Lancaster University has officially achieved Allergen Accredited status following the hard work from the hospitality team.

This accreditation recognises that all food that comes from the County South and Barker House Farm kitchens complies with allergy awareness legislation. This includes food served at conferences and dinners, internal hospitality, the Pre-School, student catered meals, Marketplace, The Lounge and Barker House Farm.

The team have been working hard to achieve this accreditation over the last year. As well as ensuring strict processes are in place where food is prepared, the team have also taken part in the #OneMcPeake allergens challenge whereby members of the team had to live with allergies over a two-week period to understand the trials a customer may face.

The accreditation means that customers living with an allergy can dine in confidence that the team are Allergy Aware and are assured that excellent allergen management procedures are in place in that venue.

Ros Wilkinson (Head of Hospitality) said, “The team have worked incredibly hard to achieve this accreditation, with the project being lead by Tracy Prendergast (Food Production & Services Manager). Tracy has kept the team focussed and on target.

The whole team across the front of house and kitchen brigade have been involved with the implementation of systems and processes to get to this stage. They now have full understanding of the effect an allergy or food intolerance can have on people’s lives. We have also carried out work with other departments at the university who are customer/student facing to give them more confidence when asked about this area.

We want students, visitors and staff to feel confident that they can come to talk to us.”

You can find out more about the accreditation by visiting the Allergen Accreditation website.