Allergy Alert Texts
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have set up a free text
messaging service designed to alert people with a food allergy
that a product may be of risk.
 |
Free Food Allergy Alerts
By WLR Dietitian
|
There’s good news for allergy sufferers.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has recently set up a free
text messaging service designed to alert people with a food
allergy that a product may be of risk to them due to incorrect
labelling.
Subscribers to the service receive free information
highlighting the allergen, the product and where to get further
details.
Sue Hattersley, Head of the Food Allergy Branch at the FSA
says, “This SMS service ensures that people with food allergies
get vital information wherever they are as soon as possible.
This new scheme is an efficient way of reaching people whose
health could be at risk due to allergens such as peanuts, other
nuts, milk or shellfish ingredients used in product that are not
properly labelled.”
To sign up to this free service, send the text message ‘START
ALLERGY’ to 62372. This initial text will be charged at your
network provider’s rate.
WLR says:
Until now, information about products that have been recalled
or withdrawn due to poor labelling, has been provided on the FSA
website and via email updates. Now, the use of text messaging
means allergy sufferers can get instant information wherever they
are.
This is great news as it has the potential to save lives.
Currently, between 5 and 15 people die each year due to food
allergies, so anything that helps to reduce the risk of
fatalities can only be a good thing.
More Information
www.food.gov.uk - The Food Standards Agency is an independent
Government department set up by an Act of Parliament in 2000 to
protect the public's health and consumer interests in relation
to food.
|
