Six food businesses in Lancaster have been flagged for serving meals that pose significant health risks to customers with allergies following a series of checks by Lancaster City Council.
The local authority’s food safety team carried out the testing by covertly ordering meals from 19 establishments while specifically declaring allergies. The dishes were then sent for laboratory analysis to check for seven major allergens, including milk, peanuts, soya, celery, crustaceans, sulphites, and gluten.
While 13 of the businesses tested were found to be operating safely and were commended for their standards, six failed to meet the required safety levels. The council noted that these failures were not believed to be intentional, but likely the result of accidental cross-contamination in kitchen and preparation areas.
The six businesses involved have now joined the council’s Allergen Stop Register. Under this agreement, the venues have voluntarily committed to stop serving customers with specific allergies while they make necessary improvements to their food safety practices.
One of the businesses visited had already been subject to an earlier agreement and has now been referred to Trading Standards for formal sampling, which is the most serious step in the council’s enforcement process.
Councillor Paul Hart, the cabinet member for environmental services, oversees the work of the team responsible for these checks. Although the council is not under a statutory duty to test for allergens, they continue the programme to help protect residents, as exposure to allergens can be life-threatening for some individuals. The register was introduced in August 2025 to help diners with allergies make safer choices about where to eat.
About this article: This story was put together with the help of AI tools and checked by a real person on our team. We're a small crew trying to cover as much of the UK as we can on a limited budget. We're getting better every day - but we're not perfect yet. If something looks off, let us know. You're part of the process.
