The previous fee stayed at the same rate since its introduction in 2008 although associated costs beyond our control have continued to rise. Throughout this time we have continued to develop our services for you and improve the way you can access the information you need to support your diet and health.

Individuals who are not food businesses and occasionally provide food at charity events or voluntary cake sales, for example, do not need to follow the requirements of the Food Information Regulations. However, providing information voluntarily will be helpful for people with allergies. If information is provided voluntarily it must be accurate.

The new law applied from 13 December 2014. For caterers this means that meals served from this date have to comply with the law. For packaged foods the rules apply for foods manufactured from this date, so there will be a mixture of labels on the shelves. This is most likely to affect foods that have a long shelf life like canned foods.

In line with the Food Information Regulation, caterers have the option to provide information orally. Businesses adopting this approach need to ensure that there is a written notice, menu, ticket or label that is clearly visible, at the point that the customer chooses their food, to indicate that allergen information is available from a member of staff.

Food businesses are recommended to have a system in place to ensure that when allergen information is provided orally to consumers, it is supported by that information being available to staff and others in a recorded form (in writing for example) to provide consistency, accuracy and verifiable safety procedures.

The new Regulation has brought big changes to the way restaurants provide information about allergens in the meals they serve. Caterers have to provide allergen information for all meals they serve. This means if a recipe uses cereals containing gluten such as wheat, rye, barley or oats in the ingredients, they must be able to provide this information to you. Allergen information for non-prepacked food can be provided in written or oral formats. Where the information is not provided upfront and in writing, there must be clear signposting to where the information can be found.

The Food Information Regulation applies to catering services provided by transport leaving EU Member states. This means that if food is provided on a plane, boat or train which is leaving the UK, then allergen information must be provided in line with the new regulation. It doesn’t mean that they have to provide a gluten-free option, but it does mean that you must be provided with information on the allergens that any meal contains.

The size is A5, unchanged from 2015.

We don't want to stop you receiving the information you need to support your diet so if you don't have online access you can still receive a printed copy. However we are only able to update the electronic version with the additional 20,000 products next year so if you have a friend or family member that can access these, you will have more up to date information and choice for your gluten-free diet.

Introducing a pharmacy led supply scheme allows better stock control of gluten-free foods for pharmacists as well as providing a more flexible service to improve the patient experience.

Pharmacists and GP dispensaries are paid a service charge at six monthly intervals for each patient who accesses the service. When the scheme in Northamptonshire was introduced it was run as an Enhanced Service with funding for this element of the contract coming from Primary Care Contracting budgets.