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Allergen matrix for the 14 UK allergens

A grid of your dishes against all 14 allergens that have to be declared in the UK. Fill in the spreadsheet, print the PDF for the kitchen wall, and stop answering allergen questions from memory.

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Download the spreadsheetExcel .xlsx · 10 KBDownload the printable versionPDF · A4 landscape · 2 pages

Direct downloads. No email, no sign-up, and nothing to unsubscribe from afterwards.

What it is

A matrix with your dishes down the side and the 14 declarable allergens across the top. You mark each cell, and what you end up with is a single sheet that answers almost every allergen question a guest or an inspector will ask.

The spreadsheet has room for 60 dishes and a dropdown that only accepts Y or M, so the grid stays consistent when several people fill it in. Cells colour themselves as you go, which makes a row of unchecked blanks obvious.

The PDF is the same grid laid out for A4 landscape, with 18 dish rows and a reference page explaining where each allergen commonly hides. It is designed to be printed and pinned up rather than read on a screen.

What is in it

All 14 declarable allergensCelery, cereals with gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphites and tree nuts.
Ingredient and cross-contactY for an ingredient, M for a cross-contact risk. Two different facts that guests ask about separately.
Y or M onlyThe spreadsheet rejects anything else, so you do not end up with a grid of ticks, crosses, yeses and question marks.
Colour as you typeIngredient cells turn red and cross-contact cells amber, so a half-finished row is visible at a glance.
Reference sheetWhere each allergen commonly hides, from soy sauce containing wheat to Worcestershire sauce containing fish.
Printable PDFA4 landscape, header repeated, room for the business name, the review date and who checked it.

How to fill it in

01List your dishesOne row per dish as it appears on the menu, including specials you run often and anything sold at the counter.
02Work from specificationsGo through each dish against the ingredient specification for every component, not from memory. Sauces, dressings, marinades and oils are where allergens hide.
03Mark ingredients, then cross-contactY where the allergen is in the dish. Then walk the kitchen and add M wherever shared equipment, oil or prep space creates a real risk.
04Date it and reprintPut the review date and the name of whoever checked it at the top. Redo it whenever a recipe or a supplier changes, and reprint the wall copy.

Who it is for

Independent restaurants, cafes, takeaways, bakeries and mobile caterers in the UK who need a written allergen record and do not want to buy software for it.

It is a working record sheet, not legal advice and not a compliance certificate. It helps you capture what is in your food accurately; the rules for how that information must reach the customer are the Food Standards Agency's, and they differ depending on how the food is sold.

SourceThe list of 14 allergens comes from Annex II of assimilated Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, applied in the UK by the Food Information Regulations 2014. The current guidance for businesses, including the rules for food prepacked for direct sale, is published by the Food Standards Agency at food.gov.uk.

Questions

Celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphites and tree nuts. These are the allergens listed in Annex II of assimilated Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, which the Food Information Regulations 2014 apply in the UK.
Y means the allergen is an ingredient of that dish. M means it is not an ingredient but there is a real risk of cross-contact in your kitchen, for example a shared fryer. A blank should mean you checked and it is not present; a blank you have not checked is not the same thing.
No, and we would not claim otherwise. This is a record of what is in your dishes, which is the groundwork. How you must then communicate that information, including for food prepacked for direct sale, is set out in the Food Standards Agency guidance linked below. If you are unsure, ask your local environmental health team.
Most kitchens use both. The Excel version is the working record you update when a recipe or a supplier changes; the PDF is the printed copy on the wall that staff actually read during service. Reprint the PDF whenever the spreadsheet changes.
Download the spreadsheetExcel .xlsx · 10 KBDownload the printable versionPDF · A4 landscape · 2 pages

Direct downloads. No email, no sign-up, and nothing to unsubscribe from afterwards.

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Want the menu done for you as well?

Email us a photo of your paper menu. We turn it into a QR digital menu with allergen tags on every dish, and keep it updated for as long as you subscribe.

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