A Stoke-on-Trent digital agency has developed a new platform designed to help hospitality businesses prepare for potential changes to UK allergen legislation.
Harrison Carloss has launched allergen.io, a centralised menu management system that automatically updates pricing, calorie and allergen information across menus, websites and in-venue devices from a single source.
It comes as the hospitality industry waits the outcome of a Food Standards Agency consultation on allergen guidance issued last year.
Managing Director Adam Mobley said: “The direction of travel is clear.
“Following the implementation of Natasha’s Law for pre-packed foods, it is increasingly likely that the industry will see the introduction of regulations such as Owen’s Law, which will require written allergen information for non-prepacked foods.
“This can apply to loose items sold at a delicatessen counter, a bakery or a butcher’s as well as meals served in a restaurant and food from a takeaway.
“As a result, allergen compliance is likely to become significantly more demanding for hospitality businesses, which is why our system is designed to reduce human error.
“allergen.io also reduces the time needed for manual menu management, with data input only required into a venue’s EPOS stock system, with automatic updates applied across all platforms daily from this single source of truth.”
The system enables customers to scan a QR code, select items and view a summary of total cost, calories, macronutrients and allergens before ordering. Diners can also filter menus by allergens and dietary preferences.
Harrison Carloss said it created the platform after seeing growing demand from hospitality businesses.
The company has previously worked with Parogon Group to create a platform that interacted directly with their EPOS provider, cutting the need to manually update around 1,300 dishes across its 12 venues.
Adam added: “As legislation evolves, businesses will need to demonstrate not just accuracy, but consistency and traceability across every touchpoint.
“By automating updates and integrating directly with EPOS systems, we’re helping operators stay compliant, reduce human error and deliver a better, safer experience for their customers.”
