How tech can manage allergen risk

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Effectively managing allergens within your hospitality business

The topic of allergy management in the hospitality industry is hard to overlook in 2025, with stories of restaurant fines and legal cases flooding the headlines on an almost weekly basis.

This spotlight on allergies has been growing year on year, with stories from allergy sufferers about reactions after eating out fuelling the need for legislative and operational change, to keep customers safer when dining out.

The crackdown on allergen management has further strengthened this year with the introduction of more food allergen guidelines for the out-of-home sector from the Food Standards Agency in March.

To keep customers safe and avoid fines of up to £50,000, hospitality businesses should be doing their utmost to improve their allergen communication. But at Kitchen CUT, we know this can feel like a minefield for staff who are already facing the pressures of fast-paced restaurant service.

That’s where smart tech comes in.

Here, we give our insight into how tech can alleviate the stress of allergy management and ensure your restaurant stays compliant.

Automatic labelling

To stay within the new FSA guidelines and comply with legislation such as Natasha’s Law and other FDA laws both locally and internationally, it’s essential for restaurants to keep their menus updated with the 14 main allergens.

In busy, high-pressure environments such as professional kitchens, where dishes are constantly evolving and changing, it’s easy for admin tasks such as menu updates to be missed.

When chefs opt to substitute any products out, change suppliers or add something into a dish, allergens can unknowingly change. Kitchen CUT software will automatically update the allergen, CO2 and nutrition labels on each dish and menu, depending on what ingredients are added or taken away, meaning your kitchen and front-of-house staff don’t need to worry about allergens being missed.

Transparent, flexible menus

Together with saving hours of admin time, technology can give chefs more freedom and creativity when it comes to designing their menus to stay within allergy laws.

Kitchen staff can even go one step further with their allergy compliance by adding additional allergens and sub allergens not featured in the main 14 to their ingredient information, such as garlic and onions. This provides an even better, more transparent service to customers, helping to build trust and encouraging repeat bookings.

As chefs unleash their creativity to adapt menus to suit dining trends and seasons, hospitality business owners can have peace of mind knowing that accurate, real-time allergens for each dish are clearly displayed for customers to see.

To conclude

As the focus on allergen management intensifies, it’s never been more important for restaurants to step up their menu admin and improve customer communications. With specialist hospitality technology, software can take the stress of menu updates away from your staff. This frees up their time to do what they do best, while providing full transparency to keep customers safe.