Food Information Regulations 2014: Allergen Rules for Menus

Ask a restaurant owner which law covers their menu's allergen information, and most say Natasha's Law. It's the one that made headlines. But Natasha's Law only covers food packaged on your premises before a customer picks it, a sandwich in a chiller, a boxed salad on a deli counter. The plate a server carries to a table, the wrap made to order at your counter, the curry you cook the moment someone asks for it, none of that is Natasha's Law. It's governed by an older, quieter regulation: the Food Information Regulations 2014.

If you've never heard of it by name, you're not alone. It doesn't get the headlines Natasha's Law does, but for most restaurants, cafes, and takeaways, it sets the allergen labelling requirements that actually decide what you tell a guest before they order a hot meal, a sandwich made to order, or anything else sold loose rather than pre-packaged.

What the Food Information Regulations 2014 are

The Food Information Regulations 2014 (FIR 2014) are the UK's domestic legislation implementing EU Regulation 1169/2011, known as the Food Information to Consumers Regulation, or the FIC regulations for short. England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland each have their own near-identical version of the instrument, so the requirements are consistent UK-wide even though the underlying legislation is technically split by nation.

FIR 2014 covers food labelling broadly, ingredient lists, nutrition declarations, and country-of-origin rules for prepacked products. But the part that matters most for restaurants, the allergen information regulations your menu actually has to follow, is narrower and specific: from 13 December 2014, the regulation extended mandatory allergen disclosure to non-prepacked food, meaning food sold loose, cooked to order, or served without packaging. Before that date, allergen information for this kind of food wasn't formally required at all. FIR 2014 is the reason a takeaway counter or a table-service restaurant has to answer an allergen question accurately, not just as a courtesy.

What they require for food sold loose or non-prepacked

The non-prepacked allergen rules cover most of what a typical restaurant serves: a meal cooked and plated to order, a sandwich made at the counter after a customer asks for it, food served at a buffet, and drinks made behind a bar. Under FIR 2014, if any of the 14 major allergens is present in a dish, you have to be able to tell the customer, before they order, whether it contains it.

The regulation gives you two ways to do that:

• Write it down. State the allergens directly on the menu, a chalkboard, or a printed list next to each dish.
• Say it, but signpost it clearly. Provide the information verbally through trained staff, as long as there's a clear, consistent written notice telling customers that allergen information is available on request, for example a line on the menu or a sign at the till saying "please speak to a member of staff about allergens before you order."

Verbal-only is legal, but it isn't the safer choice. It puts the entire obligation on whichever staff member happens to be on shift remembering the current recipe correctly, under pressure, every single time. Whichever route you pick, the information itself still has to be accurate, and in practice that means keeping it somewhere written and checkable behind the scenes, a chart, a spec sheet, or a digital record, so staff aren't guessing when asked.

FIR 2014 vs Natasha's Law

These two rules get mixed up constantly, and the confusion is understandable because they cover the same 14 allergens in the same kitchens. The difference is entirely about packaging timing, not what the food is.

Food Information Regulations 2014 applies when:

• The food is sold loose or non-prepacked
• It's cooked, assembled, or plated after, or as, the customer orders it
• Examples: a table-service meal, a sandwich made to order at the counter, a buffet dish, a cocktail

Natasha's Law (PPDS labelling) applies when:

• The food is packaged on your premises before a customer selects or orders it
• The packaging means the contents can't be changed without opening it
• Examples: a pre-made sandwich in a chiller, a boxed salad on display, pastries bagged at a bakery counter

A restaurant kitchen can easily have both categories running side by side, a hot lunch service governed by FIR 2014, and a grab-and-go fridge governed by Natasha's Law, on the same day, in the same building. If you want the full breakdown of PPDS labelling requirements, our guide to Natasha's Law for restaurants covers exactly what a compliant label needs to show.

How to meet the requirements in practice

Compliance under FIR 2014 comes down to three things holding up at the same time: accurate information, a clear way to communicate it, and a way to keep both current as recipes change.

1. Build an allergen reference for every dish, checked against the 14 allergens list, not just the obvious ones. Stock cubes, sauces bought in rather than made in-house, and garnishes added at the pass are the most common gaps.
2. Decide your signposting method and make it visible: allergens printed directly on the menu, or a clear "ask a member of staff" notice backed by staff who've actually been briefed, not just told the chart exists somewhere.
3. Re-check every allergen entry when a recipe changes, not on a fixed schedule. A supplier swap or an ingredient substitution is exactly how an allergen goes undeclared without anyone deciding to hide it.
4. Keep the record somewhere staff can check under pressure, not just in one chef's memory. A folder behind the bar works until it doesn't; a QR-code menu with allergens tagged per dish means the guest can check it themselves without needing a server's attention at all.

This is where a digital menu earns its keep. With allergen tags built into each dish, the written half of FIR 2014's requirement is satisfied automatically, on the menu, for every guest, in whatever language they're reading it in, rather than resting on a verbal answer that varies by who's working that shift. We cover the practical side of setting this up in our guide to putting allergens on a menu simply.

None of this is legal advice. If your setup is unusual, shared kitchens, multiple sites, or catering alongside table service, it's worth checking current guidance from the Food Standards Agency or your local environmental health team before you finalise how you signpost allergens.

FAQ

What do the Food Information Regulations 2014 require? They require food businesses to provide accurate allergen information, covering the 14 major allergens, for any food they sell, including non-prepacked food like restaurant meals and food made to order. Information can be written on the menu or given verbally by staff, as long as verbal disclosure is backed by a clear written notice telling customers to ask.

Do the Food Information Regulations 2014 apply to restaurants? Yes. They're the main allergen regulation covering food that restaurants, cafes, and takeaways cook, plate, and serve to order, table service, counter service, and buffets included. This is different from Natasha's Law, which only applies to food packaged on-site before a customer chooses it.

What's the difference between FIR 2014 and Natasha's Law? FIR 2014 covers non-prepacked food, meals cooked or assembled after, or as, a customer orders. Natasha's Law, which took effect in October 2021 following a 2019 amendment, covers PPDS food packaged before a customer selects it, like a pre-made sandwich in a chiller. Both require disclosure of the same 14 allergens, but the format differs: FIR 2014 allows written or verbal disclosure with signposting, while Natasha's Law requires a printed label with the allergens emphasised on the pack itself.

Do I have to write allergens on the menu? Not by law, as long as you signpost clearly that allergen information is available on request and your staff can give it accurately every time. In practice, printing allergen marks directly on the menu removes the risk of an incorrect verbal answer and is the option most restaurants find easier to keep accurate as recipes change.

Make allergen signposting effortless

FIR 2014 doesn't ask for much on paper, just accurate information, available before a guest orders. The part that actually trips restaurants up is keeping that information correct as the menu changes underneath it. With SafestMenu, you tag the 14 allergens on each dish once, and every guest scanning the QR code sees the current version, in their own language, without needing to flag down a server or trust a sticky note that might be out of date. Your first menu, five dishes, is free, no card required. Build it at app.safestmenu.com.