Website allergy policies – a good example
Safer Food Scores For many people living with food allergies, checking a venue’s allergy policy before booking is an important part of deciding where to eat. It provides reassurance, helps reduce anxiety and demonstrates that a business takes customer safety seriously.
Organisations such as Anaphylaxis UK encourage people with allergies to research venues in advance and communicate their needs clearly. Yet surprisingly few food businesses publish information about how they manage food allergies and support customers with dietary requirements.
This is a missed opportunity.
People with food allergies are often the key decision-makers when choosing where a family, group of friends or business event will dine. Businesses that communicate their allergen controls clearly are more likely to earn trust, attract repeat customers and benefit from positive recommendations within the allergy community.
What Should an Allergy Policy Include?
Customers do not need to see every detail of your internal procedures. Instead, your website should explain what customers can expect when they visit and how they can work with your team to minimise risks.
A good allergy policy should cover the following areas.
Communication
Before Your Visit
We encourage guests to inform us of any food allergies or dietary requirements when making a reservation. This helps us prepare and ensure the appropriate team members are aware of your needs.
On Arrival
Please remind your server about your allergy before ordering food or drinks, even if you have already advised us when booking. This allows us to follow our allergy management procedures and discuss suitable options with you.
Menu Information
We maintain allergen information for the 14 allergens that must be declared under UK food information legislation. As recipes and suppliers can occasionally change, we recommend checking allergen information each time you visit.
Questions Before You Visit?
If you would like to discuss your dietary requirements before your visit, please contact us and a trained member of our team will be happy to help.
Staff Training
Our team receives allergen awareness training and understands the importance of accurate communication when serving guests with food allergies.
Designated team members receive additional training in allergen management and food safety to support customers with more complex dietary requirements.
Ingredient Management
We source ingredients from approved suppliers and maintain detailed allergen information for the products we purchase.
Where possible, we offer alternative menu options to accommodate food allergies and intolerances. However, availability may vary, so please discuss your requirements with a member of our team.
Cross-Contact Controls
We take a range of precautions to minimise the risk of allergen cross-contact, including staff training, cleaning procedures and safe food preparation practices.
However, because allergens are present in our kitchens and food preparation areas, we cannot guarantee that any dish is completely free from allergen traces.
Vegan and Plant-Based Foods
Our vegan dishes do not contain animal-derived ingredients as part of their recipe. However, they may not be suitable for customers with milk, egg, fish, crustacean or mollusc allergies due to the risk of cross-contact during storage, preparation or service.
Please speak to a member of our team before ordering if you have any food allergies.
Emergency Preparedness
Customers with severe allergies should carry any prescribed emergency medication, including adrenaline auto-injectors where appropriate.
Our team members are trained to respond appropriately in the event of a suspected allergic reaction and to seek emergency medical assistance when required.
Your Role in Keeping Safe
We are committed to helping you enjoy your visit safely. To support us in doing this, please:
- Tell us about your allergies every time you visit.
- Ask questions if you are unsure about ingredients or preparation methods.
- Inform us immediately if you think there may be be a problem with your order.
- Carry any prescribed emergency medication with you.
Continual Improvement
We regularly review our allergen management procedures, investigate incidents and near misses, and identify opportunities to strengthen our controls and improve the experience of customers with food allergies.
We welcome customer feedback and use it to help us continually improve our standards.
How Can Safer Food Scores Help?
Safer Food Scores provides comprehensive allergen management reviews for food businesses, hospitality groups and brands.
Our reviews assess allergen controls across the entire customer journey, including menu development, ingredient sourcing, allergen information management, bookings procedures, staff training, customer communications and food preparation practices.
The review includes document assessment, interviews with key personnel, site visits, identification of hidden risks, gap analysis and practical recommendations from experienced allergen management specialists.
By strengthening your allergen controls and communications, you can reduce risk, improve customer confidence and protect your brand reputation.
Contact us to find out how we can help.
Any guidance given in our articles is not official and Safer Food Scores can take no responsibility if the information is used to form part of any legal or regulatory compliance for your business. However, please do get in touch if you are interested in our support services and would like to benefit from official guidance relating to your particular circumstances, email [javascript protected email address]
