A customer orders a pasta dish. They don't know the sauce contains mustard. They have a severe allergy. The situation deteriorates.
Incidents like this aren't just human tragedies — they carry precise legal consequences, even when the restaurant "didn't know". Allergen regulations exist to ensure this information is never missing, and they apply to every food business: restaurants, pubs, cafés, hotels, catering services.
This guide covers what you need to know: the regulation, the concrete obligations, the real sanctions, and how to manage everything without risk every time an ingredient changes.
EU Regulation 1169/2011: what it means for restaurants
The main regulatory reference is EU Regulation No. 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, which has been applicable since December 2014. In the UK, equivalent requirements are set out in the Food Information Regulations 2014 (FIR 2014), which implemented the EU regulation before Brexit and remain in force under retained law.
The regulation applies to any business that serves food — not just packaged products in supermarkets. Restaurants, bars, canteens, hotels, catering operations: all are required to inform customers about the allergens present in every dish served.
The obligation covers the 14 major allergens identified by the regulation. If any of these is present in a dish — or if there is a risk of cross-contamination — customers must be able to find out before ordering.
The 14 mandatory allergens: full list
These are the allergens that the law requires to be clearly indicated for every preparation:
Cereals containing gluten — wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, kamut and their derivatives
Crustaceans — prawns, crabs, lobsters, scampi and derived products
Eggs — and any egg-based products
Fish — and fish-based products
Peanuts — and peanut-based products
Soybeans — and soy-based products
Milk — and dairy products, including lactose
Tree nuts — almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts
Celery — and celery-based products
Mustard — and mustard-based products
Sesame seeds — and sesame-based products
Sulphur dioxide and sulphites — at concentrations above 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/L
Lupin — and lupin-based products
Molluscs — mussels, clams, oysters, squid and derived products
If an allergen is not present in any of your dishes, you are not required to indicate it. The obligation covers only the allergens actually used in your preparations.
How they must be indicated
The regulation does not prescribe a single format, but it sets clear rules.
For venues with a written menu, allergens must be indicated next to each dish — or in a dedicated section — and must be highlighted so they stand out from the surrounding text. The most common method is bold, but italic, underlining or a different colour all work. The key is that customers can identify them without having to search.
Verbal communication is permitted, but only alongside a written document that customers can consult on request. Telling someone verbally that a dish contains gluten is not sufficient on its own — there must always be a written reference available.
Generic notices like "may contain traces of allergens" are not enough. The regulation requires dish-specific information, not a blanket statement covering everything on the menu.
Fines and enforcement
Enforcement falls to local authorities and national food safety agencies — in the UK, this means local authority Environmental Health Officers and the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
Violations of allergen information requirements can result in:
Improvement notices for less serious or first-time infractions
Unlimited fines on conviction in serious cases
Prosecution where allergen failures lead to harm — including potential prison sentences
These are not theoretical risks. Allergen enforcement has increased significantly since Natasha's Law came into force in the UK in 2021, which extended labelling requirements. Controls are carried out routinely and following complaints or incidents.
The specific problem with paper menus
This is where a concrete, often overlooked risk comes in.
Imagine the scenario: you're using a vegetable oil for frying. One day you change supplier, and the new product contains sesame. Your fried dishes are now different — but the printed menu still says the same thing it did before.
Every day where the printed menu doesn't reflect the actual ingredients is a day of legal exposure.
With a paper menu, any recipe change stays "invisible" until the next reprint. And reprints don't happen every week. In the meantime, customers are reading information that may no longer be accurate.
This isn't negligence — it's simply the structural limit of a static tool.
How a digital menu solves the problem at the root
With a digital menu, updating allergens takes seconds and the effect is immediate: from the moment you save the change, every customer sees the correct version.
You've changed the risotto recipe? Update the allergens from your phone. The menu is already correct before the next customer sits down.
Platoo lets you attach allergens to every single dish with clear, recognisable icons. Customers see them straight away, without having to ask the server or scroll through footnotes.
The result works on two levels: the venue is always compliant, and customers with allergies or intolerances feel looked after — which, in the era of online reviews, is not a minor detail.
For a full explanation of how digital menus work: Digital menu for restaurants: the complete guide
Frequently asked questions about allergens
If a customer doesn't read the allergen information, am I still compliant?
Generally yes — if the information is present, accurate and clearly visible, the legal obligation is met. Responsibility also lies with the consumer to read the information provided. The problem arises when information is absent, incorrect or not easily accessible: in that case, liability falls on the venue.
Do I need to list all 14 allergens even if I only use some of them?
No. You only need to indicate the allergens actually present in your preparations. If you never use peanuts in your kitchen, you don't need to mention them. The obligation is limited to what is genuinely in the dishes.
Is a sign at the entrance with a general allergen list enough?
No. The regulation requires allergen information to refer to each individual dish, not to the venue in general. An undifferentiated list of allergens covering all dishes does not meet the requirements.
Do I need to declare cross-contamination risks?
Cross-contamination does not fall under the same mandatory obligation as allergens used as ingredients. However, communicating it is good practice and reduces the risk of disputes with customers. Many venues do so voluntarily with language like "prepared in an environment that contains..."