Guide · Food service
Allergens on the menu — the letter code and a worked example
Anyone serving food has to inform guests about 14 allergens — without any packaging, in a restaurant, café or canteen. The clearest way is on the menu: a letter code after each dish and a plain key. This guide shows the common assignment, a finished example — and what actually counts in law.
Do allergens have to be on the menu?
You must inform, and you must do it before the guest orders. Food that is not prepacked is covered: Article 44(1)(a) makes the allergen particulars mandatory, and Article 44(2) leaves the means to the Member State — in Germany § 4 LMIDV. How you inform is up to you: the menu is only the clearest of several permitted routes. The legal frame is in allergen labelling in restaurants, the overview in allergen labelling.
The 14 allergens as a letter code
In practice each allergen is abbreviated to a letter set after the dish (additives get numbers). A common assignment, in the order of Annex II:
| Code | Allergen |
|---|---|
| a | Cereals containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats …) |
| b | Crustaceans |
| c | Eggs |
| d | Fish |
| e | Peanuts |
| f | Soybeans |
| g | Milk (including lactose) |
| h | Nuts (almond, hazelnut, walnut, cashew …) |
| i | Celery |
| j | Mustard |
| k | Sesame |
| l | Sulphur dioxide and sulphites (above 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre) |
| m | Lupin |
| n | Molluscs |
Important — no code is prescribed: neither the Regulation nor the German LMIDV lays down any particular letter or number system. The assignment above is an industry convention; other countries use other letters (Austria, for example, with the WKO system), and in the UK and Ireland the practice is different again. All the law requires is that the assignment is unambiguous, understandable and easy to read. The full list with examples and hidden occurrences is in the 14 allergens.
Example: a menu with allergen marking
This is what a menu with footnotes can look like — letters after the dish, key underneath:
| Dish | Allergens |
|---|---|
| Wiener schnitzel with chips | a, c, g |
| Caesar salad with chicken | a, c, d, g, j |
| Spaghetti aglio e olio | a |
| Chocolate mousse | c, g, h |
| Home-made lemonade | l |
Key: a cereals containing gluten · b crustaceans · c eggs · d fish · e peanuts · f soybeans · g milk/lactose · h nuts · i celery · j mustard · k sesame · l sulphur dioxide/sulphites · m lupin · n molluscs. Illustrative values — the actual allergens follow from your own recipes.
Take the letters from the allergens that are actually present. The quickest check on an ingredient list is the free allergen checker — it marks all 14 straight away.
The permitted routes — not only the menu
§ 4 LMIDV allows three routes, as long as the information is available before the purchase:
- Directly on the menu — footnotes and a key (the most transparent).
- Written or electronic documentation (an allergen folder, a binder, a terminal) with a clearly visible notice pointing to it.
- Orally — only with trained staff and written documentation that a written notice points to (§ 4(4) LMIDV).
Do not forget the additives
Alongside allergens, certain additives have to be indicated in Germany — „mit Farbstoff“ (with colour), „mit Konservierungsstoff“ (with preservative) or „mit Süßungsmittel(n)“ (with sweetener), under § 5 LMZDV. Those usually get numbers in the key. The full list is in additives and E numbers; how to build the whole menu, prices included, is in how to write a menu.
Common mistakes
- A footnote with no entry in the key — a letter after the dish that is never explained.
- A key that is hard to read, or only visible after ordering (on the bill, say).
- Treating sulphites as just an additive — sulphur dioxide and sulphites are an allergen that has to be declared.
- Missing hidden allergens — soya lecithin in sauces, celery in spice blends, sulphites in wine.
- Ignoring bought-in convenience products — ready-made sauces and part-baked goods carry allergens too.
This article is general information and does not replace legal advice. What counts is the wording of the regulation as it applies at the time (Article 44 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 and § 4 LMIDV). The English text of the Regulation is quoted from the consolidated version of 1 January 2018 on EUR-Lex.