Allergen information

Fourteen allergens are regulated in the UK: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphur dioxide and sulphites, lupin and molluscs. A customer must be able to get that information before they order, in writing or clearly signposted, and where labelling rules apply it has to be on the pack itself.

In practice

Fourteen allergens are regulated in the UK: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphur dioxide and sulphites, lupin and molluscs. A customer must be able to get that information before they order, and where labelling rules apply it has to be on the pack.

For an ordering system the practical requirement is that allergen data lives per item, in the same place as the menu, so it cannot drift out of date when a recipe changes. A PDF of allergen information uploaded once and never revised is the commonest version of this going wrong.

It is also worth separating "contains" from "may contain". The first is a fact about the recipe; the second is a statement about your kitchen, and it belongs where the customer sees it rather than buried in terms.

Also called: 14 allergens, allergy information menu.

Questions people ask about allergen information

Where should allergen data live in an ordering system?

Per item, in the same place as the menu, so it cannot drift out of date when a recipe changes. A PDF of allergen information uploaded once and never revised is the commonest version of this going wrong, because the menu moves and the PDF does not.

What is the difference between "contains" and "may contain"?

The first is a fact about the recipe. The second is a statement about your kitchen and the risk of cross-contamination. They are worth separating in the data as well as on the page, and both belong where the customer sees them rather than buried in terms and conditions.

Does allergen information have to be written down?

It has to be available before the customer orders, either in writing or clearly signposted so they know to ask. For food covered by PPDS labelling rules it has to be on the pack. "Ask a member of staff" with nothing behind it is the version that fails an inspection.

Sources, checked 26 October 2026

Food Standards Agency, Allergen guidance for food businesses: providing allergen information and handling allergens