Drinks from coffee vending machines ‘pose allergy threat’

♦coffee vending machines pose an allergy risk because of “cross contamination” of drinks, a trading standards watchdog has warned.

The standards team at Torfaen county borough council in South Wales visited 10 businesses that sold hot drinks dispensed from vending machines between April and September. They found serious failings in the provision of allergen information and also found cross contamination of milk to products that did not contain milk as an intended ingredient. Two of the drinks not supposed to contain milk had detectable levels high enough to cause a reaction in the most severely allergic individuals.

Food Manufacture magazine said half the businesses were not providing consumers with statutory food allergen information as required by the Food Information Regulations 2014. Of those that were, investigators found it was incorrect, inadequate or hard to find.