Ordering
Allergens and calories where guests and cooks need them
Fourteen allergens held on ingredients, calories on dishes, dietary tags, and all of it shown on the order.
Updated
What you get
The 14 allergens
Celery, gluten cereals, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soya, sulphites and tree nuts, held on ingredients.
Dietary tags
Mark dishes as vegetarian, vegan, vegan option, halal or gluten free.
Calories on dishes
Add calories and a portion note to a dish, and a calorie change to an option. Showing them is a switch you turn on.
AI suggests, people confirm
The AI can suggest allergens from ingredients, but a person must confirm them, and the AI cannot write the allergen field.
Visible to the kitchen
Allergen information travels with the order and is shown on kitchen tickets.
On this page
What it does
Guests and cooks both need accurate information about what is in a dish. DineHarbor holds the fourteen allergens that UK and EU food information rules require on your ingredients, and a dish gets its allergens from the ingredients it contains. Calories and dietary tags sit on the dish itself.
How it works
- In the Manager, open Menu, then Ingredients, and mark the allergens in each one.
- Link ingredients to your dishes. Allergens then follow the dish.
- Add dietary tags to dishes: vegetarian, vegan, vegan option, halal or gluten free.
- To show calories, switch on Show calories in your settings, then enter calories and an optional portion note for each dish, and a calorie change for options.
- Guests see allergens and tags when they choose a dish, and the kitchen sees allergens on the ticket.
Why ingredients
Holding allergens on ingredients means you change a recipe once. If you swap a sauce, every dish that uses it is updated, and when an ingredient is unavailable the Manager previews which dishes switch off.
AI helps, but cannot decide
The AI can suggest allergens from a dish's ingredients. Its suggestions land in a separate field that a person must promote before it counts, and the AI can never write the authoritative allergen field. Descriptions from the AI and menu import go through the same review.
Your responsibility
DineHarbor gives you a place for the information and shows it, but the facts you enter are yours. Check allergen and calorie rules that apply to your business and market. Our blog covers allergen information for online orders and calorie labelling.
What it replaces
It replaces a printed allergen folder that goes out of date, and an allergen answer that depends on who is on shift. For diners who ask in plain words, see Ask the menu.
Questions and answers
Does DineHarbor make me compliant with the law?
It gives you the places to hold and show the information. You are still responsible for the facts you enter. Read the blog guides, and check the rules that apply to your business.
Where are allergens stored?
On ingredients. A dish takes its allergens from the ingredients it contains.
Are calories shown automatically?
No. Calories are off until you switch on Show calories in your settings, and you enter the figures yourself.
Can AI set allergens?
No. It can only suggest them for a person to confirm.
Related features
- Restaurant Menu Builder With Options and DealsBuild menus with sizes, extras, half and half pizzas and meal deals, schedule items by time of day, and switch dishes off in one tap across every channel.
- Multilingual Restaurant MenuWrite dish names and descriptions in English, Arabic, Spanish and French so guests read your menu in their own language on the kiosk and ordering site.
- Ask the Menu AI Assistant for DinersLet guests ask your website in plain words about dishes, allergens, deals, opening hours and delivery, with answers from your live menu and no guessing.
- Kitchen Display System for RestaurantsEvery order from the till, website, waiter and kiosk shows on the kitchen screen with timers, stations, holds and a recall list for tickets bumped by mistake.
For your kind of business
- Bakery POS and Online OrderingImport your menu from a photo, take orders for a later time slot, reward regulars with stamp cards and show allergens on every product.
- Fine Dining POS and ReservationsReservations and a drawn floor plan, waiter handhelds, courses and holds on the kitchen screen, and allergens that travel with every order to the pass.
Comparisons
Read more
- Allergens and calories on your menuA plain starting point for restaurant owners in the UK: the 14 allergens, Natasha's Law and calorie labelling, and how to keep the information in one place.
- Allergen Information for Online OrdersA plain UK guide to the 14 allergens, online and phone orders, Natasha's Law, delivery checks and a clear, safer routine for restaurant teams and guests.
- Calorie Labelling for Restaurants in EnglandUnderstand who must show calories in England, where the information belongs, which food is exempt and how to keep every online menu accurate for guests.