Allergen matrix template for Irish restaurants, pubs and cafés

An allergen matrix is the kitchen's master record: every dish and drink down the side, the 14 allergens across the top, and a tick wherever an allergen is used as an ingredient. In Ireland it does two jobs. It's the source your chefs and floor staff check, and it's the basis of the written allergen information that S.I. No. 489 of 2014 requires you to give customers before they order.

The template below follows the column order of the FSAI's own Menu Items Allergen Check List, so it lines up with the FSAI guidance your EHO knows.

The template

Copy this into a spreadsheet. One row per dish, side, sauce and drink. Tick (✓) where the allergen is an ingredient. In the Cereals and Nuts columns, write the name (wheat, barley, oats, almond, walnut) rather than a tick: the FSAI asks you to name the cereal containing gluten and the nut.

Add three columns at the end for your own control:

What each column covers

• Cereals containing gluten: wheat (including spelt and Khorasan wheat), rye, barley, oats
• Crustaceans: crab, prawns, lobster and similar
• Nuts: almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios, macadamia (Queensland) nuts. Peanuts have their own column.
• Sulphites: sulphur dioxide and sulphites above 10mg/kg or 10mg/L (as total sulphur dioxide), common in wine, dried fruit and some processed foods
• Molluscs: mussels, oysters, squid, snails and similar

A worked example: an Irish pub menu

The rows below are an illustration only, based on example recipes. Your own dishes will differ: always build your matrix from your recipes and the ingredient labels of the products you actually buy.

A few things the example shows:

• Sides and sauces get their own rows. The tartare sauce is where the egg and mustard live, not the fish.
• Drinks are in. The FSAI says draught beer and cider, wine by the glass and cocktails need written allergen information too.
• Hidden sources matter. Stout brings barley into the stew; soy sauce can bring wheat as well as soy into the satay; a stock cube can bring celery or wheat. Check every label.

Turning the matrix into customer information

Your matrix is the working record. What customers see has to meet the FSAI's rules for non-prepacked food:

• in writing, in English or in Irish and English;
• legible and easy to understand;
• linked to each specific dish: "Our food may contain..." is not acceptable;
• using "Contains..." followed by the allergens;
• available before ordering, beside each item or in a clearly signposted central location, so customers don't have to ask.

From the example above, the customer-facing lines would read:

Seafood chowder: contains fish, crustaceans, molluscs, milk, wheat, celery, sulphites

Beef and stout stew: contains barley, celery

Pear and almond tart: contains wheat, eggs, milk, almond

House red wine: contains sulphites

You can print these lines under each dish on the menu, or put the full list in a folder or poster at the bar and add a line to every menu saying where it is. A QR code can sit alongside it, but the FSAI says a QR code alone is not enough.

How to build yours properly

1. List everything you serve: mains, starters, sides, sauces, dressings, breads, desserts, bar snacks, drinks, and anything on a carvery or buffet.
2. Write the recipe for each, ingredient by ingredient, including the oil you fry in. The FSAI's example: chips fried in peanut oil must declare peanuts.
3. Check the label of every bought-in ingredient: stock cubes, sauces, pastry, bread, sausages, spice mixes. Keep a copy of each label in one place, as the FSAI recommends.
4. Fill in the matrix from the labels, not from memory.
5. Have a second person check it, ideally the head chef and a manager together, and sign it off.
6. Write the customer-facing version with "Contains..." wording.
7. Train the team on where it lives and how to use it.

The FSAI's free Menu Items Allergen Check List (a printable version of this matrix) and its MenuCal recipe tool can help with steps 3 and 4.

Keeping it current

A matrix is only accurate on the day it's checked. Update it when:

• a new dish or recipe change goes on;
• a supplier sends a different brand or a substitute. The FSAI specifically warns that different brands may contain different ingredients;
• a special goes on the board. The FSAI says allergen information for specials must be updated every time the offering changes;
• you change frying oil, bread supplier or dessert supplier.

A simple change log helps:

Specials boards

Give specials their own small matrix, or write the allergens directly on the board beside each special: "Chowder of the day: contains fish, molluscs, milk, wheat, celery." Make whoever writes the board responsible for the allergens too. Wipe the board, wipe the allergens, write both again.

Using the matrix on the floor

• Keep a printed copy at the pass and at the bar, dated.
• When a customer declares an allergy, the server checks the matrix and tells the kitchen. The FSAI advises that people with an allergy talk to a member of staff about their needs.
• If anyone isn't sure, they ask the chef. Nobody guesses.
• Staff training should cover the 14 allergens and how to respond to customer concerns, which the FSAI says is required. See our food safety training guide.

For the full legal picture, including drinks, online orders and enforcement, see allergen rules in Ireland.

Or let ShiftComplete hold it for you

In ShiftComplete, every menu item is mapped to the 14 allergens and grouped by course. Front-of-house staff can search it from their phone on the floor, so the answer to "does the chowder have shellfish?" takes seconds. Only managers can edit it, so the floor always sees the signed-off version. You still need the customer-facing written information on your menu, board or central folder; ShiftComplete keeps the version your team relies on accurate and in one place.

ShiftComplete costs €1.99 per active staff member per month, free for 60 days, no card, no contract. Start a free trial.