Allergen Matrix Template for UK Caterers: Free Download + How to Build One

An allergen matrix is the single document that tells you — and your customers — which of the 14 regulated allergens appear in each dish on your menu. It is a grid: dishes down one side, the 14 allergens across the top, a tick in every cell where that allergen is present.

For caterers, the matrix is more than a tidy reference. It is how you answer an allergen question at an event without guessing, how you brief agency staff who have never seen your menu, and how you demonstrate that you take allergen management seriously if an environmental health officer asks. This guide gives you a free template to start from, shows you a worked example, and walks through building your own matrix correctly.

What an allergen matrix needs to cover

UK food businesses must be able to provide accurate information about 14 named allergens. The Food Standards Agency lists them as: celery, cereals containing gluten (such as wheat, rye, barley, and oats), crustaceans (such as prawns, crabs and lobsters), eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs (such as mussels and oysters), mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites (if at a concentration of more than ten parts per million), and tree nuts (such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios and macadamia nuts).

A complete matrix has a column for every one of these 14. Leaving any out is the most common mistake — a template that only shows the "big eight" or a generic chart from another country will miss allergens that UK law requires you to declare.

Free allergen matrix template

You can build a matrix in two ways:

• Use the allergen matrix generator. Add each dish, tick the allergens present, and it produces a clean, printable 14-allergen chart you can keep in the kitchen or hand to customers. It is free and needs no signup.
• Download a ready-made grid. The UK allergen tracking matrix PDF is a pre-formatted printable chart with all 14 allergens as columns, ready to fill in by hand.

Either way, the structure is the same: dishes as rows, the 14 allergens as columns, and a clear mark in each cell where the allergen is present. Some caterers add a third state — "may contain", for cross-contamination risk — but be careful: an over-used "may contain" is less useful to a customer than an accurate present/absent answer.

Allergen matrix example

Here is a short worked example for a three-dish event menu, so you can see what a completed matrix looks like in practice:

Dish	Cereals (gluten)	Eggs	Milk	Mustard	Sesame	Soybeans	(other 8 allergens)
Roast chicken with gravy	✓ (flour in gravy)	—	—	✓ (mustard in gravy)	—	—	check each ingredient
Hummus and flatbread	✓ (flatbread)	—	—	—	✓ (tahini)	—	check each ingredient
Lemon posset	—	—	✓ (cream)	—	—	—	check each ingredient

Two things this example shows. First, allergens hide in compound ingredients — the gravy carries both gluten (from a flour-based roux) and mustard, neither of which is obvious from the dish name. Second, you must check every ingredient, including sub-ingredients of anything pre-made: the stock cube, the bought-in paste, the supplier's sausages. The matrix is only as accurate as the ingredient checking behind it.

How to build your matrix step by step

1. List every dish you serve, including sides, sauces, dressings and garnishes. Each is a row.
2. For each dish, list every ingredient, including the sub-ingredients of compound items. This is the slow part, and the part that matters most.
3. Check each ingredient against the 14 allergens. Read the supplier's ingredient information — not the front of the pack. For loose ingredients, check the specification sheet.
4. Mark the matrix. Tick every cell where an allergen is present in that dish.
5. Date it and note the source. Record the date you built or last checked the matrix, so you know when it needs reviewing.
6. Re-check when anything changes. A different brand of stock, a new supplier's sausages, a substituted flour — any change can introduce a different allergen. Update the matrix at the point of change, not at the next event.

How the matrix fits Natasha's Law and PPDS

The allergen matrix is the working document behind your legal obligations. How you must present allergen information to customers depends on how the food is supplied.

For prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food — food packed on the same premises before a customer orders it — the FSA requires the label to carry "a full ingredients list with allergenic ingredients emphasised within it". This requirement comes from the Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019, known as Natasha's Law, which came into force on 1 October 2021. Your matrix and ingredient checking are what make those labels accurate.

For non-prepacked (loose) food — food made to order or served from a buffet — the information can be provided "by any means such as: full written allergen information on a menu, chalkboard or in an information pack; verbally, with a written notice placed in a clearly visible position explaining how your customers can obtain this information." At an event, the matrix is usually the back-of-house reference your staff use to answer those questions accurately.

For a fuller explanation of the law, read our guides to the 14 allergens UK caterers must track, Natasha's Law for caterers and PPDS labelling for caterers.

Keep the matrix current

A matrix built once and forgotten is a liability, not an asset — it tells staff and customers things that may no longer be true. Treat it as a living document: review it whenever a recipe or supplier changes, and re-check the whole matrix on a regular schedule (many caterers do this quarterly, and whenever they refresh a seasonal menu). The allergen matrix generator makes regenerating the chart quick when an ingredient changes.

Sources

• FSA — Allergen guidance for food businesses
• The Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/1218)

Last reviewed against FSA guidance and legislation.gov.uk on 4 June 2026. This guide explains how to build and use an allergen matrix. It does not constitute legal advice. For authoritative guidance on your specific situation, consult the FSA or your local authority environmental health team.