Shocking: two-thirds of Dutch restaurants list allergens incorrectly
If you have a genuinely serious food allergy (and therefore aren’t a whiner), it turns out that you’re actually not safe in more than two-thirds of Dutch restaurants. And in many bakeries, butchers, supermarkets and other shops selling food, allergen information also appears to be largely a joke…
The NVWA (Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority) carried out more than five thousand inspections to check whether businesses comply with the labelling legislation, under which guests and customers who ask are required to be informed about any allergens present in the food and drinks. And for some people, that information is a matter of life and death.
Bottom of the class
We’re not talking here about people who say they have a lactose allergy and then casually order ice cream with a cappuccino at the end of the meal. We mean those who can suffer a life-threatening anaphylactic reaction from, for example, nuts or peanuts.
According to Erna Botjes, chair of the Food Allergy Foundation, people with serious allergies are sometimes told by servers or chefs that they think it’s all nonsense, and they’re not very willing to think along with them. In Scandinavia, she says, they’re much further ahead in this regard, while the Netherlands has been the worst-performing country in the European class for years when it comes to information and care.
Two-thirds get it wrong
Of the almost 3,200 hospitality businesses inspected by the NVWA, more than two-thirds did not have their allergen labelling properly in order. Among artisan businesses (such as bakeries and butchers), this was more than half; among supermarkets and food retailers, it was 41 percent. Allergens present in prepackaged food (such as, for example, soy, milk and eggs, fish) must be listed on the label; in all other cases, the correct information should also be available.
Greater awareness
According to Floris van Overveld of the Dutch Coeliac Association, there really are entrepreneurs who are happy to receive further training in this area. More and more employees are becoming aware that even if a particular dish is gluten-free, its ingredients may have been on the same chopping board or in the same oil as allergens.
Be careful
Last year, the NVWA issued 3,400 businesses with an official warning and stressed that they would be inspected again. A total of 591 businesses were fined 525 euros. So if you’re one of the 400,000 Dutch people with a food allergy, hopefully you won’t end up at one of those establishments if you have a life-threatening allergy.
Read also:
- Pine nut syndrome exists (and you don’t want to suffer from it)
- Allergic or on a diet? This app checks the ingredients list for you (including those tiny words)
- Do you really have a food allergy?
Source: Het Parool
