To eat out with a food allergy, tell the restaurant before you order and ask how each dish is made, not just what the menu says. In the US, nine foods are major allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame, the ninth, added under the FASTER Act and covered from January 1, 2023. Those federal labeling rules apply to packaged food, not to most dishes a restaurant prepares to order, so your conversation with staff fills the gap.[1]
Confirm certification, ingredients, and allergens with the restaurant. For severe allergies, speak to staff in person before ordering; menu descriptions and SeEat are not a safety guarantee.
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What to order
- Simple dishes with few components, so there are fewer ingredients and steps to check; FARE advises keeping restaurant orders simple.[2]
- Dishes that can come with sauces, dressings, and garnishes on the side, so each one can be checked separately
- Food cooked to order rather than buffet or self-serve items, where FARE describes the risk of accidental exposure and cross-contact as high.[2]
- Grilled, fried, or wok-cooked dishes only after asking whether the grill, fryer oil, wok, or utensils are shared with your allergen
- Dessert only when the restaurant can name every ingredient, since desserts bought in from outside bakeries may come with incomplete ingredient lists.[2]
Before you order: tell the staff and use a chef card
Tell a manager or your server about your allergy before you are seated, and hand over a chef card, a wallet-sized card listing your allergens, asking that it go to the chef on duty. Calling ahead during a quiet period gives the kitchen time to check recipes.[2]
What to check
- Staff who seem unsure or say a small amount is fine; in CDC interviews, more than half of restaurant staff had never been trained on food allergies.[3]
- Answers that cover the main ingredients but not the sauce, marinade, stock, cooking oil, or garnish.
- Shared grills, fryers, woks, cutting boards, and utensils, which can carry an allergen into a dish whose ingredients are otherwise right.
Questions for the restaurant
- Can the chef check every ingredient in this dish, including sauces, marinades, stocks, and garnishes?
- Is it cooked on a shared grill, in shared fryer oil, or in a shared wok, and can you use clean equipment and utensils?
- Can my chef card go to the cook who prepares my plate?
Allergen charts and rules differ by place
In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, a restaurant or café must give you allergen information on 14 listed allergens, in writing or verbally.[4] In the US, the FDA's 2022 Food Code, a model code that many state and local agencies adopt, added written notice of major allergens in unpackaged food, so what a menu shows depends on local rules.[5]
What to check
- An allergen chart lists ingredients, not how the kitchen handles cross-contact; the Food Standards Agency suggests asking about equipment and ingredients separately.[4]
- Category lists vary: the UK list also includes molluscs, celery, mustard, and lupin, so a chart abroad may group foods differently from what you are used to.[4]
- FARE offers chef card templates in English and nine other languages, which helps when the staff speak a different language from you.[2]
Questions for the restaurant
- Do you have a current written allergen list for this dish?
- Does the kitchen keep separate equipment or a cleaned area for allergy orders?
Frequently asked questions
Why does telling the restaurant matter so much?
FARE reports that most fatal food allergy reactions are triggered by food eaten outside the home, and that diners often did not tell the restaurant about their allergy before ordering.[6] In CDC research, about one in three people with food allergies reported having had a reaction in a restaurant.[3]
Is an allergy-friendly label on the menu enough?
Treat it as a starting point. A dish can have the right ingredients and still pick up an allergen from a shared surface, and CDC found that many restaurants did not prepare allergen-free food on separate equipment or surfaces. Ask how your plate will be prepared.[3]
What should I bring when I eat out?
FARE advises never leaving home without your epinephrine auto-injector and any other medication your doctor prescribes, and suggests wearing a medical ID. Follow the emergency plan your own clinician has given you.[2]
What if the staff don't seem to understand?
Ask for the manager or the chef. If you still have doubts that the staff understand your needs, the Food Standards Agency advises not eating there; having a backup place in mind makes that easier.[4]
Related guides
Sources
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Food Allergies. Accessed
- Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE). Dining Out. Accessed
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Food Allergy Reactions. Accessed
- Food Standards Agency (GOV.UK). Food allergy and intolerance advice for consumers. Accessed
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Releases 2022 Food Code. Accessed
- Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE). Food Allergy Facts and Statistics. Accessed