In short
- What the rule is
- For food sold without a label, allergen information is either displayed with the food or given to the customer on request (Standard 1.2.1, clause 9(6)).
- Who it applies to
- Restaurants, cafés, caterers and any business selling unlabelled food.
- What you need to do
- Know what is in each dish, and answer in the names the Code requires when a customer asks.
- What this does not require
- No Australian rule requires an allergen record or register, or allergens printed on the menu.
What the rule says
Standard 1.2.1, clause 9(6) gives two options for food sold without a label. The allergen information is either displayed with the food, or provided to the customer on request. A venue may lawfully keep allergens off the menu, but if a customer asks, answering is mandatory.
The words matter. Schedule 9 of the Code gives the required names, and Standard 1.2.3, clause 5 says the Column 4 name applies outside a statement of ingredients. A venue answering a customer uses the Column 4 names:
- gluten, for barley, oats and rye
- wheat, and gluten as well where gluten is present
- soy, not soybean
- milk, never dairy
- each tree nut by its own name: almond, Brazil nut, cashew, hazelnut, macadamia, pecan, pine nut, pistachio, walnut
- crustacean, egg, fish, lupin, mollusc, peanut and sesame
- sulphites, where added at 10 mg/kg or more
Coconut, chestnut, celery, mustard and buckwheat are not declarable in Australia.
Who it applies to
Any business selling food that does not carry a label: restaurants, cafés, takeaways, caterers, school and hospital kitchens.
By sector: Education and Childcare, Restaurants and Bars
What it looks like in practice
Keep a list of each dish and its allergens, using the required names, and update it when a recipe or supplier changes. Staff can answer from the same list.
Get written allergen details from suppliers. A caterer has an enforceable right to it (Standard 1.2.1 clauses 15(c), 17 and 21(2)).
The formatting rules for packaged labels, such as bold type and a Contains summary, apply to labels. They do not govern a spoken answer across the counter.
Guidance, not law
Records are not required, but they help. Section 27 of the Food Act 2008 (WA) gives a due diligence defence, and the business has to prove it took all reasonable precautions. Supplier specifications and a current dish list are the most useful evidence for that.
What you are not required to do
- An allergen record or register. None is required in Australia, and no retention period exists for one.
- Allergens on the menu. Displaying them is one option; giving them on request is the other.
- The word dairy, or tree nuts as a group. Neither is a required name, and using them does not meet the rule.
Doing it in Hospitality Shield
Recipe cards in Hospitality Shield carry each dish's allergens, so front of house and the kitchen answer from the same list.
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Asked about this rule
Do we have to list allergens on the menu?
No. For unlabelled food, the information is either displayed with the food or given on request (Standard 1.2.1, clause 9(6)). If a customer asks, you must answer.
Do we have to keep an allergen record?
No. There is no allergen record keeping requirement in the Food Standards Code, and Standard 3.2.2A does not mention allergens.
Can we say dairy instead of milk?
No. Milk is the required name. Dairy is not, and using it does not meet the rule.
Do we have to declare coconut or mustard?
No. Neither is declarable in Australia, and nor are chestnut, celery or buckwheat.
Sources
- Allergen labelling, Food Standards Australia New Zealand
- Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, Food Standards Australia New Zealand
- Food Act 2008 (WA), Western Australian Legislation
General information about the rules in Western Australia. It is not legal advice. Your local government's environmental health officer decides how the rules apply to your premises.