Allergen information for online and phone orders: what UK takeaways must show

This guide covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland, where the FSA's guidance applies. Scotland has its own regulator, Food Standards Scotland, so check its guidance if you trade there. It's a summary of the FSA's published guidance as of 21 October 2026, not legal advice. Your council's trading standards or environmental health team can answer questions about your own business.

Natasha's Law and takeaways: the short version

Natasha's Law is the common name for the labelling rules for prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food, which started on 1 October 2021. PPDS food is packed on the same premises where it's sold, and it's already in its packaging before the customer chooses it. Think of sandwiches wrapped in the morning and put in a chiller. PPDS food must carry a label with the name of the food and a full ingredients list, with the allergens emphasised, for example in bold.

Most hot takeaway food isn't like that. The FSA says food that is "packaged after being ordered by the consumer" is not PPDS. It also says the PPDS labelling change doesn't apply to food sold by distance selling, such as over the phone or on the internet.

So a curry cooked and boxed after someone orders it on your website isn't a Natasha's Law product. That doesn't mean there are no rules. It means a different set applies.

There's one trap. If you pack items before they're ordered and sell them over the counter, for example a tub of sauce or a pack of prawn crackers on a shelf, check whether they count as PPDS for in-person sales. The FSA has an allergen and ingredients labelling tool that helps you decide.

The two-stage rule for online and phone orders

For food sold without face-to-face contact, the FSA's allergen guidance says allergen information must be provided:

1. Before the purchase is completed. This can be written, on a website, catalogue or menu, or spoken, by phone.
2. When the food is delivered. This can be written, such as allergen stickers on the food or an enclosed copy of the menu, or spoken.

The FSA's advice goes further than the minimum. It says businesses selling food for delivery or collection should make written allergen information available at both stages. Its best-practice guidance for non-prepacked food (published 24 February 2025) explains why. Written information lets the customer decide what's safe to order. It also lets them check they've got the right item when the bag arrives, before they eat.

Stage one: on your online menu

The best-practice guidance says that if you sell through your own website, the allergen information could sit on the main menu. If it isn't there, it should ideally be "no more than one click away", with a clear message and link.

In practice, the strongest set-up for a takeaway is a short "Contains:" line on every dish. The FSA's own examples look like this: "Chicken Tikka Masala (Contains: milk, nuts (almond))". For grouped allergens like tree nuts and cereals containing gluten, name the specific nut or cereal when you write it in words.

If you use symbols, the FSA says the allergen name should be part of the symbol, or there must be a key next to it. The FSA offers free allergy symbols you can download for menus and websites.

If you also sell through a marketplace app, the guidance says customers should be told where to find the allergen information before they order. That could be on the app itself, where it allows it, or by sending them to your own website.

Stage two: in the bag

For the delivery stage, the FSA's examples are:

• a sticker on each container, such as "Chicken satay: Contains: wheat, soy, fish, peanut";
• or a menu in the bag that shows the allergens, with clear names or numbers on the containers so the customer can match them up.

The guidance adds two things takeaways often miss. First, mark any customisations. If a customer asked for no peanuts, the container should show that. Second, take care with cross-contamination in transit. If it's a risk, tell the customer.

If you can't keep the website up to date

The guidance accepts that some businesses can't keep online allergen information current. They must still make it easy to get, for example by phone. In that case, the FSA says you should tell customers where to get it and ask whether allergen information is needed before you take the order.

The 14 allergens you must declare

Food law requires you to declare these 14 when they're used as ingredients or processing aids:

The right-hand column is a prompt to check your own suppliers' labels, not a statement about any particular product. Recipes and suppliers vary, so the only reliable source is the label on what you actually buy.

How to build your allergen information

The FSA asks businesses to keep written records of what's in their food: product specification sheets, ingredient labels kept on containers, and recipes. Its best-practice guidance lists ways to keep the information accurate:

• Keep a record of every recipe so the dish is made the same way each time.
• Check whether suppliers' ingredients have changed, and ask suppliers to tell you when they do.
• Avoid last-minute substitutions. When one happens, check the new ingredient and update the information.
• Review the information regularly.
• Train staff. The FSA offers free online food allergy training and an allergen checklist.

A simple allergen matrix works well. That's a grid with dishes down the side and the 14 allergens across the top. The FSA's best-practice guidance includes an example. Build it once from your recipes and supplier labels. Then copy each dish's row into the dish description on your online menu, and print the grid for the kitchen.

When you change a supplier, update the matrix first. Then update the website and print a new kitchen copy. Swapping a sauce brand is the classic way a menu that was right last month becomes wrong this month.

"May contain" and "free from" claims

Precautionary allergen labelling (PAL), such as "may contain milk", is for a cross-contamination risk you've identified and can't control. GOV.UK's labelling guidance says not to use general statements like "may contain allergens". If a supplier passes you a precautionary warning, pass it on to customers unless your own risk assessment says otherwise.

A kitchen-wide message is also an option. The FSA gives this example: "We use peanuts, nuts, soy and wheat (gluten) in our kitchen, please speak to us so we can prepare your meal safely".

Free-from claims are much stricter. The FSA warns that a free-from claim tells customers the food is suitable for everyone with that allergy or intolerance. If you fry battered fish and chips in the same oil, you can't call the chips gluten-free. If you can't separate ingredients by time and space, don't make the claim. Say what the risk is instead.

Vegan isn't the same as allergen-free. The FSA notes that customers sometimes assume vegan dishes contain no egg, milk, fish, crustaceans or molluscs. Low-level cross-contamination can still happen, so be clear about it.

A checklist for your online menu

• Every dish shows the allergens it contains, by name, on the menu or one click away.
• Grouped allergens name the specific nut or cereal.
• There's a clear line near the top of the menu asking customers to tell you about allergies, with your phone number. The FSA suggests: "Please talk to us if you have a food allergy, intolerance or coeliac disease. We want to cater safely for everyone".
• Allergen stickers or a printed allergen menu go in every bag, and customised dishes are marked.
• Containers are labelled so the customer can match each dish to its allergen information.
• Precautionary wording is specific ("may contain sesame"), not general.
• No "gluten-free" or "nut-free" claims unless you can control the risk.
• Your allergen matrix has a date on it, and someone owns updating it.

Cuisine pages with specific allergen notes: Chinese takeaways, pizza shops, fish and chip shops and dark kitchens.

Where Chefzi fits

Chefzi is commission-free online ordering for UK restaurants and takeaways. Each dish on your Chefzi menu has a name and a description. That's where your "Contains:" line goes, so the customer reads it before they pay. The menu is text, not an image, so customers can read it on a phone, and so can search engines. Orders arrive in the Chefzi app on a phone or tablet you already own, so the kitchen sees the dish names and the options the customer chose.

Chefzi doesn't write or check your allergen information, and it doesn't print allergen stickers. You know your recipes and suppliers, so the content and its accuracy stay with you. See what Chefzi does and does not do, and what a restaurant website needs to take the order.

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Frequently asked questions

Does Natasha's Law apply to takeaway food ordered online?

Usually not. Natasha's Law covers prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food, which is packed before the customer orders it. The FSA says food packed after it is ordered is not PPDS, and the PPDS labelling change does not apply to food sold by distance selling, such as online or by phone. The separate distance-selling allergen rules still apply.

When do I have to give allergen information for a delivery or online order?

At two points. The FSA says allergen information must be available before the purchase is completed, for example on the online menu or by phone, and again when the food is delivered, for example with allergen stickers or an enclosed menu. Its best-practice advice is to give it in writing at both points.

Which allergens do I have to declare?

The 14 allergens in food law: celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites above 10 parts per million, and tree nuts. You can tell customers about other ingredients too, but only these 14 are required by law.

Can I just write 'ask staff about allergens' on my website?

The legal minimum lets you give information by any means, including verbally, if a notice tells customers how to get it. For online menus, the FSA's best practice is written information on the menu or no more than one click away. If you rely on a phone call, ask about allergies before taking the order.

Does Chefzi write my allergen information?

No. You know your recipes and suppliers, so the allergen information is yours to write and keep up to date. You add it to each dish's description on your Chefzi menu, and customers see it before they pay.

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