Catering Scotland

Leading foodservice supplier, Bidvest 3663, has updated all of its own-brand products to ensure compliance with new Food Information Regulations (FIR), which are due to be introduced this month.

From 13th December, all Bidvest 3663-branded goods manufactured after that date will be packaged with labels which make it clearer to determine ifany of the 14 allergens highlighted in the regulations (as listed below) are contained within the product.

Additionally, colour coding will also be introduced to denote whether the product needs to be chilled, frozen or kept at room temperature.

The Food Information Regulations have been designed to combine existing rules on general food labelling and nutrition into a single regulation.

From 13th December, customers will be able to download recipe-recording templates from Bidvest 3663’s website which will help them prepare for the new regulations.

Easy to complete, the templates may be used to note where allergens are used across the menu. Meanwhile, the company’s advice centre team will be on hand to support customers with product information and guidance over the phone.

Graeme McKenzie, head of offer development, commented: ‘We know that the introduction of the new Food Information Regulations has caused a few headaches for customers, and we have worked hard to make it as easy as possible for them by ensuring that product information is readily available.

‘We are also looking at how we can use new technology to make ongoing menu management and staff training easier for customers.’

Products from Bidvest 3663’s consumer-facing brand, Coronet, also feature on-pack QR codes which can be scanned with a smartphone app to access product and allergen information, and the firm has partnered with the Food Allergy Aware Consultancy to offer training workshops to chefs and caterers on the handling of allergens. The workshops will provide chefs with practical solutions for preparing for FIR inspections by local Environmental Health and Trading Standards officers.

The 14 allergens include:

• Cereals containing gluten, such as wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, kamut, and products thereof
• Crustaceans (e.g. prawns, crab, lobster and crayfish)
• Eggs
• Fish
• Peanuts
• Soybeans
• Milk
• Celery
• Mustard
• Sesame
• Nuts, such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecan nuts, Brazil nuts, pistachio, cashew and macadamia (Queensland) nuts
• Sulphur dioxide and sulphites
• Lupin
• Molluscs (e.g. clams, mussels, whelks, oysters, snails and squid)

Full ingredient and allergen lists for all products can be found at www.3663.co.uk by typing in a product description or SKU number.