Compliance

Best Allergen Management Software (2026)

Digital allergen tracking, menu labelling, and compliance tools compared.

Updated: 2026
The short list

Paddl keeps a searchable allergen matrix and Natasha's Law labels in the staff app for £69 per location per month; FoodDocs covers allergens inside HACCP from $99 per site; Nutritics, Kafoodle and Erudus focus on labelling and data and do not publish prices.

  • Paddl: A live allergen matrix staff can search
  • FoodDocs: Allergen records inside HACCP
  • Nutritics: Nutrition and labelling

Since Natasha's Law came into force in October 2021, allergen management has become one of the highest-priority compliance areas for UK food businesses. The 14 allergens must be communicated to customers, staff must be trained, and records must be maintained. Digital allergen management tools help businesses build allergen matrices, label menus correctly, and maintain the documentation that EHO inspectors expect to see.

How We Evaluated

1

Allergen matrix

Ability to create and maintain a complete allergen matrix for all menu items against the UK 14 allergens.

2

Menu labelling

Support for generating allergen labels for PPDS (pre-packaged for direct sale) items under Natasha's Law.

3

Staff training

Built-in allergen awareness training and competency tracking.

4

Menu extraction

Ability to extract allergen information from existing menus or recipes.

5

Audit trail

Documentation trail showing allergen management practices for EHO inspections.

Our Picks

Our pick

Paddl

Best for: A live allergen matrix staff can search

An allergen matrix per menu that staff search on the app during service, Natasha's Law labels, allergen incident reports, and the matrix in the EHO audit pack.

Strengths
✓SFBB, HACCP, allergens, temperature and cleaning records in one subscription
✓AI drafts the HACCP plan from your menu, equipment and chemicals
✓EHO audit pack exports every record as one PDF
✓One published price with every feature and a 30-day free trial
Weaknesses
✗No sensor hardware: staff log temperatures on the app
✗No volume discount for larger groups
✗Four tills connect today: Square, Zettle, Epos Now and SumUp POS
Pricing:£69 per location per month, every feature included, 30-day free trial. No tiers and no volume discount.

FoodDocs

Best for: Allergen records inside HACCP

Allergen management as part of its HACCP-led system, with a published price per site.

Strengths
✓AI-powered HACCP plan builder
✓Strong traceability features
✓Good for food production environments
✓Temperature monitoring integration
Weaknesses
✗No UK SFBB pack generation
✗Limited team management
✗No equipment tracking or maintenance scheduling
✗No complaints, risk assessments, or fire safety
Pricing:From $99 a site a month (Lite); the HACCP plan is on Standard at $199; 20% less billed annually. Checked 2026-09-11 against fooddocs.com. 4.9/5 from 28 reviews on Capterra. Full comparison with Paddl

Nutritics

Best for: Nutrition and labelling

Food data management software for recipe nutrition, allergen and calorie labelling across single venues and groups, sold on enquiry.

Strengths
✓Recipe-level nutrition and allergen analysis
✓Calorie labelling for the 2022 rules
✓Single-venue and multi-site plans
Weaknesses
✗Prices are not published
✗Labelling rather than daily food safety records
✗No checks, training or EHO view
Pricing:Not published; enquiry form only. Checked 2026-09-11 against nutritics.com.

Kafoodle

Best for: Recipes, costing and allergen labels

Kitchen management software for recipes, ingredient costing, digital menus and allergen and nutrition labelling, with a free trial and pricing on enquiry.

Strengths
✓Recipe costing and menu labelling together
✓Free trial
✓Just Eat labelling integration
Weaknesses
✗Prices are not published
✗No daily checks, temperature logs or audit pack
✗Compliance is label-led, not record-led
Pricing:Not published; free trial. Checked 2026-09-11 against kafoodle.com.

Erudus

Best for: Supplier allergen data

A UK allergen and nutrition data platform fed by manufacturers and wholesalers. Caterers use it to look up product data; it does not run the kitchen's own allergen matrix or records.

Strengths
✓Product data supplied by manufacturers
✓Wide UK wholesaler coverage
✓Menu allergen sheets from the data
Weaknesses
✗Prices are not published
✗Data lookup rather than daily records
✗No checks, training or audit pack
Pricing:Not published. Checked 2026-09-11 against erudus.com.

Leafe

Best for: Hygiene-rating focus with allergens listed

A UK hygiene app with allergen handling listed among its features, thinly documented, priced on request.

Strengths
✓Affordable entry price (£28/month)
✓UK-focused food hygiene features
✓Includes food safety training
✓Good inventory and delivery tracking
Weaknesses
✗£119/venue/month for full features
✗No AI-powered HACCP generation
✗No equipment management or maintenance scheduling
✗No complaints, risk assessments, or fire safety
Pricing:Per venue per month; Culinary Key reports from £28 a venue, Pro about £119. Checked 2026-09-11 against leafeapp.com. Full comparison with Paddl
Compliance

Paddl is on this list for a reason

One platform for compliance, operations and protection, built for UK hospitality from a single cafe to a national chain. Try it free and compare it in your own kitchen.

See how Paddl compares with Trail (by Access)

Buying Guide

What allergen records do you need?

At minimum, you need an allergen matrix showing which of the 14 UK allergens are present in each menu item. If you sell PPDS food (pre-packaged for direct sale), you also need compliant ingredient labels. Beyond records, you should be able to demonstrate that staff are trained in allergen awareness and know how to handle allergen queries from customers.

Standalone vs integrated allergen management

A standalone allergen tool might be enough if allergen labelling is your only concern. But allergen management is closely linked to other compliance areas - training records, HACCP plans, EHO preparation - so an integrated platform that handles everything together will save time and produce better audit documentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the 14 allergens I need to declare?

The 14 allergens that must be declared under UK law are: celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, nuts, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, and sulphur dioxide (sulphites above 10mg/kg).

Do I need allergen software if I have a small menu?

Even with a small menu, you still need to identify and communicate allergens. A spreadsheet might work for a very simple operation, but software becomes valuable as soon as you have menu changes, multiple staff, or PPDS items that need labelling.

Find the right tool for your business

Paddl brings compliance, operations, and team management into one platform built specifically for UK hospitality. See how it compares.