To add allergen information to a digital menu, start with your recipes and supplier records, not the menu. Record the allergens in every ingredient and prepared component, document cross-contact risks separately, then tag each dish with its allergens and, in a separate field, its dietary labels. Show both before guests order, ask them to tell staff about allergies, and update the tags whenever a recipe, supplier, or preparation method changes.
Rules on allergen information differ by country, and some states and cities add their own. The examples below are a starting point, not a complete legal checklist. For the rest of the setup, see the complete guide to digital and QR code menus.
What is the difference between allergen information and dietary labels?
Allergen information tells a guest what a dish contains. A dietary label tells them who the dish suits. Keep them in separate fields.
| Type | What it tells the guest | Examples | Why accuracy matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allergens | What the dish contains | Milk, eggs, peanuts, sesame | A reaction, sometimes severe |
| Dietary restrictions | Whether a strict need is met | Gluten-free, dairy-free, halal, kosher | Harm, a broken religious rule, lost trust |
| Dietary preferences | Whether it fits an eating style | Vegetarian, vegan, keto | A disappointed guest |
| Highlights | Something worth noticing | Spicy, popular, new, chef’s special | Mild confusion |
A dietary label never replaces allergen information. “Vegan” does not mean “contains no allergens”: a vegan satay can still contain peanuts, soy, and wheat. A “dairy-free” label does not on its own make a dish safe for someone with a milk allergy, and “gluten-free” describes how a dish is prepared as well as what is in it. In the US, the FDA says restaurants that make gluten-free claims on their menus should be consistent with its definition, which also counts gluten from cross-contact.
Before you use a free-from claim, check the ingredients and the whole preparation path: shared fryers and oil, utensils, boards, and surfaces. Make the claim only if you can back it up under your local rules. If you cannot, leave the label off, state the known ingredients and cross-contact risk plainly, and ask guests to confirm with staff.
Which allergens should a restaurant menu list?
List at least the allergens your local regulator names, for every dish. Treat that list as a minimum: keep the full ingredients in your own records, because a guest can be allergic to something the regulation does not name.
- United States: federal law names nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame, which became the ninth on 1 January 2023. For unpackaged food, the 2022 FDA Food Code adds a written-notification provision for these allergens. The Food Code is a model, so that provision applies only where your state or local health department has adopted that edition.
- United Kingdom: information on 14 regulated allergens must be available for non-prepacked food. The FSA’s technical guidance allows it in writing or orally, with clear signposting; its best practice guidance recommends written information backed by a conversation with staff. Both cover England, Wales, and Northern Ireland; Scotland has its own guidance from Food Standards Scotland.
- Elsewhere: check your national food authority and local health department. Lists are similar, but the rules on written and verbal information vary.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. When the rules where you trade are unclear, ask your local food safety officer before you publish.
How to add allergen information to a digital menu, step by step
Build the information once in a spreadsheet, then copy it onto the menu. Typing allergens in from memory is how they get missed.
- Build an allergen matrix. Make one row per dish and one column per allergen. Work through every component: the sauce, the marinade, the bread, the garnish, the frying oil. Bought-in products need their current labels or supplier specification sheets. Soy sauce usually contains wheat, Worcestershire sauce often contains fish, and pesto usually contains milk from the cheese and often nuts—all easy to miss when the dish name mentions none of them. Note the recipe or supplier reference and the date you last checked each row.
- Record cross-contact separately. A shared fryer or prep board can carry an allergen into a dish whose recipe does not contain it. Note those risks in their own column and reduce them where you can, because a warning does not replace careful handling. Use “may contain” only where a real risk remains. A warning on every dish tells guests nothing.
- Tag each dish. Add the allergens from the matrix to each item’s allergen field, then add any dietary labels in their own field. Allergens written inside a description are hard to scan, and descriptions get rewritten. The step-by-step guide to creating a QR menu shows where tagging fits in the wider build.
- Add an allergy note and brief your staff. Put a short line such as “Tell our team about any allergies before you order” near the top of the menu and on your table QR cards, so guests see it before they wait for a busy server. The menu supports that conversation; it does not replace it. Train staff to ask about allergies when they take an order, and keep a printed copy of the matrix at the counter for guests without a phone and for inspections.
- Get a second check. Have someone who did not build the matrix compare each dish on the live menu against it before you share the link, and record who checked it and when.
Menu tools usually offer a fixed allergen list, grouped differently by market. The UK, for example, names “cereals containing gluten,” which covers barley, rye, and oats as well as wheat. Do not let the available tags decide what you disclose. If a tool cannot show an allergen your rules require, open the item description with a clearly labelled line, such as “Contains: barley (gluten),” and keep the complete matrix where staff can reach it.
Where should allergen information appear on a mobile menu?
Put allergen information on the dish itself wherever practical, so a guest can read it before ordering. If the full details live in a separate document, link to it clearly from the menu.
On a phone, that usually means two layers: short labels on the item card for scanning, then the full allergen and dietary list when a guest taps the dish. Keep dishes in their normal categories rather than grouping some under a generic “Allergy-Friendly” tab, a heading that suggests more safety than any kitchen can promise. A dish without peanuts can still contain milk or sesame. The guide to structuring digital menu categories explains why separate dietary tabs work against the guest.
A few presentation rules help:
- Icons need words. Different menus use different symbols, so pair any icon with its name.
- Check every language you show. If allergen names appear in more than one language, have a fluent speaker check each one. Unchecked automatic translation is not a safety control.
- Show it before checkout. For online orders, make allergen information available before checkout and with the delivered food. In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, the FSA technical guidance requires both for non-prepacked food sold at a distance.
In Nommy, each menu item has separate fields for allergens, dietary restrictions, and dietary preferences, plus custom labels such as Spicy or Popular for the item card. Guests tap a dish on your digital menu to see its allergen and dietary details before they order.
How to keep allergen information accurate when recipes change
Treat every ingredient substitution as an allergen review. Compare the replacement product’s label or specification sheet with the matrix when it arrives, update the menu before serving the changed dish, and take the dish off the menu if you cannot confirm what it contains. Small, unplanned changes cause more allergen errors than the original menu.
Watch for these triggers:
- Supplier substitutions. A distributor swaps your usual brand of breadcrumbs or curry paste, and the new one contains milk or sesame.
- Recipe tweaks. A chef finishes a dish with a different oil or garnish.
- Specials and seasonal dishes. They go on the menu fast, often without a matrix row.
- Preparation changes. A dish moves to the fryer that also cooks battered fish.
The problem: A cafe makes its wraps with a sesame-free chickpea spread. One week the supplier sends a different brand made with tahini, which contains sesame. The printed allergen folder still says the wrap is sesame-free, and the menus will not be reprinted until spring.
The real-world fix: Whoever signs for the delivery checks the substitute’s label against the matrix, and the matrix and allergen tags are updated before the next service. If nobody can confirm what the new product contains, the dish is marked unavailable with the same toggle as the sold-out workflow.
Printed menus and PDFs are harder to keep in step, because every copy needs its own edit or reprint and old copies keep circulating. A live menu changes in one place, but delivery apps and your Google listing hold their own copies, so check them too.
Show allergen information and dietary labels on every dish, and update them whenever ingredients or preparation change. Create a free digital menu with Nommy and give guests the details they need before they order. See how the digital menu works.
Accurate allergen information starts in the kitchen: a digital menu is only as reliable as the recipes, supplier records, and preparation steps behind it.