Published: 5th March 2026
As more people are being diagnosed with a food intolerance or allergy in later life, care homes need to carefully manage and monitor the impact of food on residents’ health. Effective staff training is therefore key to ensure residents are safe and staff understand and feel equipped to confidently recognise the symptoms of an allergic reaction and can respond in an emergency.
Sophie Murray, spokesperson for the National Association of Care Catering (NACC), says staff training needs to cover the whole process from food preparation until the food is eaten. “It shouldn’t stop when the food exits the kitchen,” she says. “Special attention needs to be given to self-serve food including biscuits and cakes. These need to be fully labelled with all ingredients listed. If you’re catering for an event, again all food needs to be fully labelled with ingredients visible, not just the 14 allergens.”
According to Jacqui McPeake from JACs Ltd, in-person training is more effective as it allows the team to feel more confident, ask questions and the training can be tailored to that particular environment. “Every member of the team has a part to play to make sure that a meal served is free from the allergens which must be avoided. It takes one member of the team to make a mistake which could have tragic circumstances,” she says.
Training opportunities for care home staff are available from a number of charities and organisations. Coeliac UK provides training on catering for coeliacs, who are gluten free, through its Gluten Free Academy, the Food Standards Agency run a 6 week course and the NACC have also launched a course to support its members.
Identifying allergens on menus can be done by means of an allergen matrix, often a chart or table, that lists all menu items or food products alongside the 14 major allergens such as nuts, dairy and gluten. Sophie from NACC says “This can be cross-checked with ingredient labels and residents’ allergens.”
It is helpful to have a pre-service briefing prior to meal service. Jacqui says “This should be delivered by the chef and ensures staff understand which meals are suitable for individual residents and when required, specific meals labelled with the name of the resident.”
For residents with dementia, prompts and simple language to explain food choices is important. Leni Wood, head of nutrition and wellness, Nellsar Care Homes, says “Serving familiar foods can help reduce confusion. This is when knowing a person’s history and past habits is so vital and knowing how they managed their allergy or intolerance themselves over the years.”
In the dining room, residents with food allergies, intolerances or coeliac disease, shouldn’t feel singled out. Lena says “To maintain dignity and avoid drawing unnecessary attention to differences, we clearly label and separate allergenic meals in the kitchen. During service, staff remove all obvious labelling up to that point and carefully serve the individual without highlighting there is a health concern.”
The sector is quickly proving that with a little understanding, implementing a process for managing allergies and food intolerances can fast become part of a care home’s every day practice, ensuring residents stay healthy, happy and included.
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