Making Synapses · Bringing Knowledge to Mankind
CulinaryThe allergy notice on the menu
Before anyone orders, the menu itself asks the guest to speak up. In Massachusetts, the first state with food allergen awareness rules, every printed menu and menu board carries a clear and conspicuous notice asking guests to tell the server about a food allergy before ordering. You make sure the notice is there, says the right thing and leads into the restaurant's procedure.
Free to startScenarios
- A restaurant prints a new menu and puts up a new menu board.
- A guest reads the notice and tells the server about an allergy in the party.
- A hospital kitchen that serves a specific population asks whether it needs the notice.
The steps
- Put the notice on every printed menu and on every menu board.
- Make it clear and conspicuous, so guests see it before they order.
- Use the wording the state gives: "Before placing your order, please inform your server if a person in your party has a food allergy."
- When a guest answers the notice, the server takes the allergy seriously and follows the restaurant's step-by-step procedure.
Safety rules that stop the station
- No printed menu or menu board goes out without the notice.
To pass
- Every printed menu and menu board has the notice, clear and conspicuous.
- The notice asks guests to tell the server before placing the order.
- Exempt: establishments that do not cook, prepare or serve food for immediate consumption. Hospitals and other institutional settings that serve a specific population skip only the menu notice and still need the poster and the training.
Official source
Massachusetts · DPH, 105 CMR 590.011
Food Allergen Awareness FAQs
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health answers in its Food Allergen Awareness FAQs (Q6 and Q10) what the menu notice says and who is exempt.
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