Menu allergens: what to put on the page itself

Every venue has to decide how much allergen information to print on the menu. Put none on the page and guests with allergies have to ask about every dish, which is slow for them and the team. Put everything on the page and the menu becomes a grid of symbols that nobody can read, which goes out of date the first time a recipe changes.

The answer is not a single format but a division of labour. Some allergen information belongs on the page itself. Some belongs in a separate, detailed guide the team can hand over. And some can only be given in a conversation, because it depends on the guest. This guide covers what belongs where, the wording that protects both guests and the venue, and how to keep menu allergens accurate as the menu changes. Every figure in it is an example, and it is general guidance rather than legal advice.

The rules on allergen information differ by country, so check what applies where you trade. In the UK, food businesses must be able to tell guests if a dish contains any of fourteen allergens, and the information must be accurate and available before the guest orders. For food served in a restaurant, it does not all have to be printed on the menu: it can be given by staff, as long as guests are told clearly, in writing, how to get it.

That flexibility is what makes the division of labour possible. The menu does not have to carry every detail, but it must point guests to where the detail is, and the detail must be right. The UK government's allergen guidance for food businesses sets out the requirements and is worth reading in full.

Whatever the rules where you are, the practical aim is the same: a guest with an allergy should be able to find out, quickly and reliably, whether a dish is safe for them.

The UK and the EU name fourteen allergens that must be declared when they are present in a dish:

Guests can be allergic to other foods too, from kiwi to sunflower seeds, and a good process can answer questions about them as well. But the fourteen are the ones every dish must be checked for, and the core of any allergen matrix.

Allergen information can be given in three places, and most venues use all three.

The first is the menu itself: whatever is printed beside each dish or at the foot of the page. It is the first thing guests see and the place for short, general information.

The second is a separate allergen guide: a document, folder or screen that lists every dish and the allergens it contains. It is the detailed record, built from the allergen matrix, and it can be handed to any guest who asks.

The third is the conversation: what the server asks and tells the guest at the table, and what the kitchen confirms. It is the only place where the guest's own situation, how severe their allergy is and what they need, can be taken into account.

Each place does a job the others cannot. The mistake is asking one of them to do everything.

The page itself should carry the information every guest needs and that rarely changes.

The signpost is the one element no menu should be without. It tells every guest, including those who would never think to ask, that allergen information exists and that the team wants to hear about allergies. Good menu design keeps all of these short, consistent and easy to find on the page. Our guide to dietary labels guests can trust on a menu covers the labels in detail.

Some venues print allergen marks beside every dish: small letters or icons for each allergen present. On a short menu, this can work well. A guest with a milk allergy can scan the page and see at once which dishes to avoid.

It works best when the menu is short, the marks are explained in a clear key, and the menu is reprinted whenever a recipe changes. A café with a dozen dishes and a stable menu is a good candidate.

On a longer menu, marks for fourteen allergens quickly become crowded. A dish with five allergens carries five symbols, and a page of thirty dishes becomes a grid that is hard to read and easy to misread. In that case, it is usually better to keep the page simple and put the detail in the allergen guide.

Allergen marks can cause harm in three ways.

They go out of date. A recipe changes, a supplier sends a different product, and the printed marks are now wrong. Printed menus are reprinted far less often than recipes change, so marks drift from the truth.

They give false confidence. A guest who sees no milk mark beside a dish may assume it is safe, without telling the server about a severe allergy. But the absence of a mark says nothing about cross-contact, and the guest has skipped the conversation that would have covered it.

They crowd the page. A menu so full of symbols that guests cannot read the dishes fails everyone, including those the marks were meant to help.

None of these mean marks are wrong. They mean marks need a menu short enough to keep them readable, a routine that keeps them current, and a signpost that keeps the conversation going.

The allergen guide is where the detail belongs. It lists every dish, including specials, sides and sauces, with every allergen it contains. It is built from the allergen matrix, kept up to date with every recipe and supplier change, and available at the host stand or with any server.

Make it easy to use. Group dishes as they appear on the menu, list the fourteen allergens as columns or as a clear list under each dish, and date it, so anyone can see it is current. Keep a copy where every member of the team can reach it during service.

Our guide to building an allergen matrix that stays correct covers how to build and maintain the record behind it. The guide itself is simply the matrix presented so a guest can read it.

Some information can only come from a conversation, because it depends on the guest.

How severe is the allergy? A guest who reacts to traces needs to know about cross-contact in a way a guest with a mild intolerance may not. Does the guest have more than one allergy, or an allergy outside the fourteen? Can a dish be changed to suit them, and can the kitchen do that safely tonight?

The server should ask every table about allergies, record any that are mentioned, and tell the kitchen in a way that cannot be missed. Our guide to allergen rules and the conversation at the table covers how that conversation should go, and our guide to allergy notes, the record that must not fail covers how to record what is said.

The words on the page matter, because they set expectations. Good wording is honest about what the venue can and cannot promise, and invites the guest into the conversation.

That wording does three things. It asks guests to speak up, it tells them where the detail is, and it is honest about cross-contact. It protects guests, who know what they are relying on, and it protects the venue, which has said clearly what it can promise.

Avoid wording that promises too much, such as "all our dishes are safe for allergy sufferers", or that shifts all responsibility to the guest, such as "we accept no responsibility for allergic reactions". The first is a promise few kitchens can keep; the second helps nobody and invites distrust.

Many venues add a general "may contain" statement to cover cross-contact. Used honestly, it is useful: it tells guests that the kitchen handles allergens and that traces are possible.

Used carelessly, it becomes meaningless. A menu that says every dish "may contain" every allergen gives guests no way to choose, and some will stop paying attention to it. A precautionary statement should reflect a real risk the kitchen has assessed, not a blanket disclaimer.

The better approach is specific honesty where it matters. If the fryer is shared with battered fish, say that the chips are not suitable for guests avoiding gluten or fish. If nuts are used throughout the pastry section, say that the desserts may contain traces of nuts. Specific statements help guests decide; blanket ones do not.

Digital menus change the balance. A menu on a guest's phone can show each dish's allergens without crowding the page, because the detail can sit inside the dish rather than beside it. Guests can often filter out dishes containing an allergen they avoid.

That makes digital menus well suited to allergen information, as long as the data is accurate and kept up to date. Because guests may rely on a filter without reading further, a clear reminder to tell their server about allergies matters even more on a screen than on paper.

If guests order from their phones, the menu should ask them to confirm they have checked the allergen information, and should give them a way to tell the kitchen about an allergy. The conversation has to happen somewhere, even when no server is at the table.

Specials are where allergen information most often fails. A dish written on a board in the afternoon may never make it into the allergen guide, and the server asked about it at eight o'clock has to guess.

Make specials part of the routine. Before a special goes on the board, its allergens are recorded and added to the guide, and the team is briefed. If that cannot be done, the special waits.

The same applies to any dish that changes during service: a substitute ingredient, a different garnish because one ran out, a sauce made with a different product. Each change is checked for allergens before the dish goes out, and the team is told.

The page and the guide must never contradict each other. If the menu shows a dish as vegan and the guide lists milk, guests cannot trust either.

Keep both built from the same source: the allergen matrix, kept with the recipes. When a recipe or supplier changes, update the matrix first, then the guide, then the page if it carries marks. Date each version, so anyone can tell which is current.

Check regularly. Once a month, compare the printed menu, the guide, any digital menu and the matrix, dish by dish. Differences are found far more easily in a quiet afternoon than at the table on a busy night.

Guest safety depends on what happens at the moment of ordering. Every table should be asked about allergies, whatever the menu says, because some guests will not volunteer the information unless asked.

When an allergy is mentioned, record it on the order in a way the kitchen cannot miss, check the guest's chosen dishes against the allergen guide, and ask the kitchen to confirm anything uncertain. When the dish is ready, the person taking it to the table should know it is an allergy order and confirm it with the guest.

These steps take a minute and they are where allergen information becomes a safe plate. The page and the guide are only the start.

Not everyone on the team needs to be an allergen expert, but everyone needs to know what to do. Every server should know where the allergen guide is, how to read it and when to ask the kitchen. Every member of the kitchen should know how allergen orders are flagged and how to prepare them safely.

Name someone on every shift who can answer difficult questions, usually a manager or the head chef. When a server is unsure, the answer is never to guess; it is to check with that person.

Train new staff on allergens before they take orders alone, and refresh everyone when the menu changes. Short, regular reminders work better than a single long session.

Despite every precaution, a guest may have a reaction. Every venue should have a simple plan: how to recognise a serious reaction, when to call emergency services, where any first aid equipment is kept, and who takes charge.

Afterwards, record what happened, which dish was served, what the records said and where the process failed. Review it with the team and change what needs to change: a recipe record, a ticket layout, a training gap.

Treat near misses the same way. A wrong dish caught at the pass is a warning that the process has a weak point, and it is far better to fix it then than after a guest is harmed.

An invented brasserie prints a symbol for every one of the fourteen allergens beside each dish on its thirty-dish menu. The page is crowded, guests struggle to read it, and when the kitchen changes a sauce supplier, six dishes' symbols are wrong for a month before anyone notices.

The brasserie changes its approach. The printed menu keeps dietary labels for vegetarian and vegan dishes, a clear signpost asking guests to tell their server about allergies, and a short kitchen statement. The full allergen detail moves into a dated allergen guide, built from the matrix and kept at the host stand and on every server's station, with specials added before they go on the board.

The menu becomes easier to read, servers ask every table about allergies, and the guide is updated within a day of any recipe change. Guests with allergies say they feel better looked after, because the conversation now happens every time.

In servearound, each dish carries its allergen tags, from the fourteen statutory allergens and a wider catalogue, by family or by specific source, along with dietary tags such as vegan or gluten free. On the menu guests open from a table's QR code or the venue's menu page, each dish shows its allergens and dietary tags in their own sections, guests can filter to avoid an allergen or show only dishes that suit them, with a note reminding them to tell their server, and before a QR order is sent they confirm they have reviewed the allergen and dietary information.

Marking a dish sold out on the till shows it as sold out on every guest menu at once. Guest allergies recorded on a booking or a guest profile reach the kitchen at the head of the ticket, with any matching allergen in a dish shown in red. See the menus module and the guests module.

Not necessarily. In the UK, for food served in a restaurant, the information can be given by staff, as long as guests are told clearly in writing how to get it. Check the rules where you trade.

In the UK and the EU, fourteen: celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, soya and sulphites.

On a short, stable menu it can work. On a long menu, symbols for fourteen allergens crowd the page, and a separate allergen guide usually works better.

A clear sentence asking guests to tell their server about allergies and telling them where the full allergen information is.

A dated document listing every dish, including specials, sides and sauces, with the allergens each contains, built from the allergen matrix and available to any guest.

Only where it reflects a real risk the kitchen has assessed. Specific statements, such as a shared fryer, help guests more than a blanket disclaimer.

Record a special's allergens and add it to the guide before it goes on the board, and brief the team.

It can show more detail without crowding, and let guests filter, but the data must be accurate and guests should still be reminded to speak to their server.

Record it on the order where the kitchen cannot miss it, check the dishes against the guide, confirm anything uncertain with the kitchen, and confirm it again at the table.

Menu allergens work best as a division of labour. The page itself carries a clear signpost asking guests about allergies, dietary labels the kitchen can guarantee, an honest kitchen statement and, on a short menu, allergen marks. A dated allergen guide built from the allergen matrix carries the full detail for every dish, special and sauce. The conversation at the table covers what only the guest can tell you.

Use wording that is honest about cross-contact without hiding behind disclaimers, keep the page, the guide and any digital menu in step, and make specials and substitutions part of the routine. Ask every table about allergies, flag allergy orders so the kitchen cannot miss them, train everyone to check rather than guess, and treat every near miss as a lesson.