SFBB READY SFBB Allergen Matrix --- Track All 14 Allergens Across Your Menu
An allergen matrix maps every dish on your menu against the 14 regulated allergens. It's a legal requirement, a customer safeguard, and --- for 70% of allergy fatalities --- the document that could have made the difference.
The SFBB allergen matrix is a grid that maps every dish on your menu against the 14 regulated allergens: celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide/sulphites, and tree nuts. Under Natasha's Law (2021), all food businesses selling prepacked for direct sale food must provide full ingredient and allergen labelling. A properly maintained allergen matrix --- accessible to staff, visible to customers, and included in your SFBB pack for EHO inspection --- is the foundation of allergen compliance. Digital allergen matrices sync updates across all devices, give staff instant allergen lookup from their phones, and maintain a complete change history for inspections.
What an allergen matrix is and why you need one.
An allergen matrix is a grid that crosses every dish on your menu against all 14 regulated allergens. For each dish-allergen combination, you record whether the allergen is present, absent, or a cross-contamination risk. Think of it as a single-page summary of every allergen in your kitchen --- one document that a customer with an allergy can look at and immediately identify what they can and cannot eat.
It's different from a recipe file. A recipe tells your chef how to make a dish. An allergen matrix tells a customer with a nut allergy whether your chocolate brownie contains almonds. The recipe might say "mixed nuts" --- the matrix must say "peanuts: yes, tree nuts: yes, eggs: yes, milk: yes." That specificity is the difference between informed choice and a medical emergency.
The 14 regulated allergens you must track.
UK food law requires all food businesses to declare the presence of these 14 allergens. Every one of them must appear as a column in your allergen matrix:
Celery
Includes celery stalks, leaves, seeds, and celeriac. Found in stock powders, soups, and salad bases.
Cereals containing gluten
Wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, kamut. Present in bread, pasta, pastry, batter, and as a thickener in sauces.
Crustaceans
Crabs, lobster, prawns, langoustines, scampi. Also found in seafood stocks and pastes.
Eggs
Found in mayonnaise, cakes, pastries, pasta, glazes, and as a wash on bread and pies.
Fish
All fish species. Also present in Worcestershire sauce, Caesar dressing, and some stocks.
Lupin
A legume used in some flours and pasta. Common in Mediterranean and gluten-free products.
Milk
Butter, cream, cheese, yoghurt, whey, casein. Found in sauces, soups, baked goods, and chocolate.
Molluscs
Mussels, clams, oysters, squid, snails. Found in seafood dishes and some stocks.
Mustard
Mustard seeds, powder, and prepared mustard. Common in dressings, marinades, and curry powders.
Peanuts
Also called groundnuts. Found in satay sauce, some curries, cakes, desserts, and as peanut oil.
Sesame
Seeds, oil, and tahini. Found in breads, hummus, dressings, and Asian cuisine.
Soybeans
Soya sauce, tofu, miso, edamame. Found in many Asian dishes, processed meats, and vegetarian products.
Sulphur dioxide & sulphites
Used as preservatives in dried fruit, wine, some sausages, and soft drinks. Declared at levels above 10mg/kg or 10mg/L.
Tree nuts
Almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts. Found in pesto, marzipan, cakes, and some oils.
Natasha's Law and your legal obligations.
Natasha's Law came into force on 1 October 2021, following the tragic death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who suffered a fatal allergic reaction to a prepacked baguette that did not display allergen information on the packaging. The law requires all food businesses in the UK to provide full ingredient and allergen labelling on all food that is prepacked for direct sale (PPDS).
PPDS food is food that is packaged at the same place it is sold, before the customer orders it --- think sandwiches, salads, and cakes in a café display fridge. If you sell any PPDS food, the label must list every ingredient, with the 14 allergens emphasised (typically in bold) on the ingredients list.
Even for non-prepacked food --- dishes prepared to order --- you must still be able to provide accurate allergen information to customers on request. This can be verbal, but it must be backed by written records. Your allergen matrix is that written record. If a customer asks "does this contain nuts?" and your staff member relies on memory rather than checking the matrix, you are exposed to significant legal and reputational risk.
The penalty for non-compliance is serious: fines, prosecution, and --- in the worst cases --- imprisonment. More importantly, getting allergen information wrong can kill someone. 70% of food allergy fatalities happen when eating out, and in the majority of cases, the allergen was present in a dish where the customer was told it was absent.
How to build your allergen matrix.
Building an allergen matrix is methodical but straightforward. Start with your menu and work through each dish systematically:
List every dish in rows
Write down every single menu item --- starters, mains, sides, desserts, sauces, garnishes, and drinks. Include dishes that share a name but have different components (e.g., "burger with cheese" vs "burger without cheese"). If a customer could order it, it needs a row.
List all 14 allergens in columns
Create a column for each regulated allergen. Use the standard names --- an EHO or customer should be able to scan across and immediately find what they're looking for.
Mark presence clearly
For each dish-allergen intersection, mark whether the allergen is present (-- / YES), absent (- / NO), or a possible cross-contamination risk (- / MAY CONTAIN). Be conservative with cross-contamination --- if a dish containing peanuts is prepared on the same surface as another dish, note the risk.
Note cross-contamination risks
In a commercial kitchen, avoiding all cross-contamination is extremely difficult. If you fry chips in the same oil as battered fish, your chips carry a fish and gluten cross-contamination risk. Record it honestly. A customer with a severe allergy would rather know the risk than be told "it's fine" and end up in hospital.
Keep it updated
When recipes change --- a new supplier, a different brand of sauce, a seasonal menu update --- the matrix must be updated immediately. An out-of-date matrix is worse than no matrix because it gives false confidence. This is where digital matrices excel: update once, sync everywhere, and all staff see the current version instantly.
Where to store it and why digital wins.
Accessible to all staff: Every staff member who interacts with customers must be able to check the allergen matrix quickly. A paper matrix pinned to a wall is better than nothing --- but it can be out of date, hard to read in a busy service, and impossible for kitchen staff to consult from the pass. A digital matrix on a phone or tablet puts accurate allergen information in every staff member's pocket.
Visible to customers on request: You are legally required to provide allergen information when asked. With a digital matrix, staff can show it directly to the customer or read from it --- no disappearing into the kitchen to "check the board."
Included in your SFBB pack: The EHO will expect to see your allergen matrix as part of your Safer Food Better Business documentation. A printed matrix stapled to your SFBB folder is acceptable --- a digital matrix with a complete change history showing exactly when and why updates were made is far better.
Digital advantage --- update once, sync everywhere: When you change a recipe, you update the matrix once. Every device --- kitchen tablet, front-of-house phone, manager's dashboard --- sees the update instantly. No more "which version is on the wall?"
Digital advantage --- staff can check from their phone: A customer asks about sesame. The server pulls out their phone, opens the app, taps the dish, and reads the allergen list. Answer in under 5 seconds with 100% accuracy. No guesswork. No memory. No mistakes.
Digital advantage --- change history for EHO: Every time the matrix is updated, the digital record shows who made the change, when, and why. An EHO can see that your allergen records are living documents, not something written once and forgotten. This is proactive compliance --- and it's exactly what EHOs want to see.
"70% of food allergy fatalities happen when eating out. Your allergen matrix isn't paperwork --- it's the document that could save a customer's life. Keep it accurate and accessible."
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