# Food Alert vs Paddl Canonical: https://paddl-ai.co/compare/food-alert Last reviewed: 2026-09-11 by the Paddl team Food Alert is a UK food safety consultancy with 35+ years of experience, serving enterprise clients like Nando's, Burger King, and Deliveroo. Bundles professional consultancy with compliance software. ## In one sentence Paddl is food safety, compliance and operations software for UK hospitality: digital SFBB, HACCP plans, allergens and Natasha's Law labels, temperature, cleaning and training records, and an EHO-ready audit pack. £69 per location per month with every feature included, a 30-day free trial and no contract. Food Alert: Quote-led consultancy packages; the Alert65 software is bundled, not sold separately. ## Food Alert pricing Food Alert: Not published. Consultancy, audits and the Alert65 software are packaged together and quoted per estate. For the software on its own see the Alert65 comparison. Packages include site audits, an advice line and training; the software is a component, not the product. Not published by the vendor. Checked 2026-09-11 against https://www.foodalert.com/. Paddl: £69 per location per month, every feature included, 30-day free trial. No tiers and no volume discount. 5 owner and manager users per location included, £2.99 a month for each extra; staff do not take a seat. ## Food Alert reviews 4.7 out of 5 from 126 reviews on Trustpilot (https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.foodalert.com), read 2026-09-11. ## Where Food Alert and Paddl differ 44 features compared; 27 are in Paddl and not in Food Alert, checked against Food Alert's published feature list on 2026-09-11. **Food Safety & Compliance** Paddl has, Food Alert does not: Digital SFBB Packs, AI HACCP Generation, One-Click Audit Packs. Food Alert covers in part: EHO Report Generation, COSHH Management. **Operations & Equipment** Paddl has, Food Alert does not: Equipment Tracking, AI Equipment Anomaly Detection, Maintenance Swimlanes, Delivery Checks. Food Alert covers in part: Temperature Monitoring. **Team & Training** Paddl has, Food Alert does not: Rota Building & Publishing, Shift Swaps & Open Shifts, Holiday & Leave, Timesheets & Payroll Export, Staff Inductions, GPS Check-in, Shift Handovers / EOD Reports, Team Chat & Direct Messages. Food Alert covers in part: Team Management, Staff Notifications. **Documents & Knowledge** Paddl has, Food Alert does not: Knowledge Hub, Digital Signatures, Licence Management, Insurance Gap Detection, Lease & Property Management. **Reporting & Incidents** Paddl has, Food Alert does not: EHO Visit Dashboard, AI Legal Guidance & Evidence Packs. **Platform & AI** Paddl has, Food Alert does not: Mobile Manager View, Offline Mode, AI Assistant, AI That Carries Out Tasks, AI Document Extraction. Food Alert covers in part: Mobile App, Compliance Dashboard. Where Food Alert is stronger: 35+ years in the UK food safety industry; Enterprise client logos including Nando's, Burger King, Deliveroo; Professional consultancy bundled with software; Covers both food safety and H&S compliance. ## Choose Food Alert if - You need a consultancy-led compliance partner - Enterprise-grade support with dedicated account managers is essential - You want a consultancy-backed package that combines software and expert support ## Choose Paddl if - You want affordable compliance at £69/month - Self-service setup and configuration are important - AI-powered HACCP generation replaces expensive consultants - You need SFBB pack management and EHO preparation tools - Monthly contracts with no lock-in period are preferred - Mobile-first experience with offline support is essential ## What matters most **A consultancy with software, or software with support** Food Alert is a food safety consultancy first: audits by environmental health practitioners, an advice line, training, and the Alert65 platform to hold the records. Paddl is software first: the platform builds the HACCP plan, SFBB pack and risk assessments itself, and support is there when you ask. Which suits you depends on whether you want a person to visit or a system to run. **Who does the work** With Food Alert a consultant sets the system up and audits it; the business keeps records between visits. With Paddl the AI drafts the documents from your menu, chemicals and equipment, staff complete the checks on the app, and the audit pack is a button. Groups that want an external audit trail for the board tend to prefer the former; independents and small groups usually want the latter. **What it costs and how it is bought** Food Alert quotes per estate and the price reflects the audit days and advice included. Paddl is £69 a location a month, published, with a 30-day trial and no contract. If you want both, some operators run Paddl for the records and buy an annual audit separately. ## Switching from Food Alert to Paddl - Published pricing at £69 per month per location instead of a custom quote built around consultancy days - Self-service setup in an afternoon, with no onboarding fee and no site visit required to go live - AI-generated HACCP plans, SFBB packs, COSHH assessments and equipment diagnostics, which Food Alert does not offer - Month-to-month rather than an annual contract, built for independents as well as groups - Rota, leave, timesheets, licences, insurance and documents in the same product as the compliance records Paddl is designed for self-service. Set up your business, generate the HACCP plan with AI, and have the team operational the same day. If you still want an independent audit, book one separately rather than paying for it inside a software contract. ### How the switch works 1. Collect your Food Alert audit reports and records before the contract ends and file them in Paddl documents 2. Set up locations, staff and daily routines from the templates 3. Let the AI draft the HACCP plan, SFBB pack and COSHH assessments 4. Book an independent audit visit if your landlord or insurer requires one; it is no longer bundled 5. Switch the tablets over once the first week of records is in What you keep: Daily checks and temperature records; Audit-ready reports; Training records; Multi-site oversight What you give up: Consultant site visits and audits as part of the package; A named account manager ## Alternatives to Food Alert for UK hospitality | Product | Category | Pricing | | --- | --- | --- | | Paddl | Food safety, compliance and operations | £69 per location per month, every feature included, 30-day free trial. No tiers and no volume discount. | | Alert65 (Food Alert) (https://paddl-ai.co/compare/alert65) | Food safety and compliance | Quote-led; Capterra lists from £20,000 a year, a three-site basic package was quoted at about £2,250 a year | | Shield Safety (https://paddl-ai.co/compare/shield-safety) | Health and safety consultancy | Quote-led consultancy packages with the RiskProof platform; no published price | | Citation (https://paddl-ai.co/compare/citation) | Health and safety consultancy | Quote-led per employee per month on a three to seven year term | ## Questions **What does Food Alert do?** Food Alert is a UK food safety and health and safety consultancy: EHP-led audits, an advice line, training courses and the Alert65 software for records. It has worked with large brands for over 35 years and sells packages that combine the software with visits. **How much does a Food Alert audit cost?** Food Alert does not publish audit or package prices; everything is quoted per estate. Capterra lists the Alert65 package from £20,000 a year and Culinary Key reports a similar figure for a multi-site group; a three-site basic package was quoted to the Paddl founding team at about £2,250 a year. Ask for the audit days and the software scope separately when you get a quote. **Is Food Alert good for a single restaurant or pub?** It can be, but the model is built for estates that want an external audit programme. A single site usually pays for more consultancy than it uses. Self-serve software with an audit pack on demand covers the same records for a fraction of the cost; buy an audit when you want one. **What is the best alternative to Food Alert?** For the software side, Paddl or Trail; for consultancy-led models, Shield Safety and Citation. Paddl covers SFBB, HACCP, allergens, COSHH and risk assessments itself at £69 a location a month, and produces the EHO-ready pack without a consultant. **Can I move from Food Alert to Paddl?** Yes. Export your audit reports and records from Alert65 for the two years of due diligence you must keep, upload them to Paddl documents, and let the AI build the HACCP plan and SFBB pack from your menu. Most sites are live within a day; keep any audit contract running to its end date.