Question About Restaurant Policies

[Cheryl-C]

Are restaurants required (by-law, or something) to have allergen information available upon request?

I went out with a friend for dinner on Friday night. We went to Pizza Nova (eat-in), because I get their delivery all the time and have never, ever had issues. When we got there, we started discussing the pizza toppings, and I realized my "usual" wasn't exactly what she was hoping for. Ok, no problem. I asked our server to bring us the allergy list, because I don't have all the gluten-free pizza toppings memorized and didn't want to gamble.

She came back with a pamphlet advertising some different specials, which included the "we now offer gluten-free pizza dough" section - nothing about the toppings. I asked her to see "the book" (which I've been brought at other restaurants) and she said they don't have a book for ingredients/allegens.

In the end, my friend and I used our phones to look up the website, which is awesome and totally user-friendly. But what if we hadn't had our phones?

So - is there some kind of policy for allergens in restaurants, or have these "other" restaurants been pampering me with their books?

[emaegf]

No restaurants are not required by law to provide allergen information. Many have made up their own "books" and allergen lists. Since Pizza Nova had the information on their website it would have been nice if they had some hard copies in the restaurant for patrons like some places have. Maybe you could mention that to the Manager in a note or email to have some hard copies available for patrons who walk in.

[psawyer]

Are restaurants required (by-law, or something) to have allergen information available upon request?

No, in Canada there is no legal requirement to do this, either in printed form at the restaurant or on a web page.

Many establishments do, and for this we can be thankful, but it is voluntary.

Even in the US, the Food Allergy Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) applies only to packaged food, which must have a label on the package. It does not cover prepared food at restaurants, although many comply voluntarily.