Allergen Management
Know exactly which allergens are in every recipe you make
Tag each ingredient with its allergens once. MenuCost builds the allergen profile of every recipe that uses it, so your menu stays accurate and your team is never guessing.
- No card needed
- All 14 major allergens
- Unlimited recipes
Example recipe. Update one ingredient's tags and every recipe using it follows.
Why this matters
A customer with an allergy trusts your menu. It needs to be right.
Allergen information sits at the ingredient level, not the recipe level. When a supplier changes, the recipe's profile has to change too. Here is a café's house granola bar after switching oat suppliers: the old oats were certified gluten-free, the new ones aren't.
Last month's printed allergen sheet
Nobody noticed the supplier change.
MenuCost, after the oat tags are updated
One tag change on the ingredient updates the bar.
Someone asking if a dessert has gluten is making a medical decision based on your answer. MenuCost gives you one source of truth, built from the ingredients you actually use.
All 14 major allergens, tracked across every recipe
The 14 allergens used in international food labelling, such as the EU list.
Tag ingredients once. Every recipe updates.
Tag each ingredient
Mark what each ingredient contains or may contain: whole milk as milk, bread flour as gluten, tahini as sesame. Once per ingredient, not per recipe.
Recipe profiles build themselves
Add ingredients to a recipe and MenuCost reads their tags. Anything any ingredient contains or may contain appears in the recipe's profile.
Changes flow through the menu
New supplier or reformulated product? Update the tags on that one ingredient and every recipe using it reflects the change.
See where each allergen comes from
Each recipe's profile lists allergens by ingredient, so you know exactly which ingredient triggered a flag.
See coverage across your menu
One table shows every item with its allergen flags, so you can spot what's free from a specific allergen and answer customers with confidence.
What changes when allergens are tracked at the ingredient level
Profiles that stay accurate
Add an ingredient to a recipe and its allergens come with it.
No silent supplier risks
Update one ingredient's tags and every recipe using it changes too.
Confident answers
One place to check, instead of spec sheets or an old spreadsheet.
A base for labelling
Accurate data to build packaging labels and contract paperwork from.
What's the difference between "Contains" and "May contain"?
"Contains" means the allergen is in the ingredient, like milk in butter. "May contain" means a trace risk from cross-contamination, like sugar packed on equipment that also handles nuts. For customers with severe allergies both matter, so MenuCost tracks them separately.
Do I tag every ingredient, or just the likely ones?
Review every ingredient, including those you expect to be allergen-free. A recipe's profile is only as complete as the tags on its ingredients, so checking each one gives you a record you can trust.
What about ready-made sauces, pastes or blends?
Tag them from the supplier's own allergen declaration on the packaging or spec sheet. Set it once on the ingredient and every recipe using it picks up the flags. If the supplier reformulates, update the tags once.
Can MenuCost produce a declaration for my packaging?
MenuCost gives you the accurate underlying data: what each recipe contains and may contain. Turning that into a label layout is a separate step you handle yourself. Always check declarations against your local food labelling rules.
Does it work for catering orders?
Yes. Allergen profiles live on each recipe, so every item in a catering quote already has its allergen information. When a client asks for an allergen list for their order, the data is ready in MenuCost.
Works hand in hand with
Know what's in every recipe, before a customer has to ask
One reliable source of truth for allergens, built from your real ingredients.
- No card needed
- Set up in minutes
- Unlimited recipes