Restaurant food allergen rules in the US: what the law actually requires

Ask ten American restaurant operators what the law requires them to do about food allergens and you will get ten different answers, most of them some version of "print a disclaimer at the bottom of the menu." The truth is messier: there is no single federal statute that tells a restaurant what to put on its menu, but there is a stack of overlapping obligations, from the FDA Food Code your state adopted, to state and city laws with very specific poster and training requirements, to plain old negligence liability if a guest ends up in the ER.

The stakes are not theoretical. According to CDC survey data for 2024, 6.7% of US adults have a diagnosed food allergy, and so do 5.3% of children. That is roughly one guest at every fourth table, and they pick restaurants, for the whole party, based on who takes their allergy seriously.

This guide covers what US restaurants are actually required to do in 2026, state by state where it matters, and how to build a service protocol that starts before the guest even walks in: the "any allergies in your party?" question belongs at booking, which is exactly what custom reservation questions in an online reservation system for your restaurant are for.

The short version:

• FALCPA and the FASTER Act govern packaged food labels, not restaurant menus. The 9 major allergens they define still matter to you, because everything else is built on that list.
• Your real obligations come from the FDA Food Code as adopted by your state: staff allergen awareness, and, since the 2022 edition, written notification of major allergens in unpackaged food.
• Massachusetts, Illinois, New York City and California (among others) add specific poster, menu notice, training or written disclosure requirements.
• The ADA can apply to guests with severe allergies, and negligence liability applies everywhere, in every state, with no cap at a $100 fine.
• The cheapest risk reduction available: capture allergies at the reservation, in writing, and get them to the kitchen.

The 9 major food allergens (and why sesame changed the list)

Federal law recognizes nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. Sesame is the newest addition: the FASTER Act of 2021 made it the ninth major allergen, with labeling mandatory on packaged foods since January 1, 2023.

Two things restaurant operators get wrong about this list:

1. It is a labeling list, not a menu list. The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) requires allergen declarations on packaged foods regulated by the FDA. It does not require your menu to list allergens dish by dish. If a lawyer or a consultant told you "federal law requires allergen labeling on menus," they were thinking of the wrong law.
2. Not being required to label is not the same as being allowed to ignore it. The nine-allergen list is the reference point for everything that does apply to you: the Food Code, state training laws, city posters, and what a jury will consider "reasonable care."

Note for operators coming from Europe: the EU requires disclosure of 14 allergens (including celery, mustard, lupin and sulfites) for restaurant food. The US federal list is 9, and the disclosure mechanics are left to states.

What the FDA Food Code requires of restaurants

The FDA Food Code is the model regulation for retail food safety. It is not itself federal law: each state (and sometimes county or city) adopts a version of it, which is why your health inspector's checklist depends on where you operate. But it is where restaurant allergen duties actually live.

The Food Code has required for years that the person in charge be able to describe major food allergens and the symptoms of an allergic reaction, and that employees be properly trained in food allergy awareness as it relates to their duties.

The 2022 edition went further. Among the changes summarized by the FDA:

• sesame was added as the ninth major food allergen;
• food establishments should provide written notification to consumers of major food allergens used as ingredients in unpackaged food, the category that covers restaurant dishes, deli counters and bakery cases. The FDA explicitly allows flexible formats: menu notations, brochures, placards, electronic means.

Adoption is gradual and uneven: your state may still enforce an older edition. But the direction of travel is unambiguous, and "we tell guests verbally if they ask" is exactly the practice the 2022 Food Code moved away from. If you build written allergen documentation now, you are compliant with wherever your state lands.

State and city rules you can actually be cited under

This is where allergen obligations stop being abstract. A handful of jurisdictions have specific, inspectable requirements. If you operate in one of them, these are not best practices, they are code violations with your health department's name on them.

Massachusetts: poster, menu notice, certified training

Massachusetts has the oldest and most complete regime, under its Food Allergy Awareness Act and 105 CMR 590.009(H). Every food establishment that cooks, prepares or serves food for immediate consumption must:

1. Display the state-approved food allergy awareness poster prominently in the employee work area (the official poster, not a homemade one);
2. Print an exact notice on menus and menu boards: "Before placing your order, please inform your server if a person in your party has a food allergy." The wording is fixed; the state's own guidance says alternative language is not an option;
3. Have on staff a certified food protection manager who has completed state-approved allergen awareness training and holds the certificate.

Missing any of the three is debited as a critical item on inspection, with corrective action required within 10 days.

Illinois: accredited allergen training for managers

Illinois requires certified food protection managers working in restaurants to complete ANSI-accredited allergen awareness training, within 30 days of employment and renewed every three years. The requirement targets the manager role, not every server, but a manager who trained on cross-contact and reaction symptoms is expected to cascade that knowledge into the operation.

New York City: the food allergy poster

NYC requires food service establishments with customer seating to display the Health Department's food allergy poster where staff involved in preparing and serving food can see it. The poster covers the most common allergy-causing foods, how to prevent cross-contact, and what to do if a guest has a reaction. It is free to download; there is no reason to be out of compliance.

California: written menu disclosure for chains, from July 2026

California went furthest: SB 68, chaptered in October 2025, requires covered restaurants (those already subject to federal menu nutrition labeling, meaning chains of 20 or more locations) to provide written notification of major food allergens contained in each menu item, on the menu itself or via a QR code backed by a written alternative, starting July 1, 2026. Independent single-location restaurants are not covered, but SB 68 is the clearest signal yet of where US allergen rules are heading: dish-level, written, verifiable.

Other states, including Rhode Island, Maryland, Michigan and Virginia, have their own allergen awareness measures (typically posters or training). The pattern is always some mix of the same three ingredients: inform guests, train staff, document it. Check your state health department and your local code; this article cannot substitute for them.

Beyond the health code: ADA and negligence

Even where no allergen-specific rule exists, two general bodies of law apply everywhere.

The ADA. The Department of Justice has taken the position, in its Q&A on the Lesley University settlement, that individuals with severe food allergies can have a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The same document is honest about what that means for restaurants: the ADA "does not require that every place of public accommodation that serves food to the public provide gluten-free or allergen-free food." What it may require are reasonable steps that do not fundamentally alter your operation, such as answering questions about ingredients where they are known, or omitting and substituting ingredients on request if you already do that for other guests. In other words: you do not have to redesign your menu, but "we can't tell you what's in it" is not a defensible answer.

Negligence. A restaurant that is told about an allergy, says "no problem," and then serves the allergen anyway is exposed to an ordinary personal injury claim, in any state, regardless of what the local food code says. Your best defense is the same thing as your best prevention: a written, consistently applied protocol, staff who follow it, and records showing the allergy was communicated and acted on.

The practical playbook: from reservation to table

Compliance is the floor. Here is the protocol that actually prevents reactions, in service order.

Ask at the reservation, not at the table

The safest allergy conversation happens before the guest arrives. A guest who can flag a peanut allergy while booking gives your kitchen hours of notice instead of ninety seconds; parents of allergic kids will actively choose the restaurant that asks. Massachusetts made "tell your server" a mandatory menu notice; asking at booking is the same idea, moved earlier, where it is worth more.

This is exactly what custom booking questions are for. In ViteUneTable, the free plan gives you unlimited online reservations with 0% commission and automatic confirmation emails; the Standard pack at €29 excl. VAT/month adds custom questions at booking ("Any allergies or dietary restrictions in your party?"), so the answer lands on the reservation itself, visible to whoever runs the pass. Confirmation and reminder emails do double duty here: they are your written record that the information was received, and we cover how to set them up in our guide to booking confirmation and reminder emails. If you are still comparing tools, our review of reservation systems for US restaurants covers which platforms let you ask custom questions at booking.

One caution: an allergy is health information. Use it to serve the meal safely, not for marketing, and do not hoard it for years. The lightest-touch approach, letting guests restate it at each booking, is also the most accurate.

Get it to the kitchen, every time

The failure mode in almost every restaurant allergy incident is a broken handoff: the guest told someone, and the information died between the host stand and the pass. Fix the chain structurally:

• allergies noted at booking appear on the day's service sheet or floor plan, not in a voicemail;
• the server confirms the allergy at the table and repeats it back;
• the ticket carries the allergy flag, and the expo or person in charge announces it;
• the dish for the allergic guest is plated and delivered separately, hand to hand, never stacked with the table's other plates.

Control cross-contact where it actually happens

Cross-contact is transfer of an allergen through shared surfaces, oil, utensils or hands. The high-risk spots in a typical American kitchen: the shared fryer (fish, shrimp, breaded items), the flat-top, the salamander, bulk breading stations, and garnish containers dipped with used tongs. Standard controls: dedicated (color-coded) boards and utensils for allergy orders, fresh gloves and a cleaned surface, and a rule that when in doubt, the answer to "can we guarantee it?" is no, said honestly.

Put it in writing, keep it current

Whatever your state requires today, written allergen information dish by dish is where the Food Code, California, and guest expectations are all converging. A simple ingredient matrix (dishes in rows, the 9 allergens in columns) satisfies "written notification" in flexible formats the FDA explicitly blesses, from a laminated sheet to a QR code. The one rule: it must be maintained. An allergen chart from two menus ago is more dangerous than none, because the allergic guest trusts it. Assign ownership (usually the chef), and make updating the chart part of every menu change, specials included.

Frequently asked questions

Does federal law require US restaurants to list allergens on the menu?

No. FALCPA and the FASTER Act require allergen labeling on packaged foods, not on restaurant menus. Restaurant obligations come from the FDA Food Code as adopted by your state, plus state and local laws. The 2022 Food Code does call for written notification of major allergens in unpackaged food, and California's SB 68 requires dish-level written disclosure for chain restaurants from July 1, 2026.

What are the 9 major food allergens in the US?

Milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. Sesame became the ninth major allergen under the FASTER Act, with mandatory labeling on packaged foods since January 1, 2023.

Which states have specific restaurant allergen laws?

Massachusetts has the most complete regime: a mandatory staff-area poster, an exact menu notice ("Before placing your order, please inform your server if a person in your party has a food allergy") and allergen certification for the food protection manager. Illinois requires ANSI-accredited allergen training for certified food protection managers. New York City requires the Health Department's food allergy poster. California requires written dish-level allergen disclosure for chains of 20+ locations from July 2026. Several other states have poster or training measures; check your state health department.

Are food allergies covered by the ADA in restaurants?

They can be. The Department of Justice has stated that people with severe food allergies may have a disability under the ADA. Restaurants are not required to offer allergen-free dishes, but they may need to take reasonable steps, like answering ingredient questions where ingredients are known, or omitting and substituting ingredients on request when they already do so for other guests.

Should I collect guest allergies at booking?

Yes, it is the single highest-value step: the kitchen gets hours of notice instead of seconds, and you create a written record that the allergy was communicated. Reservation systems with custom booking questions (in ViteUneTable, part of the Standard pack) capture it automatically. Treat the answer as health information: use it to serve the meal, not for marketing, and let guests restate it at each booking rather than storing it indefinitely.

What should a server do when a guest mentions an allergy?

Never guess, never improvise. Confirm the allergy, repeat it back, flag it on the ticket, and check with the kitchen or the person in charge before promising anything. If the kitchen cannot rule out cross-contact, say so honestly and suggest a safer dish. Every hire should learn this protocol in their first week, and again at every menu change.