Allergen safety doesn’t end at the restaurant door. If you're offering takeaway, click-and-collect, or delivery, you’re still responsible for making sure your customers receive clear, written allergen information – before and after ordering.

This isn’t just good hospitality – it’s required under UK food law, and reinforced in the FSA’s 2025 Best Practice Guidance.

The distance selling rule

If you sell non-prepacked food remotely – by phone, website, or third-party app – you should make allergen information available in writing before the order is placed. That means customers should know which dishes contain any of the 14 regulated allergens before they click “pay” or hang up the phone.

If you can’t update your website regularly or don’t have one, the law still applies: you must tell customers where they can get allergen information. The key is that the information must be easy to find and access.

Your website, social media and apps

In 2025, there’s no excuse for making allergen info hard to find. At a minimum:

• Include allergen info next to each item on your digital menu

• Use a downloadable PDF menu if you can’t embed allergens directly

• Keep allergen info no more than one click away from your main order page

• If you're on third-party platforms (Just Eat, Deliveroo, etc.), clearly signpost where allergen info can be found – ideally within the app

Phone orders

If your customers order by phone, staff must be able to read out accurate allergen information for every dish. This means giving your staff:

• Easy access to a written allergen register or matrix

• Clear procedures for noting and flagging allergy orders to the kitchen

• Consistent scripts for confirming allergens back to the customer

It’s also best practice to proactively ask:

“Do you or anyone in your order have any allergies we should be aware of?”

On-delivery labelling

Even when you’ve provided allergen information before the sale, you must also provide it again upon delivery, so the customer can check before eating.

Best practice includes:

• Labelling each dish with allergen info (e.g. “Contains: milk, egg”)

• Using stickers or printed labels that match the dine-in format

• Ensuring the correct meal is clearly identifiable and kept separate in packaging

• Having the delivery staff briefed (when in-house) or including a printed slip with allergen info inside the bag

Internal workflow and training tips

To meet FSA expectations, your team should:

• Use the same allergen-safe processes for takeaway as dine-in

• Treat every distance order with an allergen request as a high-priority flag

• Include allergen checklists at the point of dispatch

• Brief staff and riders so they know how to handle labelled orders confidently

If you modify a dish to remove an allergen for delivery, make sure that’s clearly communicated on the label. Don't leave customers to guess or assume safety.

Where Edible can help

Distance selling adds complexity, but Edible simplifies it by helping you:

• Offer an up-to-date digital menu that guests can filter by allergen

• Create one-click QR codes or links for your website or social channels

• Keep dine-in and delivery allergen info in sync at all times

Whether you’re taking orders over the phone, online, or through third-party apps, Edible helps you keep every customer safe and informed – with less admin. Get started for free with our menu builder.

Final thoughts

Allergen safety doesn’t stop when the food leaves your kitchen. Takeaway and delivery customers deserve the same confidence and clarity as your in-house diners. By following the FSA’s guidance and building a consistent, written allergen process into every order flow, you protect your customers – and your business.

Need help bringing your takeaway allergen system up to standard? Book a free demo to see how Edible works, or drop us a line if you’d like help reviewing your current setup.