Under European law, restaurants must make their menu allergen information accessible to customers. To comply with the law, promote transparency and offer a better and safer experience for your customers, your menu’s allergen information will be visible on our platform from 9th of June 2021. Takeaway.com users will then be able to view the allergens associated with your menu card.
Read our FAQs below for everything you need to know!
Why is it so important to validate allergens?
Providing allergen information should not be taken lightly. Allergens can cause serious health issues to your customers. We strongly recommend that you carefully identify any potential allergens present in your dishes. Providing complete and reliable information can give your customer some peace of mind.
Please consider every single ingredient that is included in your recipes. Some dish ingredients might contain other minor ingredients that may not be immediately obvious, so it’s important to check every label of every single ingredient used in every dish.
Potential cross-contamination is another important risk to be aware of. You should make sure you have enough space and equipment in your kitchen to prevent small traces of allergens from transferring from one dish to another. For example, if you use certain equipment or a certain area of your kitchen for chopping nuts, then this equipment and area should not be used to prepare dishes that you claim to be nut free.
To learn more about identifying allergens, preventing cross-contamination and safe food preparation, you should speak to your local health inspector for advice.
Here’s how to successfully validate and add allergen information in your Restaurant Portal
Allergen validation FAQs
Why do I need to validate my allergens now?
Validating your allergen information is essential for legal compliance, and to promote customer transparency and safety. Simply put, providing accurate allergen information is mandatory under EU law.
We have recently introduced a new tool that simplifies the validation process. This way you save a lot of time and effort when adding allergen information to your menu on Takeaway.com.
What is the new allergen verification tool and how does it work?
Our new tool is designed for quicker and easier allergen validation. The tool collects allergen information by scanning your entire menu. It’s advanced technology suggests any allergens that may be present. All you have to do is validate this information in the ‘Menu’ section of your Restaurant Portal. Always remember, the allergens suggested by the tool are only suggestions. It is your responsibility, as a restaurant, to make sure all information is absolutely correct.
Where can I find information about allergens in ingredients?
Providing information about allergens is mandatory in all EU countries (Regulation 1169/2011). You can validate your menu allergen information in your Restaurant Portal. We encourage our partners to include information about allergens present in their menus. You can find out more in the official sources created by the European Commission.
Please keep in mind that maintaining accurate and up-to-date information about allergens falls under the restaurant’s responsibility.
I already provided this information in the menu card at signup. Why do I have to verify this information again?
We want to make sure the information in our system reflects the most recent status of all ingredients, in every product, offered via our platform. We moved the verification process to the Restaurant Portal, so anything that is pending verification is brought to your attention.
I only know the allergens for half the dishes in my menu. What about the other half? Can you put it on the platform anyway?
Summing up the information about allergens is mandatory in EU countries. It means that each dish on the platform must have an up-to-date list of allergens. Visit your Restaurant Portal to validate the information about the allergens in your products. To learn more about food information and labelling please visit this website.
Where can I specify information about allergens/ why is there no option for additives?
Our tech teams are working on more innovative solutions to ensure that our platform is up to speed on all industry requirements. We are working on developing more solutions which will soon be available to you in your Restaurant Portal.
What happens if I don’t verify the allergens in my menu?
Ensuring food safety and proper labelling of your products is part of the requirements of the contract between you and Just Eat Takeaway.com. We act as enablers to ensure that you can comply with country regulations of listing all information required for consumer safety. Just Eat Takeaway.com reserves the right to remove items from menus that we deem to pose a risk to the safety or health of our customers.
Who is responsible for keeping information about allergens and additives (A&A) up-to-date?
You, as a restaurant, are required to ensure that the allergens are correct and up-to-date with the standards of the European Food Safety committee and the EU legislation relating to allergen information. We, as an entity enabling a connection between you and the consumer, are creating an environment in which you can display the allergens to your customers.
Do I have to provide allergens for every dish? Some products in my menu don’t have any allergenes.
You don’t have to provide allergen information for ingredients which don’t have any of the 14 priority allergens. You can also verify these products in your Restaurant Portal by choosing the “no allergens” option.
I gave you the list of allergens but it’s different on the platform. What should I do?
Log into your Restaurant Portal to view your menu. If you see an item that’s incorrect, click on “Edit” and select the correct allergen, then click “Save”.
Do I have to send you an A&A list every time I update my menu?
Every time you update the ingredients of any product, you must confirm the allergens. This means that for every change in products on your menu, allergens should be updated.
Once you’re an active restaurant, you no longer have to send us an update of your allergens directly. Simply, go to your Restaurant Portal and check all the boxes for allergens in your products next to the product name.
How long does the requested A&A update take?
Once you verify the allergens in your Restaurant Portal, they are verified in our system immediately. You don’t have to take any more steps. Please keep in mind that whenever you change the ingredients of the products, or add a new dish to your menu, you will be asked to verify the allergens again.
I have a ‘gluten free’ restaurant. Do I have to send you my certification?
Yes, you need to send us the certification. ‘Gluten Free’ is a legally protected term in many countries. As such, certification is required when this claim is made for a whole menu.
Do I have to verify allergens once I change prices?
No, changing your menu’s product prices won’t affect the allergens. You need to verify and confirm allergens only when you change the names or the descriptions of dishes.
