At the beginning of 2023, Budapest Business University launched a research project with three partner universities to tackle the growing problem of food allergy and intolerance. The collaboration assessed the EU legal framework and regulatory differences between countries, as well as good practice in allergen management in the HoReCa sector.
The "heart" of the project is a short cycle training course, designed primarily for our students and external partners. The course will help HoReCa sector representatives to better manage the allergen management processes of commercial and catering businesses, thus maintaining their competitiveness.
On 2nd and 3rd May, our experts participated in a workshop and an international partner meeting organised by their project partner, Istanbul Medeniyet University.
At the workshop, project experts – with representatives of the HoReCa sector – discussed the problems faced by the sector in relation to food sensitivities, the experiences of service providers and the challenges of allergen management.
The results of the workshop showed that consumers are turning to service providers with increasing demands and awareness, and that these challenges are placing an increasing burden and attention on service providers, not to mention the associated costs. The design of effective allergen management processes will be supported by the development and subsequent delivery of a short cycle training course that is currently being implemented in the project.
At the partners' meeting the members of the project management presented the activities carried out so far in the course development process, discussed the results of the project so far, planned the next period and the current tasks of monitoring, quality control and dissemination.
We look forward to the opportunity to continue the project in the future with a similar partnership.