A free allergen chart template, and why you shouldn't rely on it

You came for a free allergen chart template, so here it is: a table you can copy straight into Excel or Google Sheets and start filling in. But I also want to be honest about what a template solves and what it doesn't, because in a kitchen with changing menus and suppliers, a standalone spreadsheet is often the very problem you were trying to avoid.

First the template, then how to fill it in, and finally why most venues still run aground on it after a few weeks.

Rather skip Excel? You can do the same thing right in your browser with our free allergen chart maker: add your dishes, tick the allergens, and print a clean chart straight away. No account needed.

This article was written in August 2026. Rules and amounts change; for the current state of play, always check the NVWA's allergen page.

The allergen chart template

Copy this table into Excel or Google Sheets. One row per dish, one row per drink you make yourself, and one row per sub-recipe (your prep items) that shows up in more than one dish.

Four columns do the work. Contains is what you know for certain, worked out at the ingredient level. May contain traces of is the cross-contact risk that does not follow from the ingredients, like a shared fryer or cutting board. Last checked and By are not bureaucracy: they are exactly the two things that show an inspector the information is alive, not something that was written down once.

How to fill in the allergen chart

A chart that holds up starts with the ingredient, not the dish. Work like this:

1. Break each dish down into its ingredients and sub-recipes. Not "does the beetroot salad contain anything", but: which ingredients and which sauces or dressings are in it, and what does each of those bring along.
2. Run the 14 legal allergens past every ingredient. Watch the hidden sources: a vegetable stock with celery, a dressing with mustard, soy sauce with gluten, lecithin with soy. The full list, and where each one hides, is in our guide to allergens in hospitality.
3. Pull the product spec when in doubt. For packaged products you buy in, allergen information is required on the label or spec. Copy it over one to one.
4. Note the cross-contact risk separately. Do you share a fryer between vegetables and a gluten-containing batter, or cut nuts on the same board? That belongs in the "may contain traces of" column.
5. Add the date and your name. Then repeat steps 1 to 4 the moment you change a recipe, a supplier, or a product.

That last line is where the template breaks down in practice.

Why a template always goes stale

A filled-in spreadsheet is a snapshot of one moment. On the day you complete it, it is correct. After that it starts to expire quietly, usually without anyone noticing:

• A supplier changes the composition of a product (they are allowed to, and it happens more often than you'd think).
• You change a sauce or a dressing, and forget that the same sauce is in four other dishes.
• The daily menu rotates, and tonight's special is nowhere in the table.
• A colleague makes the romesco once with a different nut.

The spreadsheet knows none of this. And that is exactly the gap where it goes wrong: the food safety authority does not ask for a neatly filled-in template, but for information that is correct at the moment a guest asks. Both missing and incorrect information count as a violation.

So the problem with a template is not that it has too few columns. It is that it does not move with your kitchen.

From a standalone template to a living source

What you actually want is not a separate document next to your recipes, but one place where allergens follow from your recipes. You work it out once, properly, at the ingredient level, and after that the system does the arithmetic. Change one ingredient, and every dish that uses it updates on its own.

That is exactly how moonies works. Allergens lean directly on your recipes:

• Derived automatically per dish, based on the ingredients and the sub-recipes. You also see where an allergen comes from, for example through your romesco.
• Add manually where a risk does not follow from the ingredients, like cross-contact from a shared fryer.
• Search by "free from", so when a guest has a nut or gluten allergy you see in seconds what is safe.

No template that is out of date the day you fill it in, but a source that moves with your recipes and your menu. You keep the kitchen up to date, moonies keeps the allergens up to date. Want to see what that costs, with no surprises? It is on the pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

Am I required to use an allergen chart? You are required to be able to inform guests about the 14 allergens in your dishes, including non-prepacked dishes. A chart is one way to do that, not a goal in itself. Digital or on paper is fine, as long as the information is correct and available before the order.

Can the allergen information be digital? Yes. It may be available in writing or electronically, as long as you can give it to a guest right before the order and it is also accessible to your staff and an inspector.

How often should I update the chart? Every time something changes: a new dish, an adjusted recipe, a different supplier, or a changed product. With rotating daily menus that means, in practice, before every service where a new dish is on the menu.

Can I give allergen information verbally? You can, under conditions: you can always give the information right before the order, it is also available in writing or electronically for staff and inspector, and there is a visible reference such as "Ask our staff about allergens". Note that inspectors have found signs with that text where staff, on being asked, turned out not to know the allergens.

Sources

• NVWA, allergens and allergens in non-prepacked food
• Voedingscentrum, food information law
• EU 1169/2011 (Food Information Regulation), full text
• KHN, Hygiene Code for Hospitality