Allergen matrix (14 allergens)

What the law requires

Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Article 9(1)(c) makes it mandatory to indicate every ingredient listed in Annex II that is used in a food and is still present in the finished product. Annex II lists 14 groups: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame seeds, sulphur dioxide and sulphites above 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre, lupin and molluscs. Under Article 44 this information is also mandatory for food offered to the final consumer without prepackaging, such as the dishes of a restaurant or a food truck, and each country may set how it is given. Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Annex II, Chapter IX adds that equipment used for these allergens must be cleaned and checked before it is used for food that does not contain them.

Food sold without packaging must still come with information on the 14 allergens listed in Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011. How you give it, for example on the menu, on a sign or orally, depends on the rules in your country.

How to fill it in, in 5 steps

1. 1Write the business name and the date at the top, then list every dish, drink and sauce you sell in the first column.
2. 2For each dish, check the recipe and the labels or specifications of the ingredients you buy, including sauces, spices and ready-made products.
3. 3Put an X in the column of every allergen the dish contains, and write details in the note, for example which nut or which cereal.
4. 4When a recipe, an ingredient or a supplier changes, update the row at once and write the new date at the top.
5. 5Keep the current matrix where staff can find it, give guests the information in the way your country requires, and file older versions with your HACCP records.