Allergens and dietary requirements: the guide for your catering

The 14 groups and where they usually hide

1. 1Cereals containing gluten
   Wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt. Hidden in soy sauce, breadcrumb coatings, thickened sauces, beer and many sausages.
2. 2Crustaceans
   Prawns, crab, lobster. Also in Asian pastes, in stocks and in some fish soups.
3. 3Eggs
   Visible in baking, invisible in mayonnaise, remoulade, coatings, fresh pasta and the glaze on pastry.
4. 4Fish
   Also in Worcestershire sauce, Caesar dressing, Asian fish sauces and in fish-derived gelatine.
5. 5Peanuts
   In Asian sauces, in bars and desserts, as an oil and as a roasted topping over a salad.
6. 6Soybeans
   In soy sauce, tofu, lecithin used as an emulsifier, in coatings, baked goods and many meat alternatives.
7. 7Milk including lactose
   Butter, cream, cheese, but also spreads, thickened sauces, mashed potato and some bread rolls.
8. 8Tree nuts
   Almond, hazelnut, walnut, cashew, pistachio and others. In pesto, desserts, salads, oils and spreads.
9. 9Celery
   The most common hiding place of all: stock, jus, soup, spice blends, salad dressing, vegetable bouillon.
10. 10Mustard
    In dressings, marinades, sausage, roasting juices and in practically every classic vinaigrette.
11. 11Sesame seeds
    On bread and burger buns, as tahini in hummus, in falafel, in Asian oils and in savoury snacks.
12. 12Sulphur dioxide and sulphites
    In wine, dried fruit, vinegar, pickled vegetables and in processed potato products.
13. 13Lupin
    In baked goods, in gluten-free flour blends and in plant-based meat and milk alternatives.
14. 14Molluscs
    Mussels, squid, snails. Also in paella, in fish soups and in oyster sauce.

Three categories, three consequences for the menu

1. 1Allergy
   An immune reaction where traces can be enough, and in the worst case a medical emergency. Peanut, tree nut, fish, crustacean, egg and milk are the common ones. Consequence: a separately plated, covered and labelled dish handed over by staff, not the open buffet.
2. 2Intolerance
   Lactose, fructose or histamine will not produce an emergency, but they will ruin someone’s evening. Here the quantity matters rather than the trace. Consequence: a full dish without the substance, clearly labelled, in a normal portion on the buffet.
3. 3Coeliac disease
   It sits between the two and is the most commonly underestimated. It is not an allergy, but it demands the same care: crumbs from the bread basket or a shared serving spoon are already a problem. Consequence: gluten-free dishes stored separately, served separately, with their own utensils.
4. 4Dietary choice
   Vegetarian, vegan, no pork, no alcohol: not a health question but a matter of respect and decent planning. Consequence: a regular main course that happens to be plant-based, not a plate of side dishes.
5. 5Halal and kosher
   Two requirements in their own right, and both are more than leaving the pork out. If guests eat certified, that is a question for the caterer before you book, and not the same thing as a pork-free buffet. Ask early and take the answer seriously, including when it is no.

Five rules for asking

1. 1Ask with the invitation, not afterwards
   One field right next to the RSVP. Anyone who gets a separate email two weeks later answers less often, and the late answer tends to arrive after the kitchen’s cut-off.
2. 2Word it neutrally
   “Is there anything we should take into account with the food? Allergies, intolerances, dietary requirements.” The phrase “special request” has no business in this field, because it turns the answer into asking for a favour.
3. 3One open field plus tick boxes
   Tick boxes for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, lactose-free and no pork. Plus a free-text field, because the cases that really matter are never on a list of options.
4. 4Never in a group
   No show of hands in a meeting, no poll in the team chat. People who would have to answer in public do not answer. A form or a direct message costs nothing and gets more responses.
5. 5Follow up on the serious ones
   If an allergy appears in the field, follow up briefly and directly: how strict is it, do traces matter, is a separately plated dish acceptable? That is not nosiness, it is the information the kitchen needs.

What is possible and what is not

1. 1Possible: work separately
   Dedicated boards, dedicated knives, fresh gloves, cleaned surfaces and separate containers for the dish in question. Standard practice in any professional kitchen, and it costs nothing extra when it is known in advance.
2. 2Possible: cook it first
   The allergen-free dish is produced before the rest of the line starts, then covered, labelled and set aside. The simplest and most effective step there is.
3. 3Possible: serve it separately
   Its own serving spoon, its own dish, a place at the start of the buffet before crumbs and sauces travel. With a severe allergy, better off the buffet entirely.
4. 4Not possible: “guaranteed free from traces”
   In a shared kitchen nobody can promise that honestly. A caterer who does either runs a separate production line or has not thought it through.
5. 5Not controllable: the buffet itself
   Guests swap spoons, put bread on the wrong plate and reach across with the same tongs. As soon as a guest is at risk of anaphylaxis, an open buffet is the wrong place for their food.
6. 6The safe route for a severe allergy
   An individually plated, covered dish with the guest’s name on it, handed over directly by a member of the service team. Tell the guest in advance how it will be handled so they can decide for themselves.

What belongs in the brief

1. 1Numbers, not hints
   How many guests per requirement: vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, lactose-free, no pork. With a small reserve, because plant-based dishes get eaten by other people too.
2. 2Category and severity
   For every allergy, say whether traces are relevant. That decides whether the kitchen adapts a buffet dish or plates something separately.
3. 3Names for plated dishes
   A dish handed over individually needs a name and a table. Without both it ends the evening untouched at the pass.
4. 4Ask for complete dishes
   Not “without the sauce”, not “salad without dressing”. Phrase the requirement as a dish: a hot vegan main with a proper starch, a gluten-free version of the starter.
5. 5Ask for the dish list back
   Request a list of dishes with allergen information before the event, not on the day. It is your check and the template for the labels at the buffet at the same time.
6. 6Respect the deadline
   With the final headcount at the latest, so five to seven working days out. Report earlier and you get an adapted menu. Report later and you get a workaround.

Five checks during setup

1. 1A card at every dish
   Not just a list at the entrance but information at the dish itself, readable while standing. Replacement dishes need the same card again.
2. 2The order along the buffet
   Allergen-free and plant-based dishes at the start, before crumbs, sauces and tongs travel. Their own serving spoons, visibly assigned.
3. 3Plated dishes stay off the buffet
   They stay covered at the pass or in the kitchen until a member of staff hands them to the right guest.
4. 4One person who knows
   Somebody in the service team has to know the allergen list and answer a question without walking back to the kitchen. Settle at the briefing who that is.
5. 5Check the refills
   What gets topped up sometimes comes from a different batch. A quick look part way through stops the labelling from quietly going out of date after two hours.