How Allergen Labelling Works (And Why Most Menus Get It Wrong)

Every year, millions of people with food allergies eat out and hope for the best. That shouldn't be the case.

The 14 Major Allergens

Regulations in the UK and EU require restaurants to declare 14 allergens whenever they appear in a dish. These are:

• Celery
• Cereals containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats)
• Crustaceans
• Eggs
• Fish
• Lupin
• Milk
• Molluscs
• Mustard
• Peanuts
• Sesame
• Soybeans
• Sulphur dioxide and sulphites
• Tree nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachio, macadamia)

Why Most Menus Fall Short

The legal requirement exists. The execution often doesn't. Printed menus go out of date. Staff forget. "Ask your server" is not a system.

What Good Labelling Looks Like

A good allergen system does three things:

1. Shows what a dish contains
2. Shows what can be removed on request
3. Is updated in real time — not once a year when menus are reprinted

That's exactly what we built. Scan, check, eat safely.