UK Restaurant Allergen Rules: The 14 Allergens, Natasha's Law and Owen's Law (2026)

Every restaurant, café, pub and takeaway in the UK must tell customers when a dish contains any of the 14 regulated allergens. For food you make and serve loose, the law lets you give that information in writing or by word of mouth. If staff give it verbally, a notice the customer can see where they choose their food must say that allergen details are available from staff. Food you pack before the customer orders, such as a sandwich in the chiller, needs a label with a full ingredients list and the allergens emphasised. That is Natasha's Law, in force since 1 October 2021.

Since February 2025 the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has recommended written allergen information backed by a conversation, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. That is best practice guidance, not law. Owen's Law, which would make written allergen information compulsory, was still a proposal when we checked on 14 October 2026.

This guide sets out each rule, which ones are law and which are guidance, how enforcement works, and a practical system for keeping your allergen information right. For the EU background behind the list, see our guide to the 14 EU allergens.

Law, guidance or proposal: where each rule stands (October 2026)

Which law applies in each part of the UK

The 14 allergens and the core duties come from Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food information to consumers. Great Britain now uses its own retained copy of that regulation, which UK law calls assimilated law. Northern Ireland still applies the EU regulation itself, because it is one of the EU laws listed in Annex 2 of the Windsor Framework.

Each nation also has its own regulations that set the national rules for food that is not prepacked and the enforcement powers:

For a restaurant the rules are the same in all four nations today: the same 14 allergens, the same choice between written and verbal information for food served loose, and the same Natasha's Law labelling for food packed in advance. The difference to watch is in the future. Northern Ireland will follow any change the EU makes to its regulation, while Great Britain changes only when UK law does.

The 14 allergens UK law covers

The list is Annex II of the regulation. The examples after each one are places it often turns up in restaurant cooking; always check the label of the product you buy.

1. Cereals containing gluten: wheat (including spelt and khorasan wheat), rye, barley and oats. Flour in sauces and gravy, breadcrumbs, batter, couscous, most beers.
2. Crustaceans: prawns, crab, lobster, langoustine. Shrimp paste in some curry pastes.
3. Eggs: mayonnaise, aioli, fresh pasta, egg wash on pastry, some batters.
4. Fish: fish sauce, anchovies in Caesar dressing and in most Worcestershire sauce.
5. Peanuts: satay, some curries and dressings.
6. Soybeans: soy sauce, tofu, edamame, miso.
7. Milk: butter, cream, cheese, yoghurt, ghee, and the milk or butter in sauces and mash.
8. Tree nuts: almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios and macadamia (Queensland) nuts. Frangipane, marzipan, praline, many kormas.
9. Celery: stocks, soups, the base of many sauces, celery salt.
10. Mustard: dressings, mayonnaise, marinades, some spice blends.
11. Sesame: tahini, hummus, sesame oil, seeded buns.
12. Sulphur dioxide and sulphites above 10 mg per kg or per litre, measured as total SO2: wine, dried apricots and some other dried fruit, some vinegars and pickles.
13. Lupin: lupin flour in some breads, pastries and gluten-free products.
14. Molluscs: mussels, oysters, squid, octopus, scallops, oyster sauce.

Name the specific cereal or nut, not just "gluten" or "nuts". The FSA's best practice guidance asks for the specific nut and cereal to be named in words, and if you use a single symbol for a group, your staff must be able to say which nut or cereal is in the dish.

What restaurants must do for food they cook and serve

The FSA's guidance for food businesses says you "must supply allergen information for every item that contains any of the 14 allergens". For food that is not prepacked (dishes cooked to order, buffets, cakes on the counter, drinks made to order) you can do this in one of two ways:

1. Full written allergen information, on the menu, a chalkboard or in an information pack.
2. Verbally, from staff, with a written notice in a clearly visible place telling customers how to get the information.

The verbal route has a legal condition. In England, regulation 5 of the Food Information Regulations 2014 lets you give allergen information by any means you choose, including orally. If you choose to give it orally, a notice, menu, ticket or label that the customer can easily see where they choose their food must say that details can be obtained by asking a member of staff. The Scottish regulations set the same condition.

A few points catch businesses out:

• The information covers the entire dish as served, including sauces, garnishes and dressings.
• It applies to food you give away too, such as bread brought to the table.
• At a buffet, give the information for each item separately.
• For takeaway and delivery orders placed online or by phone, allergen information must be available before the customer completes the order and again when the food is delivered, at no extra cost.

So, do restaurants have to list allergens on the menu? Not under UK law as it stands. You must hold accurate allergen information for every dish, and either show it in writing or put up a notice telling customers to ask.

Natasha's Law: food you pack before the customer orders

Natasha's Law is the common name for the rules on food that is prepacked for direct sale (PPDS): food packed on the same premises it is sold from, before the customer orders it. Since 1 October 2021, in all four UK nations, PPDS food must carry a label with the name of the food and a full ingredients list, with any of the 14 allergens emphasised in that list, for example in bold, capitals, a contrasting colour or underlined. In England the change was made by the Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019.

The law is named after Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, a teenager who died after an allergic reaction to a baguette. Under the rules then in force, food made on the premises where it was sold did not need written allergen information.

The FSA's examples of PPDS in restaurants, cafés and pubs include:

• sandwiches or salad boxes packed in advance
• prepacked paninis, or pizza boxes the customer can ask to have reheated
• pies in packaging and soup already in pots
• drinks poured and lidded in advance of a rush

These are not PPDS, so the rules for non-prepacked food apply instead:

• food made to order, or packed at the customer's request
• food packaged so it can be changed without opening the packaging, such as a burger on an open cardboard tray
• unpackaged cakes on display, an open salad bar, complimentary bread on the table
• hot drinks made to order

If your counter sells both, label the PPDS items and keep the allergen matrix for the rest.

The FSA's best practice guidance (February 2025)

On 24 February 2025 the FSA published best practice guidance on allergen information for non-prepacked food, for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It does not change the law. The guidance says so itself: "You are not required by law to follow best practice guidance." What it recommends:

• Put allergen information in writing, ideally where customers see it without asking: on the main menu, in an allergen booklet or on a matrix on the wall.
• Back it up with a conversation. Staff should ask every customer about allergies. Where that is not possible, a prominent sign or menu message should invite customers to speak up, ideally at the top of the menu. The FSA's example wording is "Please talk to us if you have a food allergy, intolerance or coeliac disease".
• Use words or symbols. If you use symbols, the allergen name should be part of the symbol or explained in a key.
• Break dishes into their components, so a customer can ask for a change instead of skipping the dish.
• Choose paper or digital. If the information is digital, keep another way to get it for people who cannot use the digital version, and a backup in case it fails.
• For online orders, put the information on the main menu, or ideally no more than one click away.
• Staff must not guess or assume whether an ingredient is present.

The FSA also publishes allergen icons, an editable allergen matrix and posters for businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The guidance says it will be reviewed by September 2026.

Owen's Law: what it would change and where it stands

Owen Carey died in 2017 after eating chicken marinated in buttermilk at a restaurant, while celebrating his 18th birthday. He had several food allergies. His family's campaign, Owen's Law, asks for a legal duty on restaurants to show the 14 allergens in writing for each dish, using symbols, numbers or words, with an allergen matrix that breaks every dish into its components. It also asks for staff to raise allergies with every customer.

What we could verify on 14 October 2026:

• A UK Parliament petition for Owen's Law ran from 13 May to 13 November 2021 and gathered 12,889 signatures. The government responded on 14 July 2021, and MPs debated the petition on 15 May 2023.
• In December 2023 the FSA Board said it wanted written allergen information for non-prepacked food to become a legal requirement across the four nations, and agreed to write to ministers. Meanwhile it produced the 2025 best practice guidance.
• On 26 June 2025, Defra minister Baroness Hayman of Ullock told the House of Lords that the government would evaluate the guidance about a year after launch, with the work "likely to begin in spring 2026", to "better inform Ministers on the need for any potential legislation".
• We found no published evaluation, bill or government consultation on making written allergen information compulsory. Owen's Law is not law.
• In Scotland, the Food Standards Scotland Board chose a guidance route over legislation in December 2024, with a presumption that businesses give allergen information both in writing and in conversation. Its public consultation ran from 23 February to 17 May 2026. No outcome had been published when we checked.

Who enforces the rules, and the penalties

Local authorities enforce allergen rules, usually through trading standards or environmental health officers. The FSA describes the usual sequence: advice first, then an improvement notice if you do not act on it. You have 14 days to appeal an improvement notice, and failing to comply with one is itself an offence. In some cases a business may also be prosecuted.

In England, failing to provide allergen information as the Food Information Regulations 2014 require is a criminal offence under regulation 10. The FSA's technical guidance says a person convicted of an offence under those regulations is liable to a potentially unlimited fine, set by magistrates case by case. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have penalty provisions in their own regulations.

How to get allergen information right: a working system

1. Build an allergen matrix for every dish. Dishes down the side, the 14 allergens across the top. Fill it in by component: base, sauce, garnish, side, bread, dressing. The FSA's editable matrix is a good starting point.
2. Keep the evidence. File the label or supplier specification for every product you use, and keep written recipes so each dish is made the same way every time.
3. Treat supplier changes as recipe changes. Ask suppliers to tell you when a product's allergens change, check deliveries for substitutions, and update the matrix before a substituted product reaches a plate. Keep last-minute swaps to a minimum.
4. Decide how allergy orders move. Name who takes them (a supervisor or the head chef, for example), how they are marked on the ticket and who in the kitchen confirms. Read the order back to the customer.
5. Be specific about cross-contact. If chips share a fryer with battered fish, say so: "Our chips are fried in the same oil as our battered fish, so they are not suitable if you avoid fish or wheat." The FSA's guidance is that a "may contain" warning should only be used where the risk is real and cannot be controlled through separation and cleaning. A blanket "all dishes may contain nuts" does not tell a customer anything they can act on. If you cannot make a dish free of an allergen, tell the customer.
6. Train staff and re-train after menu changes. The FSA offers free allergy training online. Staff must not guess: if they are not sure, they check the matrix or say they do not know.
7. Put up the notice anyway. Even with allergens printed on the menu, a sign asking customers to tell you about allergies starts the conversation the guidance asks for.
8. Cover delivery. Show allergen information on your ordering page before checkout and again with the food, for example a sticker on each container.

What a digital menu does and does not solve

A digital menu helps with the parts that are about getting information in front of the customer:

• It puts allergen information in writing next to every dish, which is what the FSA's guidance recommends.
• When a recipe or supplier changes, you update the dish once and every table sees the change.
• Visitors reading the menu in another language see the same allergen tags.

It does not solve the rest:

• It does not make the data right. The tags show what you enter. The matrix, the labels and the supplier checks are still your job.
• It does not replace the conversation or the notice. The law's verbal route needs a visible notice, and the guidance wants staff to ask about allergies.
• It does not reach every customer. The FSA says to keep another way to get the information for people who cannot use a digital version, and a backup if it fails. Keep a printed copy of the matrix at the till.
• It does not label prepacked food. PPDS items need an ingredients label on the pack under Natasha's Law.
• It does not control cross-contact in your kitchen.

How Menumigo fits

Menumigo is a QR code and web menu. Every plan, including the free one, has tags for all 14 allergens on every menu item, and the tags appear in every language you publish the menu in. That gives customers the written, dish-by-dish allergen information the FSA recommends, and you can change a tag from your phone when a supplier switches a product. Menumigo does not take orders or payments, does not print PPDS labels, and does not replace your allergen matrix, staff training or the conversation at the table.

Frequently asked questions

Do restaurants have to list allergens on the menu in the UK?

No, not under current UK law. Restaurants must have accurate information on the 14 allergens for every dish and give it either in writing or verbally, with a visible notice telling customers to ask staff. The FSA's 2025 best practice guidance recommends putting it in writing, but that guidance is voluntary.

What are the 14 allergens in UK law?

Celery, cereals containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats), crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, tree nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts), peanuts, sesame, soybeans, and sulphur dioxide and sulphites above 10 mg per kg or per litre. They are listed in Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, which applies in Great Britain as assimilated law and in Northern Ireland as EU law.

Does Natasha's Law apply to restaurants?

Only to food a restaurant packs before the customer orders it, such as sandwiches, salads or soup in pots made earlier and sold from the same premises. That food needs a label with the name and a full ingredients list with allergens emphasised. Dishes cooked to order and food packed at the customer's request follow the rules for non-prepacked food instead.

Is Owen's Law in force?

No. As of 14 October 2026, Owen's Law is a campaign proposal. The FSA has supported making written allergen information compulsory, and in June 2025 the government said it would evaluate the voluntary 2025 guidance, starting around spring 2026, before deciding on legislation. We found no bill or published evaluation.

Can a QR code menu hold our allergen information?

Yes. The FSA's best practice guidance lets businesses choose paper or digital allergen information. It adds that you should keep another way to get the information for people who cannot use the digital version, and a backup in case it fails. A printed matrix behind the counter covers both.

Who enforces allergen rules, and what happens if we get it wrong?

Local authority officers, usually trading standards or environmental health. They can give advice, serve an improvement notice or, in some cases, prosecute. In England, the FSA says a conviction under the Food Information Regulations 2014 can bring a potentially unlimited fine, set by magistrates case by case.

Create your menu free