Allergens on a UK menu: what the law asks of a restaurant, pub or cafe
The rules are short. Keeping a menu accurate against them, every week, with a changing supply chain and a team that turns over, is the hard part. This is what the Food Standards Agency requires, which rule applies to which food, and how a kitchen keeps the information true.
About this guide to allergen compliance
The short answer: allergens on a UK menu
A UK food business must tell customers if any dish contains one of the 14 regulated allergens. For food served loose, such as a restaurant meal, that can be given in writing or by speaking to the customer, as long as a visible notice tells them how to ask. Food Standards Agency Natasha's Law, in force since 1 October 2021, adds a stricter rule for food packed on the premises before it is ordered: a full ingredients list with the allergens emphasised on the label. Food Standards Agency
The 14 allergens
Any food that contains one of these must be declared. The list is the same across the UK.
| Allergen | Often found in |
|---|---|
| Celery | Stocks, soups, salads, some spice mixes |
| Cereals containing gluten | Wheat, rye, barley and oats: bread, batter, pastry, some sauces |
| Crustaceans | Prawns, crab, lobster; some stocks and pastes |
| Eggs | Mayonnaise, sauces, pasta, cakes, glazes |
| Fish | Some Worcestershire sauces, dressings and stocks |
| Lupin | Some flours, breads and pastries |
| Milk | Butter, cream, cheese, sauces, many desserts |
| Molluscs | Mussels, squid, oysters; some sauces |
| Mustard | Dressings, marinades, sauces, spice blends |
| Peanuts | Sauces, desserts, some oils and spice mixes |
| Sesame | Bread, dressings, tahini, hummus |
| Soybeans | Soy sauce, tofu, many processed ingredients |
| Sulphur dioxide and sulphites | Wine, dried fruit, some preserved foods, above 10 mg per kg or litre |
| Tree nuts | Desserts, sauces, pestos, some breads |
The right-hand column is a prompt, not a checklist. The only reliable source is the label and specification sheet for the exact product you buy, because the same sauce differs between suppliers.
Which rule applies to which food
Three situations, three different obligations. Mixing them up is the commonest compliance error in a mixed kitchen.
| Type of food | Example | What is required |
|---|---|---|
| Loose food, made and served to order | A main course in a restaurant or pub | Allergen information available for all 14, in writing or spoken, with a visible signpost |
| Prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) | A sandwich or salad pot wrapped in the kitchen and put on a shelf | A label with the food's name and a full ingredients list, allergens emphasised |
| Prepacked by someone else | A bought in packet of crisps | The manufacturer's own label |
Loose food: how a restaurant or pub meets the rule
For food served loose, the law lets the business choose the format. The Food Standards Agency's advice is that written information, backed by a conversation, works best. If information is given only by speaking to the customer, a clearly visible notice has to say how to get it, for example by asking a member of staff. Food Standards Agency
Its current best practice, updated in 2025, is to provide information on all 14 allergens, with full ingredient information available on request where possible. For delivery and takeaway, it advises making written information available both before the food is ordered and when it arrives.
In practice most kitchens meet this with an allergen matrix: a grid of every dish against the 14 allergens, kept up to date and available to every guest and every member of staff who takes an order.
Natasha's Law: food prepacked for direct sale
Natasha's Law changed the rules for food that is packed at the place it is sold, before the customer orders or chooses it. From 1 October 2021 the label has to carry the name of the food, a full ingredients list and the 14 allergens emphasised within it, for example in bold, capitals, a contrasting colour or underlined. Compound ingredients, such as the bread in a sandwich, have to be broken down. Food Standards Agency
It is easy to assume this does not apply to a restaurant. It does if you pack anything in advance: a grab and go counter in a hotel, a pub's packed lunches, a cafe's wrapped sandwiches. Food made and served to order on the same visit is not PPDS, and follows the loose food rule above.
Why the menu is where compliance breaks
The rules are not complicated. Compliance fails because the information goes out of date. A supplier changes a stock, a chef adds a garnish, a special goes on the board and nobody updates the matrix. The sheet that was right in March is wrong in June, and nobody finds out until a guest does.
That is a specification problem, and it has the same fix as a costing problem.
- Every dish has a written specification that lists every ingredient, including sub recipes and the exact supplier product used. The allergen data is drawn from that, not from memory. This is the discipline behind a development sprint, where each dish is specified before it is launched.
- Every supplier product has its specification sheet on file, so the allergen information for a bought in sauce is a document, not an assumption.
- A substitution triggers a check. If a supplier cannot deliver and the kitchen swaps a product, the matrix is rechecked before service, not after.
- A menu change triggers a rebuild. A new dish or a changed recipe updates the matrix on the day it goes live. The same point applies to the wording on the menu, covered in the guide to writing menu descriptions.
- The team knows where the information is. A matrix nobody on the floor can find is not compliance. Brief new staff on it, and brief the whole team on every change.
Common allergen mistakes on menus
- Relying on the chef's memory. It is accurate until the day it is not.
- An out of date matrix. The most common failure, caused by changes that never reach the sheet.
- Treating a description as the allergen information. A short description is not a list of what is in the dish.
- Forgetting the bought in components. Sauces, stocks, dressings and garnishes carry allergens the recipe does not mention.
- Assuming a “free from” dish is safe. The kitchen has to be able to keep the promise, including on shared equipment and surfaces. If it cannot, say so.
- Missing the pre packed items. Wrapped food made on the premises falls under Natasha's Law, whatever the rest of the menu does.
- No signpost. Information given only by speaking to a customer still needs a visible notice telling them to ask.
Allergens and the rest of the menu
Allergen accuracy sits upstream of everything else on a menu. The same specification that gives you a plate cost gives you an allergen list, and the same supplier price sheet that updates your margin should update your allergen data. When a new site is being set up, it belongs in the preparation described in opening a restaurant from the kitchen side.
Writing the specs is the work that makes both possible. That is what a menu redesign and a menu audit rebuild, dish by dish. It is not legal advice or an allergen audit, and I do not offer one: your local authority's environmental health team is the right route for that.
Allergens on a UK menu: FAQs
What are the 14 allergens that must be declared in the UK?
Celery, cereals containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley and oats), crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites (above 10 mg per kg or litre), and tree nuts. The list is the same across the UK and applies to food served loose as well as packaged.
Do restaurants have to list allergens on the menu?
Restaurants must make allergen information available for every dish, but it does not have to be printed on the menu. It can be given in writing or by speaking to the customer, as long as a visible notice tells guests how to ask. The Food Standards Agency advises written information backed by a conversation.
What is Natasha's Law?
It is the UK rule, in force since 1 October 2021, that food prepacked for direct sale must carry a label with the food's name and a full ingredients list, with the 14 allergens emphasised. It covers food packed on the premises before the customer orders it, such as a wrapped sandwich or salad pot.
Does Natasha's Law apply to restaurants?
Only to food prepacked for direct sale, such as wrapped sandwiches on a grab and go shelf. A meal made and served to order falls under the loose food rule, which needs allergen information available but no ingredients label. Many restaurants, pubs and hotels have at least some PPDS items without realising.
Can I give allergen information verbally?
Yes, for food served loose, but a clearly visible notice must tell customers how to get the information, for example by speaking to a member of staff. The Food Standards Agency's best practice is written information supported by a conversation, because customers do not always recall being told verbally.
Do takeaway and delivery orders need allergen information?
Yes. The Food Standards Agency advises making written allergen information available both before the food is ordered and when it is delivered. Check the current guidance for your type of business, because the detail depends on how the order is taken and whether the food is prepacked for direct sale.
Keep reading. Allergen information has to be right in every section, and each kitchen type has its own pressure points: pubs, hotels, restaurants and contract catering. For the wording around it, see how to write menu descriptions.
How this page is sourced
The requirements are taken from the Food Standards Agency's guidance on allergen information for food businesses and on prepacked for direct sale food. The examples of where allergens are often found are prompts, not a source, and must be checked against the product specification.
This page is guidance from a chef, not legal advice, and rules change, so check the current position with your local authority's environmental health or trading standards team before relying on it. If you spot an error, tell me and it will be corrected with the review date updated.
Specifications that carry the allergen data with them.
Send your current menu and I will tell you where I would expect the dish specifications to be thin, which is where the allergen information goes out of date first. No charge for that.