier it identifies isn't a lack of information. It's embarrassment. The charity's point is that for a lot of young people, carrying an adrenaline device slips down the list — it feels bulky, or inconvenient, or like a convers…
16 September 2026
In April, the UK's first National Allergy Strategy was launched in Parliament during Allergy Awareness Week. It was developed by the National Allergy Strategy Group — a coalition including BSACI, Allergy UK, Anaphylaxis UK and Natasha's Foundation — and it set out a roadmap for all four nations: better access to specia…
12 September 2026
Anaphylaxis UK has published the details for Anaphylaxis Awareness Week 2026, which runs from 1 to 7 October. This year's theme is a sense of belonging — the idea that people living with serious allergies should be able to take part fully, whether that's at school, at work, on holiday, or eating out, without feeling li…
7 September 2026
A recall published last week has an unusual twist worth flagging for anyone managing coeliac disease or a gluten allergy. The Food Standards Agency has confirmed that Waitrose & Partners is recalling its Rhubarb Crumble (500g) because it contains oats — a gluten-containing cereal — that aren't declared on the label. …
5 September 2026
A recall this week is a useful reminder that allergen labelling can fail even when every ingredient list is technically correct. The Food Standards Agency has confirmed that Tesco is recalling its Finest Caesar & Smoked Bacon Coleslaw (270g, use by 4 September 2026). The problem isn't the coleslaw recipe — it's that s…
2 September 2026
As of Monday, allergy safety in England's schools is no longer best practice. It's a statutory requirement. Benedict's Law, passed in February and backed by the Department for Education's Allergy Safety in Schools guidance published in July, took effect on 1 September. Every maintained and academy school in England is…
29 August 2026
Food allergy is still widely thought of as a childhood condition. The numbers say otherwise. Anaphylaxis UK has published guidance aimed specifically at adults living with food and non-food allergies, and the figure behind it is worth sitting with: around 6% of UK adults have a clinically confirmed food allergy — roug…
27 August 2026
Anaphylaxis UK published a piece this week aimed at a group that rarely gets addressed directly: the people who happen to be nearby when someone has a serious allergic reaction. When a reaction happens while someone is eating out, the first responders are whoever is in the room — a server, a friend, a stranger at the…
26 August 2026
Anaphylaxis UK has published a refresher on what to do if you witness a serious allergic reaction in public — and it's aimed squarely at people who don't have an allergy themselves. The core of it is a sequence most of us have never rehearsed. Recognise the ABC signs: airway (throat or tongue swelling, hoarse voice, t…
25 August 2026
A sobering piece of fieldwork from Heart of the South West Trading Standards deserves more attention than it's had. Between January and March, food officers ordered takeaway meals across Devon, Somerset and Torbay, telling each business the customer had a milk allergy. The meals were then lab-tested. Of 37 businesses …
22 August 2026
Natasha's Prize: £10m to research preventing allergies altogether Most of the allergy news I share here is about managing risk — clearer labels, better recall alerts, safer ordering. This one is about something more ambitious: stopping allergies from developing in the first place. Natasha's Foundation has launched N…
19 August 2026
When Benedict's Law takes effect in England's schools this September, one of the trickiest questions won't be about adrenaline pens or training — it'll be about information. Who is allowed to know which pupil has which allergy? Anaphylaxis UK, together with Data Protection Education, has published a free practical gui…
16 August 2026
Results day marks a big transition — and for students with a food allergy, it's also the point where day-to-day allergy management shifts from parents to them. Allergy UK has published guidance for young people heading to college or university this autumn, and the framing is a useful one: managing an allergy independe…
14 August 2026
The Food Standards Agency has published its Incidents & Resilience Annual Report for 2025/26, and two findings stand out for anyone thinking about allergen safety. First, scale. The FSA was notified of 2,073 food and feed safety incidents across England, Wales and Northern Ireland last year — up 14% on the year before…
13 August 2026
The words "may contain" appear on a huge number of products, yet almost nobody knows exactly what they mean — and that uncertainty is the problem. The Food Standards Agency has set out its position on international proposals to standardise precautionary allergen labelling: the "may contain" warnings that flag a risk o…
12 August 2026
August is peak season for eating out — holidays abroad, festivals, long days by the coast. It's also when the familiar routines that keep an allergy in check are easiest to let slip. Anaphylaxis UK has been sharing practical guidance for anyone managing a serious allergy while travelling, and a few points stand out for…
11 August 2026
Two of the UK's best-known allergy charities are joining forces. Anaphylaxis UK and Allergy UK have announced plans to merge on 1 October, bringing decades of combined expertise under one roof to speak with a single, stronger voice for the millions of people living with allergies across the country. It's an easy devel…
10 August 2026
When most of us think about food allergies, we picture the familiar names — milk, egg, peanuts, and the rest of the 14 allergens that UK and EU law requires to be flagged. But that list was never meant to be the whole story, and a growing body of research suggests it's starting to show its age. Allergy UK has renewed …
9 August 2026
What should the next decade of food allergy research actually focus on? For once, that question has been answered by the people who live with the condition rather than decided for them. A UK-wide partnership led by the University of Bristol has just published the top 10 priorities for childhood food allergy research, …
8 August 2026
From this September, allergy safety in England's schools stops being optional. New statutory guidance — widely known as Benedict's Law — will require schools to hold spare adrenaline auto-injectors, put individual allergy action plans in place for pupils, train staff to recognise and respond to reactions, and publish a…
7 August 2026
When a food recall lands, the allergens involved tell you exactly who needs to pay attention — and this one is worth a note for anyone who reaches for a jar of salsa on taco night or orders nachos when eating out. The Food Standards Agency has confirmed that Capsicana is recalling its Easy Going Mild Salsa (285g) beca…
5 August 2026
A development worth watching for anyone in hospitality or the allergy community. Back in March 2025, the Food Standards Agency published best-practice guidance urging restaurants to give allergen information in writing at the point of ordering — not just as a verbal answer across a busy counter. That guidance was volu…
3 August 2026
A recall worth flagging for anyone who manages a dairy allergy while eating out or on the go. The Food Standards Agency has confirmed that PepsiCo is recalling packs of Doritos Chilli Heatwave because they contain milk that isn't listed on the label. The issue appears to be a packing error, with some bags filled with t…
1 August 2026
Another week, another allergen-labelling recall worth flagging. The Food Standards Agency has announced that ASR Solutions Ltd is recalling Lay's Sour Cream & Dill Crisps (125g packs, all best-before dates up to and including 31 October 2026) because they contain milk and wheat (gluten) that don't appear on the label. …
25 July 2026
Various Bon Bons Wholesale chocolate novelties (ladybirds, hearts, butterflies, mini butterflies, sports car) are being recalled because they contain milk and soya not declared on the label. If you have any of these, don't eat them — return them to the store for a full refund.
14 July 2026
A recall that's worth a moment's attention, especially with the "Dubai style" pistachio trend everywhere right now. Lidl Northern Ireland is recalling 1001 Delights Dubai Style Pistachio Ice Cream (300g) because it contains cashew that isn't declared on the label. The affected tubs carry a best-before date of 8 Decembe…