Allergen information on a restaurant website: what the FSA says to show before ordering and at delivery

TL;DR: Food businesses must tell customers if any of the 14 regulated allergens are used in their food. The Food Standards Agency’s best practice guidance, published in February 2025, says allergen information is best in writing and supported by a conversation. For orders made online or by phone, it should be available before the order and again when the food is delivered. On a website it should sit on the main menu or no more than one click away, with a clear message and link, and the information must be accurate and kept up to date.

Key takeaways

• The Food Standards Agency (FSA) says food businesses must inform consumers if they have used any of the 14 mandated allergens as an ingredient in their food, and that the information must be accurate, available to and easily accessible by the consumer.
• Its best practice guidance for non-prepacked food, published in February 2025, says allergen information is best provided in writing and supported by a conversation. The minimum legal requirement, information by any means with a sign saying when it will be given verbally, has not changed.
• For orders by phone or online, written allergen information should be available both before the food is ordered and when it is delivered.
• On your own website, put it on the main menu or no more than one click away, with a clear message and link. If you sell through a third party site, tell customers where to find it before they order.
• If you use a digital menu, keep a non-digital way to get the information in case of a problem or for people who cannot use it.
• FSA guidance applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Check Scottish rules separately if you trade there.

A customer with a nut allergy opens a restaurant’s website on her phone to order dinner for her family. The menu has lovely photos and no mention of allergens. There is a line at the bottom saying to ask staff, but she is ordering online, so there is nobody to ask. She tries the phone number, gets the answerphone, and orders from a competitor that lists the allergens next to each dish.

Allergen information is a legal duty, a safety issue and, for a growing number of customers, a deciding factor. This guide explains what the Food Standards Agency says restaurants, cafés and takeaways should show on their websites and online menus, how it applies to orders by phone and delivery, how to present the 14 allergens, how to handle a digital menu and what to do when you change a dish. It is general information, not legal advice, and it follows the FSA’s published guidance.

What does the law require?

The FSA says food businesses must inform consumers if they have used any of the 14 mandated allergens as an ingredient in their food, and that the information must be accurate, available to and easily accessible by the consumer. This applies to all food supplied by food businesses, including food offered free of charge.

The FSA’s guidance on allergen information for non-prepacked foods explains that non-prepacked food includes meals in cafés and restaurants, loose meat and cheese at a deli counter and drinks made to order in a coffee shop. It does not cover prepacked for direct sale food, which has its own rules.

The guidance says the legal framework is largely in assimilated Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 for England and Wales and the Food Information Regulations 2014, with equivalent regulations in Wales and Northern Ireland. It applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales. It is aimed at businesses of all sizes, including small and micro enterprises, such as coffee shops, cafés, restaurants, fast food outlets, delis, butchers, bakeries and market stalls.

Two levels are worth separating. The minimum legal requirement is that the information is provided by any means, and if it is given verbally there must be a sign saying so. The FSA’s best practice goes further, and says that the approach consumers prefer is written information supported by a conversation. The best practice is not a legal requirement, but the FSA says an approach consistent with it should help you meet your responsibilities and consumer expectations.

What are the 14 allergens?

The 14 allergens are cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, egg, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame seeds, sulphur dioxide and sulphites at more than 10 mg per kg or litre, lupin and molluscs. Information must cover all of them, not a selection.

The FSA lists them in full: cereals containing gluten, namely wheat (such as spelt and Khorasan), rye, barley and oats and their hybridised strains; crustaceans, for example prawns, lobster, crabs and crayfish; egg; fish; peanuts; soybeans; milk, including lactose; nuts, namely almond, hazelnut, walnut, cashew, pecan, Brazil nut, pistachio and macadamia; celery; mustard; sesame seeds; sulphur dioxide and sulphites at concentrations of more than 10 mg per kilogram or litre; lupin; and molluscs, for example mussels, clams, oysters, scallops, snails and squid. There are limited exceptions for certain refined or processed ingredients, listed in the guidance.

The FSA says the information should be comprehensive: it should cover all 14 allergens, as opposed to just a subset the business thinks most prevalent or severe. For groups such as tree nuts and cereals containing gluten, when you use words you should name the specific nut or cereal, for example milk and nuts (almond).

What should your website show?

The FSA says written allergen information should be readily available, if possible without consumers having to ask, such as on the main menu, paper or digital. For your website, that means putting it on the online menu or making it no more than one click away, with a clear message and link.

The same page says that if the information is not on the main menu, businesses should let consumers know where to find it with a clear message on the menu. If you use a digital format, you should have an alternative way of accessing the information for people who cannot use it digitally, and as a backup if there is a problem with the digital information.

Practical options for a restaurant website include:

• Allergens beside each dish on the online menu, using words or symbols with words.
• An allergen matrix page linked from the top of the menu, with a clear message such as: See which dishes contain allergens.
• A downloadable allergen guide as a backup, kept up to date.
• A note on the booking and contact pages saying how to get information and how to tell the restaurant about allergies.

If you change your menu often, the FSA says you may prefer to put allergen information in a separate document so you can update and control it more easily, as long as the main menu tells customers where to find it. Whatever you choose, the information must be accurate and reviewed.

How should you present the information?

The FSA says you can use words, or symbols with accompanying words. If symbols are used, the allergen name should form part of the symbol or there must be a legend. A single symbol can represent a group, such as tree nuts, but the business should be able to give the specific nut on request. The FSA offers free allergen symbols and posters to download.

The guidance gives examples. A contains statement, such as Chicken Salad (Contains: milk, egg, mustard), works on a menu or ticket. Chicken Tikka Masala (Contains: milk, nuts (almond)) shows the specific nut. A breakdown by component, such as BBQ Chicken Burger and Coleslaw with allergens listed for the burger, sauce, bap and coleslaw, lets customers ask for the dish without the component that affects them.

The FSA suggests that a breakdown by component gives better service and choice, because customers can request that a dish is amended to leave out or replace an allergen, rather than discarding the dish. It adds that businesses should take steps to minimise cross-contamination when adjusting dishes and should consider cross contact with allergens that are not intentional ingredients.

For a website, the simplest approach is a table. Dishes in rows and the 14 allergens in columns, with a clear marker where an allergen is present, and a note on cross-contact. It is easy to read on a phone if the columns are narrow and the dish names stay in view as the table scrolls. Make sure the table has a text equivalent for screen readers, and keep the layout simple, as our guide to the essential website pages suggests.

What about orders by phone, online and delivery?

The FSA says businesses providing food through distance selling, such as online or by telephone, should make written allergen information available to the consumer both before the food is ordered and when it is delivered. That helps customers decide what is safe to order and check the right item on delivery.

The guidance on distance selling and pre-ordering sets out the practical points. If written information is on your own webpage, it can sit on the main menu or no more than one click away with a clear message and link. When selling through a third party website, consumers should be clearly told where to find allergen information before the order is placed, for example by referring them to your own site or by showing it on the third party site where possible.

If you cannot provide up-to-date allergen information online, for example you have no website, consumers must still be able to access it easily. The FSA says tell them where to get it, such as by speaking to staff on the phone, and ask customers whether they need allergen information before taking the order.

At delivery, written allergen information should be provided so that the customer can review it before eating. The FSA suggests a sticker on food containers or a menu with allergen information, with customisations indicated, and says to take care to avoid cross-contamination in transit and to tell the customer if that is a risk. Its example for a sticker is Chicken satay: Contains: wheat, soy, fish, peanut.

For a group booking, the FSA says allergen information should also be discussed with individuals on the day, before food is served. It may not be enough to rely only on the information supplied in advance, because ingredients could have changed or details could have been missed in the original order.

What about a digital menu or QR code?

The FSA says businesses can choose paper or digital formats. If you choose digital, have an alternative way to access the information for people who cannot use it, and as a backup if the digital information fails. A QR code that leads to an allergen page is fine if staff can also provide it another way.

A QR code on the table is only useful if the page it links to loads quickly on a phone, works with a weak signal and is up to date. Test it on a mobile network, not just your own Wi-Fi. Make sure the page does not ask people to sign up or accept lengthy pop-ups before they can see the information. Our guide to website maintenance explains the monthly checks that keep a site quick and working.

Train the team to help. The FSA says staff should be fully aware of where the information is and be able to advise the consumer where it is or provide the written information if required. A conversation is part of the approach: staff should ask whether anyone in the party has an allergy, check the written information with the customer and confirm the order with the kitchen.

If you take bookings online, add a field for dietary requirements and allergies, and make sure someone reads it before service. Our guide to reserve with Google explains one way to take bookings, and a booking system of your own can carry the same field.

How do you keep it accurate?

The FSA says the information must be accurate and regularly reviewed and updated so it remains correct, showing the presence of allergens in each dish. When a recipe, supplier or ingredient changes, update the allergen information before the dish is served, and update the online menu at the same time as the kitchen.

A practical routine is to name one person responsible for the allergen matrix, review it whenever a dish or supplier changes, check supplier labels when deliveries arrive and keep a dated record of changes. If you cannot update the website straight away, put a notice on it and make sure staff are told, so that customers are given correct information by another route.

The FSA also says that if a customer asks for a dish to be adjusted, the business should minimise the risk of cross-contamination. Do not make promises on the website that you cannot keep in the kitchen. If you cannot guarantee that a dish is free from an allergen, say so. Be careful with free from claims. The FSA notes there are specific rules for gluten free claims, and that its technical guidance covers voluntary claims and precautionary allergen labelling.

Is the FSA guidance a legal requirement?

No. The FSA says it is best practice and you are not required by law to follow it, but an approach consistent with it should ensure you meet your responsibilities and consumer expectations. The legal minimum is that information is provided by any means, with a sign if it is verbal. Local trading standards departments enforce the rules.

The guidance says businesses with specific queries should seek advice from their local enforcement agency, usually the trading standards department of the local authority, and in some cases the environmental health team. The FSA also says it plans to review the guidance, with the next scheduled review in September 2026, so check the current version before you act.

The guidance applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales. If you trade in Scotland, check the position with Food Standards Scotland, which sets its own guidance.

Because the law gives a choice of how to provide information and the FSA recommends writing plus conversation, a website with clear, accurate allergen information is the easiest way to show you take the duty seriously, particularly for orders made online.

How do you build it into your website?

Give allergens a place in the main navigation or at the top of the menu, use a consistent layout, keep the text readable and let customers filter dishes by allergen if you can. Make the page printable, test it on mobile and set a reminder to review it every time you change the menu.

If your site is built on WordPress or a website builder, a table or an accordion can do the job, but filtering by allergen needs a plugin or custom code. Weigh the benefit against the risk of errors. A static table that is reviewed carefully is better than a clever filter that is out of date.

Add a short allergy statement on the menu, booking and contact pages: tell us about any allergies when you book, and speak to a member of the team on arrival. Make it easy for customers to contact the kitchen, for example with a phone number and an email address that someone checks.

For businesses that take online orders, the allergen information should appear before checkout, not only after. If a customer has to complete a purchase to see it, that does not meet the aim of letting people decide what is safe before the food is ordered.

What are the common mistakes?

The common mistakes are putting allergens only on a printed menu, hiding them behind several clicks, listing only some allergens, letting the website drift out of date, giving no information on delivery, relying on one member of staff and promising allergen-free food that cannot be guaranteed.

• Print only. The website says nothing, so online customers cannot see it.
• Buried. The information is several clicks away, with no clear link.
• Partial. Only the most common allergens are listed.
• Out of date. The kitchen changes a recipe and the website does not.
• Nothing at delivery. The food arrives with no allergen information.
• Unsafe promises. Free from claims the kitchen cannot guarantee.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to put allergen information on my website?

The law requires allergen information to be provided, by any means, and the FSA’s best practice says that for orders by phone or online it should be available in writing before the order and on delivery. A website is the easiest way to do it.

Where should allergen information be on a website?

The FSA says on the main menu, or no more than one click away with a clear message and link. If you sell through a third party site, tell customers where to find it before they order.

Do I need to list all 14 allergens?

Yes. The FSA says the information should be comprehensive and cover all 14 allergens, not just a selection. Name the specific nut or cereal when you use words.

Can I use symbols instead of words?

Yes, if the allergen name forms part of the symbol or a legend is provided. A single symbol can represent a group of allergens, but you should be able to give the specific one if asked.

Does the FSA guidance apply in Scotland?

The FSA says its guidance applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Check Food Standards Scotland if you trade in Scotland.

Want a restaurant website that customers can order from with confidence?

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