About this course

This course is designed specifically for cooks and chefs working in general food service, to help them provide safe food for customers with food allergies.

Who this course is for

• Cooks*
• Chefs*
• Caterers (includes in flight and other transport caterers, caterers providing pre-prepared packaged individual meals to hospitals and other care services)

Kitchen staff including kitchen assistants, kitchen hands, kitchen porters, dish washers should complete All about Allergens.

*Cooks and chefs working in schools, children’s education and care, camps, hospitals and residential care should complete the All about Allergens course for that setting. For example if you are a cook or chef working in a camp, complete All about Allergens for Camps.

Course units and learning outcomes

There are four units in this All about Allergens course. Learning outcomes are assessed with short end of unit quizzes and a longer final assessment.

Unit 1: Food allergy overview

• Understand food allergy and the consequences of serving the wrong food to a customer with food allergy.
• Know the difference between a food allergy, a food intolerance and coeliac disease.
• Be able to list the common food allergens in Australia.
• Understand the law with regards to food allergens and food service provision.
• Understand the responsibilities of the customer with food allergy, food service staff and the food business.
• Know where to find further information and tools to help you adopt best practice procedures for food allergen management.

Unit 2: Communicating with customers and staff

• Know how to get accurate information about a customer’s food allergy.
• Know how to effectively communicate with staff about a customer’s food allergy and food order.
• Describe strategies that food businesses can use to make sure that customers receive accurate information about the food allergen content of menu items when they tell staff about their food allergy.
• Describe strategies that food businesses can use to make sure that the right meal or drink is served to the right customer with food allergy.

Unit 3: Menus and food labels

• Understand food labelling laws in Australia for packaged and unpackaged foods.
• Demonstrate knowledge of reading food labels and identifying food allergens on a label.
• Be able to identify food allergens in products, recipes, packaged foods, ingredient lists, meal components, condiments and garnishes.
• Understand Precautionary Allergen Labelling statements and what these mean for customers with food allergy.
• Understand what to do if a customer has an allergic reaction to a food served by your business.

Unit 4: Practical management of food allergens

• Know how to store and prepare foods suitable for customers with food allergy.
• Recognise and manage areas of possible cross contamination in food service.
• Identify and implement strategies in the workplace to ensure that the right meal or drink is served to the right customer with food allergy.
• Demonstrate an understanding of how to implement simple strategies in the food business to minimise the risk of a customer having an allergic reaction.
• Identify common mistakes made during food preparation that can make foods unsafe for customers with food allergy.

Course length

This course takes approximately 1 hour to complete.

Your progress is saved along the way, so you can stop and come back to the course at any time. It is recommended you complete the course within 2 weeks.

How often to undertake this course 

You should undertake this training at least every 2 years.

Latest version

All about Allergens for Cooks and Chefs (released 4 March 2023)

To start this course Register or enrol

Older versions

All about Allergens for Cooks and Chefs (released 19 October 2021) | superseded 4 March 2023)

The next step for cooks and chefs: general food service (released 30 July 2019 | superseded 19 October 2021)