Allergen matrix template for UK restaurants, pubs and cafés

What an allergen matrix is for

When a customer says "I'm allergic to sesame, what can I have?", whoever is on the floor needs a correct answer in seconds. An allergen matrix gives them one: every dish down the left, the 14 allergens across the top, and a mark wherever a dish contains one.

The legal position, in short. For food that isn't prepacked (anything you plate up, serve over the counter or pour), the FSA says you must supply allergen information for every item that contains any of the 14 allergens. You can give it verbally, as long as there's a clearly visible written notice telling customers how to get it. Since February 2025, FSA best practice guidance for England, Wales and Northern Ireland goes further: allergen information should be easily available in writing and backed up by a conversation. That guidance isn't law, but it's what good looks like, and a matrix is one of the ways it names. Food Standards Scotland also suggests a matrix for staff.

The 14 allergens

When you list cereals or nuts, name the specific one. The FSA's best practice guidance says to name the nut or cereal rather than just writing "nuts" or "gluten", because a customer allergic to walnuts may be fine with almonds.

The template

Copy this into a spreadsheet or document. Put a ✓ (or the specific nut or cereal) where a dish contains the allergen. Leave blank where it doesn't. Never leave a cell you haven't actually checked.

Venue: ______ Menu: ______ Last checked by: ______ Date: ______

Cross-contact notes (shared fryer, shared prep areas, nuts or sesame in the kitchen): ______

A worked example: a pub lunch menu

This is an illustration only. Your dishes will differ depending on your recipes, suppliers and brands, so build yours from your own recipe cards and supplier specifications, never from someone else's chart.

Notice what the example shows: the haddock's batter brings in barley from the beer, the pickle and the dried dates bring sulphites, and the Caesar dressing brings fish from anchovies. Those are the hidden ones that catch kitchens out.

How to build yours properly

1. Start from recipe cards, not memory. Every component of every dish: the sauce, the garnish, the oil it's fried in, the bun.
2. Check every bought-in product's label or specification. Allergen ingredients must be emphasised on prepacked products, so read the ingredients list each time.
3. Include drinks and extras if you serve them: cocktails with orgeat (almonds), bar snacks, sauces on the table.
4. Fill in one dish at a time, across all 14 columns. It stops you skipping a column for a dish you think you know.
5. Have a second person check it. The head chef builds it; the sous or GM checks it against the recipe cards.
6. Date and sign it.
7. Put it where staff can reach it in seconds, and, if you choose, where customers can see it. The FSA guidance notes that if you put information online or on a screen, you should still have a non-digital backup.

Keeping it current

A matrix is only as good as its last update. The most common way kitchens get it wrong is a supplier swap: the usual brioche bun is out of stock, the wholesaler substitutes another, and the new one contains sesame. Build these habits:

• Supplier change = matrix check. Whoever receives the delivery flags substitutions to the chef.
• New dish or special = add it before it's served. Specials boards are where allergens get missed.
• Menu change = full review. Re-check every line, not just the new dishes.
• Keep the old versions. If something goes wrong, you'll want to show what the information said on that date.
• Train every new starter on it. The FSA says businesses must make sure staff receive allergen training, and it offers free online training.

Using the matrix on the floor

The matrix supports the conversation; it doesn't replace it. The FSA best practice guidance says businesses should ask all customers whether they have any allergen requirements, and the conversation should confirm what they need to avoid, whether they've seen the written information, and the risk of cross-contact. Then the order should reach the kitchen in writing, and the server should confirm with the customer when the food goes out. If staff aren't sure, they should say so and ask the chef, never guess.

Or let ShiftComplete hold it for you

A paper matrix in a folder works until someone updates the recipe and not the folder. In ShiftComplete, every menu item is mapped to the 14 UK allergens, grouped by course, and searchable by front-of-house staff on their phones from the floor. Only managers can edit, so a server can't accidentally untick something. It sits in the same app as your temperature logs, checklists and rotas, at £1.49 per staff member per month, free for 60 days. See allergen app for restaurants for how it works. The accuracy of the information is still down to whoever writes it: the app makes it easier to keep one correct version and get it in front of staff.