Fastrak: disclose allergy upon grab-bag preorder

[dgsmith]

Our canteen manager has advised me that they need to provide the ability for students to specify/disclose if they have an allergy "at the point of ordering".

 

At present, we use the biostore fastrak warning system built-in when the person orders at the till (with an operator) and this is then visible before the operator processes the purchase. However, it seems they require the ability for students to have to specify when they self-order on the grab-bag machine if they have allergies or not (as currently, that just prints a receipt with the items on). This seemingly relates to Natasha's law, coming in to force in October 2021.

 

Firstly, is this understood correctly that we need to ensure anyone ordering self-sufficiently without an operator has to be able to specify (at each order) if they have allergies? If so, quite how do we go about that in a pre-ordering system that does not involve any human-to-human interaction? This is not a specific feature provided on the system. I even thought about changing one of the food option groups to an allergy yes/no/other group, but that may be a bit messy.

[dgsmith]

Is it fair to say this isn't something many are considering right now?

[paulkerton]

Well... "Natasha's Law" means that you need to display ingredient and allergen information on every food item that's pre-packed for direct sale.

 

So really if it is completely self-ordered with no human interaction they actually need to label the products being sold fully and probably stick signs on the machines too.

If they can't do that, then they shouldn't be offering grab-bags anymore.

 

The students shouldn't have to disclose if they have allergies, the food should disclose if it has anything in it that might trigger an allergy.

"MAY CONTAIN NUTS" etc.

[pete]

I'd agree with @paulkerton - this is a school responsibility, not a student* one.

 

If Fred in 7B goes into anaphylactic shock because of something in a grab-bag, "he should have clicked 'nuts' when ordering" isn't going to prevent a prosecution.

 

*most of our students are pretty sensible if they're allergic. But there's always that one student who wonders if they're still allergic to peanuts.

[dgsmith]

Thanks for the responses. If there is any mis-understanding as to what is legally expected or how this is handled, then it's best we sort this sooner than later, especially if it involves changes to existing processes.

 

We can't be the only school with a grab-bag setup though, so surely if this is the case, others school must either be putting appropriate labels on items/bags already or be planning to do so?

[Fez]

@dgsmith

 

FasTrak has the ability to link allergies to products and students which is used on the till in most sites preventing, warning or removing the items from selection.

 

This is also part of the Grab-bag feature and depending on the warning level set will do one of the following

1 - Show a simple warning

2 - Show the user a Yes/No confirmation

3 - Show the product but not allow it

 

This should stop or put the choice in the users hands but I guess displaying the information on the grab-bag when its collected should be down to the site/caterers to handle.

[junz]

Whilst on the subject of Grab tills, are any of you using Grab till mode with a card reader? I am having an issue where the card reader we are using scans fine when in normal till mode but doesn't scan/identify cards when using the grab till mode. Have any of you using cards fpr authentication run into this issue and if so what was the fix?

 

Any help would be much appreciated.