Workplace: tips for managing food allergy

• Consider people with food allergy when eating in the workplace:
  • Staff should wash their hands after eating something their colleague is allergic to. 
  • People should not eat at the workstation/desk of a colleague who has a food allergy.

• When planning either in-house or off-site events involving food:
  • Discuss menu choices and venues with the employees who have food allergies. 
  • Where possible, changes may need to be made to reduce the risk of an allergic reaction.
  • The Food allergy aware catering checklist for workplace events can help staff organise catering events for workplaces.

• It is not reasonable for a person with food allergy to expect all food served at a function to be free of the food they are allergic to.
  • However, if it is a food that can easily be removed from products ordered/delivered/served this can be considered.
  • For example, if someone has a kiwi fruit allergy, asking caterers not to include kiwi fruit on a fruit platter or no peanut or tree nuts in a sandwich platter brought to an office meeting if someone has peanut or tree nut allergy.

• The person with food allergy should always tell staff about their allergy again at the time of the function and ask about the allergen content of the food when it arrives. 
  • Some employees with food allergy may prefer to provide their own food or have a particular meal prepared for them rather than taking food off a shared plate or from a buffet.

The workplace should assess the staff meals area and staff kitchen: 

• The equipment available for refrigerating and heating food.
• Providing a storage container with a lid that can be placed on the top shelf of the fridge for the food of the person with food allergy to store their food.
• Washing cutlery and crockery in the dishwasher or hot soapy water after use.
• If using a sandwich press, wipe it clean with hot soapy water and for staff with food allergy, wrapping their sandwich in baking paper.
• Staff with food allergy providing their own equipment, such as a cutting board.

Further advice for workplaces:

• For staff with peanut or tree nut allergy, bowls of nuts at an office celebration are not recommended as cross contamination risk is high. People put their hand in the nut bowl and then go directly to the chip bowl, contaminating chips which may originally have been fine for the individual with a peanut/tree nut allergy. It is not as simple as expecting the person with an allergy to just avoid the nut bowl.
• Asian style restaurants are generally not recommended for those with peanut and tree nut allergy due to the high use of peanut and tree nut ingredients in dishes.
• Some venues and activities pose a greater risk e.g. a buffet meal on a harbour cruise would be considered high risk. The risk of cross contamination in buffet style meals is high as people can swap serving utensils and food can drop into other food containers when serving themselves. Access to prompt medical help is critical to emergency management and in remote places or on a cruise this could be delayed.
• For staff with a fish or shellfish allergy, choosing a seafood restaurant would exclude them from this outing as vapours from fish/shellfish cooking can cause a severe reaction in very sensitive individuals. Choosing other cuisine styles which may still have seafood dishes on their menu poses less risk to the individual with fish/shellfish allergy.
• It may help to speak with the employee with food allergy for guidance on which restaurant may be less of a risk.

For workplaces that prepare meals on site for staff as part of their working conditions (such as mining camps) make sure the following policies and procedures are in place:

1. Food allergen management policy
2. Register of staff dietary requirements including food allergies
3. Training in food allergen management for food service staff.
4. Document the allergen content of all meals in a food allergen matrix
5. Risk minimisation procedures
6. Audit process for food allergen management