Food

All food businesses, including childminders, have a legal responsibility to provide correct allergen information about the ingredients in meals and/or snacks you provide. There is no set way of providing this information and you can choose a method that suits your childminding practice.

There are 14 allergens that you need to declare if they are present in foods you provide:

• Celery – includes celery stalks, leaves and seeds and celeriac
• Cereals containing gluten – includes wheat (such as spelt and Khorasan wheat/Kamut), rye, barley and oats
• Crustaceans-includes crabs, lobster, prawns and scampi
• Eggs – found in many products including cake, meat, mayonnaise, pasta etc.
• Fish-found in salad dressings, sauces, stock cubes, pizza etc.
• Lupin – includes lupin seeds and flour
• Milk – found in butter, cheese, cream, milk powders and yoghurt
• Molluscs – includes mussels, land snails, squid and whelks
• Mustard – includes liquid mustard, mustard powder and mustard seeds
• Nuts – includes almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecan nuts, Brazil nuts, pistachio nuts, macadamia or Queensland nuts
• Peanuts – also found in groundnut oil and peanut flour
• Sesame seeds and oil
• Soya – can be found in bean curd, edamame beans, miso paste, textured soya protein, soya flour or tofu
• Sulphur dioxide – this is often used as a preservative in dried fruit, meat products, soft drinks and vegetables as well as in wine and beer