A food allergy notice template for a restaurant needs to do four things: name the nine allergens recognized under federal law, warn about cross-contact, invite customers to tell staff about allergies before they order, and appear where customers actually see it before ordering. Sample language and posting guidance are below, along with the boundaries of what federal law does and doesn’t require of a food service business.
Sample Customer-Facing Notice
This version belongs on the menu, menu board, or a sign visible at the point of ordering:
Food Allergy Notice: Our menu items may contain or come into contact with milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. If you or someone in your party has a food allergy or intolerance, please inform your server before placing your order. We cannot guarantee that any menu item is completely free of allergens.
Some jurisdictions accept a shorter form, along the lines of “If you have a food allergy or intolerance, please notify us.” Whichever you pick, run it in the same language as the rest of the menu. Bilingual menu, bilingual notice.
A note on alcohol belongs on the same notice or immediately next to it. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau regulates labeling for wine, spirits, and malt beverages, and its current rules do not require allergen disclosure on those products.1Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Major Food Allergen Labeling for Wines, Distilled Spirits, and Malt Beverages Producers may declare allergens voluntarily, but if they do, they have to list all major allergens used in production, including fining agents like egg whites or milk-derived casein. A customer with a milk allergy has no way of knowing a wine was fined with casein from the bottle alone. A line like this covers the gap:
Allergen information for alcoholic beverages may not appear on the product label. Please ask staff about ingredients in wine, beer, and cocktails.
Sample Back-of-House Staff Poster
This version goes in the kitchen or prep area, ideally near the ticket line:
Food Allergy Awareness: Federal law recognizes nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. Always ask the customer about allergies before preparing food. Use clean utensils and surfaces when preparing allergen-free orders. When in doubt, check with a manager before serving.
Some states that require a staff-area poster provide a specific template through the state health department or through organizations like FARE (Food Allergy Research and Education). If your state prescribes a particular poster, use that version rather than drafting your own.
The Nine Allergens Your Notice Must Name
Every notice should list the nine foods recognized by federal law, because they account for the vast majority of serious allergic reactions in the United States:
- Milk
- Eggs
- Fish (such as bass, flounder, and cod)
- Crustacean shellfish (such as crab, lobster, and shrimp)
- Tree nuts (such as almonds, walnuts, and pecans)
- Peanuts
- Wheat
- Soybeans
- Sesame
The first eight were designated under the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004. Sesame was added by the FASTER Act, which took effect on January 1, 2023.2Food and Drug Administration. The FASTER Act: Sesame Is the Ninth Major Food Allergen Reference each allergen by its common name. If a dish contains casein, the notice says “milk.” If it contains albumin, “eggs.”
Some customers react to foods outside the nine, such as corn, mustard, or celery. Federal law doesn’t classify those as major allergens, but a well-drafted notice invites customers to ask about any ingredient, not just the big nine.
Cross-Contact Language
Cross-contact happens when an allergen transfers from one food to another through shared equipment, prep surfaces, or cooking oil. It differs from microbial cross-contamination: cross-contact involves allergen proteins, and cooking does not neutralize them. A peanut protein that travels through a shared fryer remains dangerous at any temperature.
Advisory statements like “may contain traces of [allergen]” or “prepared in a facility that also processes [allergen]” are voluntary. The FDA has not established requirements for those statements on packaged foods, has set no federal mandate for them in restaurants, and has not set a threshold below which an allergen is considered safe.3Food and Drug Administration. Food Allergies Even trace amounts matter, so the notice should be honest about cross-contact rather than treating it as negligible.
If your kitchen shares fryers, grills, or prep surfaces across dishes with different allergen profiles, say so. A workable line: “Items prepared in our kitchen may come into contact with milk, eggs, wheat, tree nuts, peanuts, soybeans, fish, shellfish, and sesame.” Vague phrasing like “allergens may be present,” without naming the specific risks, doesn’t help a customer decide and doesn’t do much for a liability defense.
Where to Post the Notice
Placement decides whether the notice works. A perfectly worded template buried behind the register helps nobody. Put the customer-facing notice where ordering decisions happen: on the menu itself, on a posted sign near the ordering counter, or on a digital menu screen. If you use QR-code menus or third-party delivery platforms, the notice should appear on those digital menus too. Several states with pending legislation specifically list digital formats as acceptable disclosure methods.
The back-of-house poster belongs in the kitchen or prep area, ideally near the ticket line where cooks see it during service. Some jurisdictions specifically require staff-area posting.
For readability, use high-contrast text and a font size large enough to read from a reasonable distance. There is no single federal font-size rule for restaurant allergen notices. If the text is too small to read, it defeats the purpose and can undercut a compliance argument in a jurisdiction that requires the notice.
What Federal Law Actually Requires of Restaurants
This is where owners get tripped up. The federal allergen labeling requirements under FALCPA apply to packaged food products, not to food prepared and served on-site.3Food and Drug Administration. Food Allergies That doesn’t mean a restaurant has no obligations. The FDA Food Code, which most states and localities adopt as the basis for their own health codes, requires that the person in charge of a food service establishment be knowledgeable about major food allergens and that employee training programs include allergen awareness.4Food and Drug Administration. Addition to the 2022 Food Code – Sesame Added as a Major Food Allergen So the notice you post is one piece; trained staff behind it is the other.
State and local rules go further in some places. Massachusetts and Maryland require food allergy awareness posters in employee areas. Rhode Island requires a staff poster and a menu notice. California requires written allergen notification in menu ingredient descriptions for restaurant chains. New York requires menus to include a statement inviting customers to disclose food allergies. Some cities have their own rules on top of state law. Because these requirements differ, check with your state health department or local regulatory agency for the exact language and format your jurisdiction demands before finalizing your template.
Keeping the Notice Current
A template is only as good as the day it was last updated. Allergen information goes stale whenever you change a supplier, adjust a recipe, or add a menu item. Pre-made sauces, spice blends, and marinades are common sources of hidden allergens: soybean oil in a dressing, wheat-based thickener in a gravy, sesame in a spice mix. Every ingredient change should trigger a review of the posted notice and your internal allergen records.
Build the review into a routine. Check allergen data when new products arrive, when seasonal menus rotate, and whenever a supplier reformulates. The FDA requires that packaged food labels declare major allergens present through flavoring, coloring, and incidental additives when they carry allergen proteins.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 343 – Misbranded Food That standard doesn’t directly govern a restaurant kitchen, but it’s a useful benchmark for your own internal tracking, and it feeds directly into whether the notice on the wall still tells the truth.