SMC Food Safety Management Consultants

05/02/2026

www.fsai.ie/news-and-alerts/food-alerts/recall-of-a-batch-of-et-voila-pain-au-chocolat-due

Recall of a batch of Et Voilá Pains au Chocolat due to the possible presence of metal pieces Thursday, 05 February 2026 Alert Summary Category 1: For Action Alert Notification: 2026.04 Product Identification: Et Voilá! Pains au Chocolat; pack size: 4 pack Batch Code Best before date: 05/02/2026 Me...

26/01/2026

We are hiring.
Part time Chef/Cook.
Send your C.V. to manager@dundalkgolfclub.ie

23/01/2026

We have been alerted by The Magnum Ice Cream Company that Feast Original Ice Cream now includes hazelnut, almond and egg which were not previously present. These ingredients have been introduced as part of a quality upgrade to the product. The updated recipe may also contain soy, walnuts, cashews, pecan, pistachio and macadamia.

For more information visit: https://ow.ly/b8yX50Y1Cre

20/01/2026

Recent examples across the UK show that food businesses failing to take food allergen safety seriously can have devastating, even fatal, consequences. Children and adults with food allergies have suffered life-threatening reactions after being given incorrect or unclear allergen information, often despite clear warnings.

⚠️ October 2025: The owners of the former Rainforest Café in London were fined £45,000 for serious allergen failures, including cross-contamination that led to a 7-year-old boy with a severe wheat allergy being hospitalised after eating what he was told was a gluten-free meal.

⚠️ Late 2025: The Holiday Inn in Luton was fined £39,834.50 after a guest suffered a severe allergic reaction requiring hospitalisation in March 2024, despite informing staff multiple times of their sesame allergy. The operator pleaded guilty to food hygiene offences after staff failed to check or communicate allergen information, even though it was available in the kitchen.

⚠️ May 2025: A pub in Hitchin was fined £26,802 following a severe allergic reaction suffered by a 9-year-old boy in August 2023, despite staff assuring his mother that his food was wheat-free. The investigation found significant failures in allergen management, staff training, and cross-contamination controls.

⚠️ October 2024: Café Parisien in Belfast was fined £2,500 after a customer suffered an anaphylactic reaction to milk-containing food at a private event in April 2023. The company pleaded guilty to food safety offences, with the court also ordering costs and compensation.

⚠️ September 2024: The owners of a takeaway restaurant were fined £8,076 after admitting to two food safety offences involving potentially harmful allergen breaches. A Lancashire trading standards officer posing as a customer with a milk allergy ordered a meal that testing found contained enough milk protein to be harmful.

⚠️ June 2024: An Uxbridge restaurant was fined £43,816 in costs after a customer with a nut allergy required hospital treatment following a meal containing undeclared allergens. The business pleaded guilty to multiple food safety and health and safety offences after failing to make required improvements.

⚠️ March 2021: An 18-year-old suffered a severe allergic reaction on her birthday after eating a takeaway curry from a Newcastle restaurant, despite her order being clearly marked “no peanuts.” She was rushed to hospital with anaphylaxis and thankfully recovered. The owner was fined £3,450.

These incidents have resulted in hospitalisations, court cases, and heavy fines, reinforcing a message Natasha’s Foundation continues to stress: accurate allergen information and strong safety procedures are a legal and moral responsibility.

Businesses must review their practices, train staff properly, and treat allergy requests with the seriousness they deserve, because for people living with food allergies, trust can be a matter of life and death.

20/01/2026

📢 We are hiring for the role of Canteen Operative

📆 Closing date: 4:30pm on Friday, 6th February 2026

➡️ www.louthcoco.ie/vacancies

13/01/2026

🥝 KIWIFRUIT ALLERGY 🥝

Allergy to kiwifruit started to become common in the UK in the 1980s with the most common cause in adults being pollen food syndrome. It is possible to have a serious reaction to kiwifruit.

⚠️It's important to know that kiwifruit is NOT included in the list of UK top 14 major food allergens meaning it won't be highlighted on food labels.

Find out more in our accredited Kiwifruit Allergy Factsheet. Link in comments.

10/12/2025

Having worked with you Laura from pretty much the beginning it is with a heavy heart that I wish you the very best of everything going forward 🫶 I have no doubt that your knowledge and passion will open more doors & that it will be more exciting and less stressful!
We fought the good fight and had nearly 10 years of laughter (and tears) and that is what made it special. It has been a pleasure sharing this journey with you -be proud of all you achieved as female founder. Enjoy your Christmas and roll on 2026 - ya know where I am if you need me 😘

13/11/2025

💜 We are heartbroken to share the passing of 24-year-old Harry James Kitto, who tragically lost his life after a severe allergic reaction while travelling with his girlfriend Naomi in South America.

Harry’s family have described him as being kind, adventurous, funny, and full of life. His family and friends now face a devastating loss.

His allergic reaction occurred in Buenos Aires, after eating a churros dessert he had been assured did not contain peanut, to which he had a known allergy. Harry and Naomi were due to return home just a few days later.

This terrible news has been reported in the press after a Go Fund Me page was created in Harry’s memory. We at Natasha's Foundation continue to support the family as they take the time and space to grieve privately.

Our love, sympathy, and thoughts are with Harry’s family and friends at this painful time.

Together, we must keep working towards a future where no life is lost to food allergies, in Harry’s name, in Natasha’s name, and in memory of every person lost to food-induced anaphylaxis.

10/10/2025

Well done Bryan Lynch Salads 🙌🙌

** COMPETITION CLOSED**
On Monday, Bryan joined Gerry Kelly in LMFM to tell the story of how Bryan Lynch Salads started.

To celebrate this milestone, we're giving away a delicious hamper to a lucky follower. To be in with a chance to win, all you have to do is tell us, what age was Bryan when he started Bryan Lynch Salads?

Listen back to the clip on LMFM here: https://shows.acast.com/b693e735-811a-42a8-a659-4cc4f64bd98f/68e3ee60965488b63a1bc172

10/10/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/1CbRB34f45/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Natasha had multiple food allergies and asthma. Her symptoms were not unusual for an allergic child, yet the diagnosis dots weren’t joined up as quickly as they should have been.

As a baby, she had eczema. Our doctor prescribed a steroid cream and advised me to apply a prescribed base cream first. Natasha’s skin cracked with deep fissures and bled. She screamed in pain. I took her back to the doctor and was told she was most likely allergic to the lanolin in the base cream. It took weeks for her skin to heal.

When she was just six months old, I gave her a tiny piece of banana and she had an anaphylactic reaction that hospitalised her. Three months later, I asked our doctor if it was safe to give her cow’s milk formula, as I was worried she might also be allergic to it. I was told that as a first-time mum, it was natural to be “oversensitive”, but highly unlikely she would react again. I gave her the formula, and she had another anaphylactic reaction, just as frightening as the first. We were terrified.

Just after Natasha’s first birthday, as her eczema faded, asthma took its place. A skin prick test showed that bananas, dairy and eggs were highly allergenic, and nuts and peanuts were classed as mild. She was two years old now. We didn’t dare give her nuts or peanuts, call it a gut feeling. Soon after, she touched a breadstick with sesame seeds to her lip. I whisked it away, but it was too late, her lip came up red and sore.

Until her fatal reaction in 2016, Natasha hadn’t had an anaphylactic reaction for nine years. We thought we were doing well. Yet that summer, Natasha passed away from anaphylaxis on board a plane. She had eaten a baguette that contained hidden sesame seeds baked into the dough, an ingredient that was not disclosed on the label.

The “what if” questions can drive you mad. Instead, I focus completely on the work of the charity we started in her name, Natasha’s Foundation, and its ambitious mission to Make Allergy History.

Tanya x

30/08/2025

https://www.fsai.ie/news-and-alerts/food-alerts/recall-of-various-branded-spinach-and-mixed-le-(1)

Recall of various branded Spinach and Mixed Leaves products produced by McCormack Family Farms due to the detection of Listeria monocytogenes Saturday, 30 August 2025 Alert Summary Category 1: For Action Alert Notification: 2025.47 Product Identification: Please see table below. Batch Code Please se...

06/08/2025

5 August: Food Alert "For Action": To: Consumers and Food Business who have purchased Noesis, Fix it and Le Damas Dubai-style chocolate products https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/alert/fsa-fafa-03-2025-update-1