How to Display Allergens on a Restaurant Menu

A guest asks if the sauce has nuts. Your server walks to the kitchen, the cook is not sure, and the table waits. Most places have been there. Here is how to display allergens on a restaurant menu so the answer is already on the page, plus where to check the rules where you are.

This is general guidance, not legal advice. Allergen rules differ by country, and in some countries by state or city. Check with your local food safety authority before you print.

Which allergens to list depends on where you are

There is no single global list. Two examples:

• EU and EEA. 14 allergens must be declared, listed in Annex II of Regulation 1169/2011: cereals with gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, tree nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphites above 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre, lupin and molluscs (Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011). The UK uses the same 14.
• United States. The law names nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame (FDA, Food Allergies). Those federal rules are about packaged food. What a restaurant must show on the menu is set by state and local rules, so check yours.

“Ask your server” is often not enough

In the EU, allergen information for food that is not prepacked must be available in writing. The European Commission’s guidance says it is not possible to give it only when the guest asks (Commission notice on allergen information). The UK Food Standards Agency’s guidance for restaurants shows the same idea in practice: a “Contains” statement or an allergen chart, and for a buffet, information for each item separately (FSA, non-prepacked food). Even where the law allows a spoken answer, a written one is safer. Staff change, the kitchen is loud, and memory fails on a Saturday night.

Three ways to display allergens on a menu

1. A “Contains” line under each dish. The clearest for guests, and the format the EU rules use when there is no ingredient list:

Fish soup with aioli and sourdough
Contains: fish, crustaceans, milk, egg, wheat, celery

2. Numbers or icons with a key. Saves space on a busy menu. The key must be on the same menu, so a guest can match the number to the allergen without asking.

3. A separate allergen chart. A matrix with dishes down the side and allergens across the top. Works for long menus, as long as the dish names match the menu exactly and the chart is easy to find.

What gets forgotten

• Specials. Write the allergens on the board at the same time as the dish.
• Sides, sauces, bread and drinks. The bread on the table and the dressing on the side count too.
• Supplier changes. A new pesto can mean nuts where there were none. Update the menu when an ingredient changes, not when you next reprint.

“Allergen-free” is a promise

Saying a dish is free from an allergen is a claim you have to stand behind, on the menu and in replies to guests on social media. If your kitchen handles nuts, a guest with a nut allergy needs to know that. Never promise “nut-free” in a comment reply unless you know it.

A digital menu helps, but it is extra

A QR menu lets a guest read slowly, in their own language. Treat it as a second copy, not the only one. On our Pro plan, your menu gets its own web address and a QR card for the table, with allergens next to each dish, and the AI never tells a guest a dish is free from an allergen unless your menu says so. See the features.

Tourists ask about allergens more than anyone. Read how to attract tourists to your restaurant for the rest of what they look for before they walk in.