Control Catering is a one-stop system for caterers and manufacturers.
It covers cost control, standardising recipes, training, identifying allergens and all ingredients, dealing with alternative ingredients, calorie counting and more.
The company was founded by William Ireland the co-owner of the Cottage Hotel in Hope Cope.
William told us: “First you need to identify all ingredients, not just the fourteen legal allergens.
“For example, a customer tells a staff member they are allergic to mushrooms.
“The staff member walks into the busy kitchen to ask the chef on duty if mushrooms are an ingredient in any of the dishes.
“Chef is busy and not in a good mood.
“The staff member thinks they know the menu and decides not to ask the chef, but instead tells the customer that there are no mushrooms present.
“However, mushrooms are actually hidden in the sauce.
“The customer has an allergic reaction to the mushrooms, resulting in death.
“Your company is in serious trouble as witnesses at the table heard the information being relayed, and saw what happened.
In 2021 William and Jon Shayler- CEO of Erudus, founded the Save Lives Campaign. It started as a three-point plan and has been adapted and developed with support from industry experts to currently five points.
The aim of the plan is to join as many businesses, charities, trade bodies, experts and academics in the allergen world together for anyone eating out with a common sense approach to providing allergy information, collaborating and providing one voice, “Save Lives, the solution”.