The death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse from an undeclared allergen in 2016 changed UK food labelling law permanently. Natasha’s Law, which came into force in October 2021, requires food businesses to provide full ingredient lists and allergen information for all pre-packed for direct sale foods. But the broader allergen disclosure obligation — requiring businesses to inform customers about the 14 major allergens in any food they prepare — applies across the UK food sector.

For restaurants, cafes, bakeries, school canteens, hospital catering and food service operators, communicating allergen and nutritional information to customers is both a legal obligation and a genuine customer care responsibility. Digital screens offer one of the most effective solutions available — they are updatable in real time when recipes change, legible at distance, and capable of displaying detailed information without cluttering the main menu design.

The Legal Landscape: What UK Food Businesses Must Display

The 14 major allergens that UK food businesses must declare are: celery, cereals containing gluten (including wheat, rye, barley and oats), crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites, and tree nuts. For non-prepacked food, the requirement is to provide allergen information to customers when asked. The Food Standards Agency recommends that businesses communicate this information proactively, and many now choose to display it prominently on digital menu boards.

How Digital Screens Handle Allergen Information

Static allergen zone. The simplest approach: a dedicated section of the menu board template displays allergen icons for each menu item using the standardised EU allergen icon set. This is designed once and updated manually when the menu changes. Suitable for businesses with stable menus and infrequent recipe changes.

Dynamic data-fed allergen display. For businesses with frequently changing menus, a CMS can pull allergen data from a connected database and automatically update displays when menu items change. This requires either a CMS with built-in allergen management or custom development connecting your recipe database to the CMS.

Dedicated allergen information screen. A separate screen positioned at the counter or ordering point displays a detailed allergen matrix for the full menu. Particularly common in school canteens, hospital catering and high-volume QSR operators.

Nutritional Information: Calorie Labelling for UK Hospitality

Since April 2022, large UK food businesses with 250 or more employees are required to display calorie information on their menus. While this does not yet apply to smaller operators, many businesses are implementing calorie display proactively to serve the growing customer demand for nutritional transparency. Digital menu boards are ideal for calorie labelling because they can be updated immediately when recipes change, avoiding the liability of displaying calorie counts for a modified recipe.

Our digital menu board range includes screens from 32” to 86” suitable for countertop, wall-mounted and ceiling-suspended allergen and menu display. For food businesses that need professional allergen-compliant menu design, our KhazinaWindow Active service includes monthly animated content with allergen icon integration from £29/month. Contact our team to discuss your specific requirements.