The Restaurant Allergen Guide

By Rob Bruni, founder of OpsEdge Hospitality, twenty years running restaurants, bars, clubs and resorts. Updated November 2026.

A guest at table 12 tells the server she has a severe shellfish allergy. What happens in the next ten minutes depends entirely on whether the restaurant has a system or relies on whoever is working that night. This guide lays out the system: the nine major allergens, what the rules ask of restaurants, how to build an allergen matrix from your recipes, the server-to-pass routine that gets an allergy order from the table to the kitchen and back safely, the cross-contact points most kitchens and bars miss, and what to do if a guest has a reaction.

Why allergen mistakes happen in good restaurants

Most allergen incidents are not caused by careless people. They happen at the handoffs: a server who is sure the vinaigrette is dairy-free because it was last month, a modifier that never printed on the ticket, a cook who scrapes the cheese off instead of remaking the plate, a runner who takes the right plate to the wrong seat, a fryer shared with shrimp that nobody thought to mention. Every one of those is a system gap, and every one can be closed with a written matrix and a routine that everyone follows the same way every time.

The nine major food allergens

In the United States, nine foods are designated major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame. Sesame became the ninth on January 1, 2023. Together these account for the large majority of serious food allergy reactions, which is why they are the ones your matrix and your training must cover.

Guests will also ask about other things, from mustard and celery to garlic, corn and specific dietary choices such as vegan or gluten-free. Track the common ones too, but never let a long list of preferences crowd out the nine that can put someone in the hospital.

What the rules ask of restaurants

Restaurant food safety rules in the United States are set by states and local health departments, most of which adopt some version of the FDA Food Code. The 2022 edition of the Food Code added, for the first time, a requirement that food establishments tell guests in writing when a major food allergen is an ingredient in unpackaged food. Written notice can take many forms, including menu notes, a printed allergen chart, table tents, placards or an electronic menu or QR code. The Food Code also expects the person in charge to know the major food allergens and staff training to include allergen awareness.

Not every state or county has adopted the 2022 Food Code yet, and some states have their own allergen laws on top of it. Check with your local health department for what applies to you. This guide is operational advice, not legal advice. Even where written notice is not yet required, it is the right practice, and the matrix below is how you produce it.

Step one: build the allergen matrix

The matrix is a grid of every menu item against the nine allergens, built from your recipes, not from memory. It is the single source of truth that servers, cooks and managers all work from.

1. Start from the recipe cards, including every sub-recipe: dressings, sauces, marinades, spice blends, breading, stocks. The recipe costing guide covers building cards that list every ingredient.
2. Check the labels of every manufactured product you use. Worcestershire contains anchovy (fish), many pestos contain cheese (milk) as well as nuts, and some spice blends contain wheat or soy.
3. Mark contains and cross-contact separately. "Contains" means the allergen is an ingredient. "Cross-contact" means it could reach the dish through shared equipment, oil or surfaces.
4. Note what can be modified. If a dish can be made without an allergen safely, write down exactly how.
5. Update it whenever anything changes: a new dish, a recipe tweak, or a vendor substitution. A substituted product is the most common way a matrix goes out of date without anyone noticing.

Here is a short example:

Dish	Milk	Egg	Fish	Shellfish	Tree nuts	Peanuts	Wheat	Soy	Sesame
Caesar salad	C	C	C				C
Fried shrimp		C	X	C			C
Pesto pasta	C	C			C		C
Salmon with soy glaze and sesame			C					C	C
House fries			X	X			X

C = contains as an ingredient. X = cross-contact risk. Here the fries and the shrimp share a fryer with battered fish, so the fries pick up fish, shellfish and wheat, and the shrimp picks up fish.

Keep a printed copy at the host stand, the server station and the pass, date it, and have the chef initial each update.

Step two: the server-to-pass routine

This is the routine that turns the matrix into a safe plate. It should run exactly the same way on a slow Tuesday and a packed Saturday.

1. Ask at the greet. "Does anyone at the table have a food allergy we should know about?" Asked every time, it catches the guests who would not have mentioned it.
2. Confirm the allergy and how serious it is. Repeat it back. Treat every stated allergy as serious; do not try to judge whether it is "really" an allergy.
3. Check the matrix, not memory. Tell the guest what the matrix says, including cross-contact risks such as a shared fryer. If you are unsure, say so and get the manager or chef. Never guess.
4. Ring it with an allergy modifier that prints clearly on the kitchen ticket, with the seat number. Then tell the kitchen in person as well.
5. The kitchen confirms and prepares it separately: washed hands and fresh gloves, clean board and utensils, clean pan, nothing from shared fryers or grills unless the matrix says it is safe. If an allergen ends up on the plate, the plate is remade, never scraped.
6. Mark the plate with an allergy pick or a separate plate color, and have the chef or manager check it at the pass against the ticket.
7. Deliver it by hand to the right seat, by the server or the manager, separately from the rest of the table if needed, and confirm with the guest as it is set down.
8. Log it. Note the table, the allergy and who handled it in the manager log.

Cross-contact in the kitchen and at the bar

Cross-contact is where most well-meaning kitchens get caught. Walk your own building looking for these:

• Fryers. A fryer that cooks shrimp or battered fish passes shellfish, fish and wheat to everything else in it, including the fries.
• Grills and flat tops, where buttered buns, cheese and marinated proteins share the same surface.
• Garnish and finishing stations: shared spoons in the nut garnish, sesame seeds, grated cheese, breadcrumbs.
• Gloves and towels that move from one plate to the next.
• The bar. Orgeat is made from almonds, many sours use egg white, cream liqueurs and some cocktails contain milk, and Clamato contains clam juice. Bar garnishes such as nuts sit in open wells. Add every cocktail to the matrix.
• Dessert and pastry, where nuts, wheat, milk and eggs are everywhere and shared equipment is the norm.

Where a cross-contact risk cannot be removed, tell the guest plainly so they can make an informed choice.

If a guest has a reaction

Every manager should know this cold, and it belongs in your training and on the office wall:

1. Call 911 immediately if the guest shows signs of a serious reaction, such as trouble breathing, swelling of the face or throat, or collapse. Do not wait to see if it passes.
2. Help the guest use their own epinephrine auto-injector if they have one, or help whoever is with them to do it. Follow the dispatcher's instructions.
3. Stay with the guest, keep the area clear, and send someone to meet the paramedics at the door.
4. Keep the plate and the ticket. Do not throw anything away.
5. Write it down as soon as the guest is in care: what was ordered, what was served, who handled it, what the guest said about their allergy and the timeline. Notify the owner, and follow your insurance and health department reporting requirements.

Training, drills and keeping it current

• Every new hire learns the nine allergens, the routine and the reaction steps before their first shift on the floor or the line. The hiring and training guide covers onboarding.
• Every menu change triggers a matrix update and a pre-shift walk-through of the affected dishes.
• Every quarter, run a drill: a manager places an allergy order and follows it from greet to table, noting any step that was skipped.
• Every inspection, expect the inspector to ask the person in charge about allergens. The health inspection guide covers what else they look for.

FAQ

What are the nine major food allergens?

Milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame. Sesame was added as the ninth major food allergen in the United States on January 1, 2023.

Do restaurants have to list allergens on the menu?

It depends on where you are. The 2022 FDA Food Code requires written notice to guests when a major food allergen is an ingredient in unpackaged food, which can be a menu note, an allergen chart, table tents or an electronic menu. States and local health departments adopt the Food Code on their own schedules and some have their own allergen laws, so check with your local health department.

What is an allergen matrix?

A grid of every menu item against the major allergens, built from the recipes and product labels, showing which allergens each dish contains and where there is a cross-contact risk. It is the reference servers, cooks and managers use to answer guests and prepare allergy orders.

What is the difference between cross-contact and cross-contamination?

Cross-contact is when an allergen gets into a food that should not contain it, through shared equipment, oil, surfaces or hands. Cooking does not remove it. Cross-contamination usually refers to bacteria or other pathogens moving between foods, which cooking can kill.

What should a restaurant do if a guest has an allergic reaction?

Call 911 immediately for any sign of a serious reaction, help the guest use their own epinephrine auto-injector if they have one, stay with them and follow the dispatcher's instructions. Keep the plate and ticket, then document what happened and notify the owner.