Allergens on the menu: obligations and good practice

A food allergy can turn a meal into a medical emergency. For a restaurant owner, giving correct information about allergens on the menu is therefore both an obligation and a mark of professionalism. Here is what the regulations say, how to show allergens clearly and how to organise the team so you never get it wrong.

This article presents the main principles of European and French regulations. Rules vary by country: check those that apply to your venue with the local authorities.

The 14 regulated allergens

In the European Union, the FIC regulation (No 1169/2011) lists 14 major allergens whose presence must be flagged to consumers:

1. cereals containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt…);
2. crustaceans;
3. eggs;
4. fish;
5. peanuts;
6. soybeans;
7. milk (including lactose);
8. tree nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pistachios…);
9. celery;
10. mustard;
11. sesame seeds;
12. sulphur dioxide and sulphites (above a certain threshold);
13. lupin;
14. molluscs.

What are a restaurant’s obligations?

For non-prepacked dishes served in restaurants, information on these allergens must be available to guests. In France, it must be provided in writing and accessible to guests before they order, without them having to ask. A verbal mention alone is not enough.

In practice, several formats are possible: a mention on the menu, a binder or sheet guests can consult, a display, or a digital menu. What matters is that the information is complete, accurate and up to date.

How to show allergens on the menu

On a paper menu

Numbers or icons next to each dish, pointing to a legend at the bottom of the page. Readable, but quickly cluttered, and every recipe change means a reprint.

On a digital menu

Each dish carries its allergens, shown as clear icons. Guests can also filter the menu by diet (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, halal). When you change a recipe, the information updates everywhere, in every language. It is one of the great advantages of a digital menu.

Still keep a version that can be consulted without a smartphone, for example a printed menu exported from your digital menu, for guests who want it.

Organising the team so you never get it wrong

The best menu in the world protects no one if the kitchen changes a recipe without telling anyone. Four good practices:

• A recipe sheet per dish, with every ingredient, including those in sauces, stocks and garnishes.
• A simple rule: any recipe change triggers an immediate update of the allergens on the menu.
• Training for the floor team: servers know where to find the information and never answer “I don’t think so”.
• A kitchen procedure for orders flagged as allergic: clean utensils, a cleaned work surface, a dish identified all the way to the table.

Beware of cross-contamination: a shared fryer, a badly cleaned board or a sauce made in advance can contain allergens that aren’t in the official recipe.

Allergens and foreign guests

An allergic tourist can’t always explain their allergy in your language. Universal icons and a menu translated into their language let them choose safely. See our guide to translating your menu without mistakes.

What to do when a guest reports an allergy?

1. Listen and write down the allergy precisely, without downplaying it.
2. Check the recipe sheet of the dish requested, sauces and garnishes included, rather than answering from memory.
3. Tell the kitchen explicitly, and flag the order as “allergy” on the ticket or kitchen screen.
4. If in doubt, say so: better to advise against a dish than to take a risk.

Gluten, lactose, vegetarian: beyond the 14 allergens

More and more guests follow a particular diet without being allergic: gluten-free by choice, lactose-free, vegetarian, vegan, halal. Flagging this is not a legal obligation, but it is a strong expectation. Clear badges (“vegetarian”, “vegan”, “gluten-free”, “halal”) on the menu avoid repeated questions to the server and reassure these guests, who often choose their restaurant based on this information.

Mind the nuance, though: “gluten-free” on the menu means the dish contains none in its recipe; if the kitchen can’t guarantee the absence of cross-contamination, say so for people with coeliac disease.

Allergens handled for you

With Qarteo, you set each dish’s allergens from the 14 regulated allergens; they appear as icons on your QR menu, in every language, and your guests can filter the menu by diet. With the recipe sheets of the management module, you also track the ingredients of each recipe precisely. Create your menu for free and make allergen information simple and reliable.