Guide
Last updated: 27 October 2026
If you serve food that isn't prepacked (restaurants, cafés, pubs, takeaways, hotels and market stalls), you have to tell guests which of the 14 allergens are in your dishes. This guide explains what the Food Standards Agency (FSA) expects on a menu, including QR code and digital menus, and why you should keep a paper copy as a backup.
The FSA's allergen guidance for food businesses says food businesses must:
For food that isn't prepacked, the legal minimum is that the information is given by any means. It can be given verbally by staff, as long as a sign or menu note tells guests to ask. Local authorities enforce these rules. If you don't follow their advice they can issue an improvement notice, and some businesses are prosecuted.
Food sold prepacked for direct sale (made on site and packed before a customer orders, such as grab-and-go sandwiches) has stricter labelling rules, often called Natasha's Law. This guide covers dishes served from a menu.
In February 2025 the FSA published best-practice guidance for non-prepacked food. It doesn't change the law, but it raises the standard guests expect. Allergen information should be:
The FSA suggests putting written allergen information on the main menu, which can be paper or digital, or in an allergen booklet or chart that guests can see. If it isn't on the main menu, the menu should say clearly where to find it.
These are the allergens UK food law says you must declare:
Remember sauces, dressings, garnishes, marinades, cooking oils, bread and drinks as well as the main ingredients.
If allergen information can only be given on request, the FSA suggests a message on the menu such as: "We have a menu with allergen information, please speak to staff who will be happy to provide it." The FSA also has free allergen signs and icons you can download.
The FSA recommends asking every guest whether anyone has a food allergy, intolerance or coeliac disease. If you can't ask everyone, show a message asking guests to tell staff. Put it somewhere they will see it: on a sign at eye level, or near the top of the menu. Many venues do both.
Decide who handles allergy orders. That might be any trained server, or always a supervisor or the head chef. Make sure every member of staff knows the process.
The FSA says you can choose whether allergen information is on paper or digital. If you choose digital, its best-practice guidance says you should also have another way of getting the information:
In practice that means keeping an up-to-date printed allergen chart or menu on site. See the FAQs below for how to manage it.
For a QR code or online menu, it also helps to:
On Isenta Menu, guests see the allergens you enter for each dish and can filter out ones they need to avoid. A fixed advisory on every menu asks guests with allergies to speak to staff before ordering. Allergens suggested automatically during menu import stay hidden from guests until you confirm them. The menu helps, but you are still responsible for checking that the information is right.
Think about allergens that aren't ingredients but could still get into a dish, for example through shared fryer oil, boards or utensils. The FSA gives one example: gluten-free chips can't be cooked in oil that has been used for battered fish.
Some people react to foods that aren't on the list of 14. You don't have to declare these, but the FSA recommends being able to answer when asked. Keep a record of the full ingredients you use, for example by keeping the labels from products you buy.
FSA best practice says yes. If you give allergen information digitally, you should have another way for guests to get it: for people who can't use the digital version, and as a backup if something goes wrong with it, such as no signal, a flat phone or the menu page not loading.
The same allergen information as your digital menu: every dish and drink you serve, with the 14 allergens each one contains. A printed allergen matrix or a printed copy of the menu with 'Contains' statements both work. Include the date it was last updated.
Somewhere staff can reach it straight away during service, such as at the till, the pass or the host stand. Every member of staff should know where it is and be able to hand it over without having to find a manager.
Reprint the paper copy every time you change a recipe, a supplier or the allergens on a dish, and throw the old one away. A simple routine helps: when you publish menu changes, print a new allergen chart before the next service.
The law requires you to give accurate information about the 14 allergens, and lets you do this by any means, including by speaking to staff as long as a sign tells guests to ask. The paper backup for digital menus is FSA best practice rather than a separate legal rule, but it is the simplest way to make sure the information is always available.
That still meets the legal minimum if staff can then give accurate information. Since February 2025, FSA best practice is to have allergen information in writing as well as a conversation with staff, so guests don't have to rely only on asking.
No. You can use words or symbols. If you use symbols, the allergen name should be written with them, or you should give a key that names each allergen.
Use it only when there is a real risk of cross-contamination that you can't control, and say which allergen, for example 'May contain sesame'. Don't use it as a blanket statement on every dish. If you can't avoid cross-contamination, tell guests you can't provide an allergen-free dish.
The FSA guidance covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, check Food Standards Scotland's allergen guidance. The 14 allergens are the same.
This guide summarises FSA guidance current on 27 October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice. For the full rules, read the FSA's allergen guidance for food businesses and best-practice guidance. In Scotland, see Food Standards Scotland. If you're unsure, speak to your local authority's food safety team.
Make your menu clearer for allergic guests: Start free, download the allergen matrix template, or read our QR code menu guide.