Newport City Council’s trading standards officers have recently organised food allergen training courses to local businesses.
Funded by the Shared Prosperity Fund, the three sessions proved very successful and were attended by 137 people from 87 businesses.
Councillor James Clarke, cabinet member for strategic planning, housing and regulation, said: “People who suffer from food allergies have to be careful that they don’t eat anything that will cause a reaction. The results can be extremely serious and even, on occasions, life-threatening.
“Businesses have a legal duty to make clear what is in any food they are selling and ensure it does not pose a risk to customers.
“I’m really pleased that so many responsible representatives of local food outlets have recognised how vital this is and have decided to take part in these free training sessions and keep customers safe.”
There was positive feedback from those who attended the sessions including the following:
- Examples were given in the session; everything was understandable.
- A lot of good information given out and everything was explained very well.
- Found out about new allergens.
- Informative, answered all questions; gave links to sites for more information.
- Learnt important aspects of allergen and how critical to have allergen knowledge.
- It reaffirmed what I already knew and added to my knowledge .
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025.
The fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.
The council has been awarded more than £30 million from the fund for a wide range of projects across the city.
