A customer points at your pasta dish and asks: "Does this contain nuts?" You are fairly sure it does not — but the pesto has pine nuts, and you are not certain whether the kitchen uses the same prep surface for the walnut salad. You tell them you will check with the chef, and the table waits.
This scene plays out in restaurants every day, and it is more than an inconvenience. For customers with serious allergies, unclear allergen information is a safety risk. For your restaurant, it is a legal liability and a source of friction that slows down service.
The fix is straightforward: get your allergen information onto your menu clearly, so customers can make safe choices without flagging down a server. Here is how to do it.
The 14 major allergens you need to know
Most food safety regulations around the world are built around the same core list of allergens. The EU and UK require restaurants to declare these 14 allergens in any dish that contains them:
- Celery — including stalks, leaves, seeds, and celeriac
- Cereals containing gluten — wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt
- Crustaceans — prawns, crab, lobster, crayfish
- Eggs
- Fish
- Lupin — a legume found in some flour blends and baked goods
- Milk — including lactose and casein
- Molluscs — mussels, oysters, squid, snails
- Mustard — including mustard seeds, powder, and leaves
- Nuts — almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios, macadamia nuts, and Brazil nuts
- Peanuts — separate from tree nuts, legally a legume
- Sesame — seeds, oil, and paste (tahini)
- Soya — soybeans, soy sauce, tofu, edamame
- Sulphur dioxide and sulphites — at concentrations above 10 mg/kg, often in wine, dried fruit, and some sauces
In the US, the FDA mandates disclosure of nine allergens (the "Big 9"): milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. Australia and New Zealand follow a similar list. Regardless of where you operate, covering all 14 keeps you safe across most jurisdictions.
Step 1: Audit your recipes
Before you can label anything, you need to know exactly what goes into each dish. This means checking every ingredient — including sauces, marinades, oils, and garnishes.
Go through your menu item by item and list every ingredient. Pay attention to the ones that are easy to miss:
- Soy sauce in marinades and stir-fry sauces (contains soya and often wheat)
- Butter in sauces and baked goods (milk)
- Worcestershire sauce (often contains fish)
- Breadcrumbs used for coating (gluten, sometimes eggs and milk)
- Dressings bought from suppliers — check the label for hidden allergens
Cross-reference each ingredient list against the 14 allergens above. Create a simple spreadsheet: dishes in rows, allergens in columns, and mark which ones apply to each dish.
Tip: Do this exercise with your head chef, not alone. They know which ingredients are actually used day-to-day, including substitutions that might not be in the written recipe.
Step 2: Choose a labeling format
There are several ways to display allergen information on your menu. The right choice depends on how many items you serve and whether you use a printed or digital menu.
Allergen icons next to each dish. Small symbols (a wheat icon for gluten, a fish icon for fish) placed next to each menu item. This is the most common approach in European restaurants. It is compact and easy to scan, but customers need to learn what each icon means — so include a legend at the bottom of the menu.
Text labels under each dish. A line beneath the dish description listing the allergens in plain text: "Contains: milk, gluten, eggs." This is the clearest format for customers. It takes up more space on a printed menu, but there is no ambiguity.
A separate allergen matrix. A table on the back of the menu or on a separate card, with dishes on one axis and allergens on the other. This keeps your main menu clean but means customers have to flip back and forth. It works best for large menus with many items.
"Please ask staff." Some restaurants skip on-menu labeling entirely and train staff to answer allergen questions. This is the weakest approach — it slows service, puts pressure on servers to remember details accurately, and does not meet legal requirements in most jurisdictions. Use it as a backup, not your only method.
Step 3: Add allergen info to your menu
Once you know which allergens are in each dish and have chosen a format, it is time to put it on the menu.
For printed menus, the challenge is space. Icons are the most space-efficient option. Use a consistent set of icons and include a clear legend. If you are working with a designer, provide them with your allergen spreadsheet and let them handle the layout.
Keep in mind that every time a recipe changes, the allergen information needs to change too. This is one of the biggest hidden costs of allergen labeling on printed menus — a single ingredient swap can trigger a reprint. If your menu changes frequently, this adds up. Our post on menu printing costs breaks down what those reprints actually cost.
For digital menus, allergen labeling is significantly easier. You can update allergen tags instantly when a recipe changes. Customers can filter the menu by allergen — showing only gluten-free dishes, for example — without asking a server. With a tool like Bitesized, you can tag all 14 allergens on each item and customers see them automatically when they view your menu.
Step 4: Train your staff
Even with perfect labeling on the menu, customers will still ask questions. "Does this really not have dairy?" "Can you make this without the nuts?" Your staff need to handle these confidently.
Cover these basics in training:
- Where to find allergen info. Every server should know where the allergen information is — whether it is on the menu, in a folder in the kitchen, or in your digital menu system.
- What to say when unsure. The answer is never "I think so" or "It should be fine." The correct response is: "Let me check with the kitchen and confirm."
- Cross-contamination. A dish might not contain nuts as an ingredient, but if it is prepared on the same surface as a nut dish, that matters. Staff should know which dishes carry cross-contamination risks.
- Taking allergy requests seriously. Every allergy question should be treated as serious, even if the customer seems casual about it. "I'm a bit funny with dairy" might mean mild discomfort or it might mean anaphylaxis.
Legal requirements: what you need to know
This is not legal advice, but here is the practical landscape.
In the UK and EU, Natasha's Law (2021) and the EU Food Information for Consumers Regulation require all food businesses to provide written allergen information for the 14 listed allergens. This applies to restaurants, cafes, takeaways, and any business that sells food directly to consumers. Verbal communication alone is not sufficient — the information must be available in writing, whether on the menu, on a sign, or in a document the customer can access.
In the US, the FDA's Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act primarily covers packaged foods, but many states have additional requirements for restaurants. California, Massachusetts, and several other states require restaurants to display allergen awareness notices or provide allergen information upon request.
In Australia and New Zealand, the Food Standards Code requires businesses to declare allergens in food sold to consumers. This includes restaurants.
The safest approach everywhere is the same: list your allergens clearly on the menu and train your staff to answer questions. You stay legal, your customers stay safe, and your servers spend less time running to the kitchen to check ingredients.
Make allergen labeling effortless
Allergen information protects your customers and protects your business. The hardest part is the initial audit — once you know what is in each dish, keeping it up to date is easy, especially if you are using a digital menu that you can edit in seconds.
Create your free menu with Bitesized and tag allergens on every item. Your customers can filter by dietary need, and you can update ingredients whenever a recipe changes — no reprints, no outdated information on the table.