Module 3 of 6

Allergens & safety in service

The 14 allergens, how to answer allergy questions, and basic service hygiene.

Allergen questions: never guess

EU rules recognise 14 major allergens — including gluten, milk, eggs, nuts, peanuts, fish, crustaceans, soy, and celery — and every professional kitchen keeps an allergen map of its menu.

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Your job in service is not to memorise recipes: it is to never guess.

Confirm what the allergy is, check with the kitchen or the allergen sheet, and answer only what you know.

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Server verifies a guest allergy with the chef at the kitchen pass before taking the dish.

Phrases to keepClick audio icon to listen

“Can you tell me exactly what you need to avoid, so I can pass it to the kitchen?”

Getting the full detail without judging how serious it is

“Let me check the allergen list and come straight back to you.”

The only professional answer when unsure

Hygiene habits guests can see

Beyond the certificates kitchens require, service has its own visible hygiene: hands washed between handling money and food, hair tied back, no touching the eating surfaces of plates or the rims of glasses, spills cleaned immediately with a 'wet floor' warning, and broken glass swept — never picked up by hand — with any nearby food discarded.

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Guests judge the kitchen they can't see by the service they can.

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Server washes hands properly at a dedicated handwashing basin away from food.

Phrases to keepClick audio icon to listen

“Mind the floor here, it's just been cleaned.”

Warning guests near a fresh spill

Quick Shift Check

A guest asks if a sauce contains nuts and you aren't sure. What do you do?

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