Frequently Asked Questions

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Allergy Companions is a website designed to support a community of people suffering from life-threatening or life-limiting allergies, intolerances or coeliac disease. As such, our users are people like you, who care about where they eat and how they are treated when eating out, and therefore there is a shared common goal in leaving an honest and helpful review for other people to read. As the number of reviews grows, so does the confidence that a food venue is capable of catering for people with allergies. This will also positively influence behaviour in this industry, as restauranteurs can see the real impact of their positive actions. Restaurants/food venues will also receive an email after each review is published and this will further reinforce our messages to them. The reviews are for information purposes only and cannot offer a guarantee. You must always take your own advice (medical or otherwise) in respect of any allergies and ensure that when dining out you inform a venue before and during dining of any allergies and carry any medication (including emergency) with you at all times. Please refer to our terms and conditions for full details.

If you see information against a venue that mentions "Kitchen free from", it means that the venue does not handle these particular allergens in their kitchen, and none of their dishes contain the specified allergens, or they have been certified by Coeliac UK. Please note, this information is provided either verbally or in writing by the restaurant, or is available to view on their website. This information can change over time, so please click on the "suggest an edit" button against the venue to inform us of any changes if the venue itself has not informed us of these changes already. If in doubt, always call the venue to verify this information. `  

The section "Meals good for" confirms that the venue handles those particular allergens in their kitchen; however, they are able to cater for someone with that particular allergy. For example, they might not have a nut free kitchen, but they have processes in place to be able to cater for someone with a nut allergy. Please note, this information is provided either verbally or in writing by the restaurant, or is available to view on their website. This information can change over time, so please click on the "suggest an edit" button against the venue to inform us of any changes if the venue itself has not informed us of these changes already. If in doubt, always call the venue to verify this information. `  

Unfortunately, there is no such guarantee in life. We are seeking to a) share reviews of food venues that have been reviewed by allergy sufferers and b) create a community of restaurants/food venues that strive to do their best to cater for the food allergy community. The reviews are for information purposes only. The reviews are not provided by food or allergy experts, and we strongly recommend to follow our “dining out with allergies guide” (which is not exhaustive) and carry all your allergy medication at all times. Please refer to our terms and conditions for full details.

Whilst Allergy Companions understand that a food venue may not be “allergen free”, the procedures followed by the venue can demonstrate they are able to take great care when preparing dishes for people dining with allergies, and are able to prepare a meal that has not come into contact with specified allergens. Please note, whilst restaurants can never 100% guarantee that any meal will be free of some allergens, their processes and procedures can give you comfort that they will endeavour to prepare a meal that is suitable for your allergy. Please remember - you should always carry your allergy medication when dining out and inform venues about your allergies, before and during dining about allergies, so they can be aware of this from a cross contamination perspective. Allergy Companions are not liable for any information displayed on the Allergy Companions website, and are not responsible for any incidents as a result of a diner eating at one of the food venues listed on Allergy Companions.

Absolutely! The more diners with allergies post a review for a venue already listed on Allergy Companions, the more you are reinforcing the message that the food venue is able to cater for people with allergies. Your review might also pick up on something new, for example different allergens they were able to cater for, that other reviewers did not share previously. You are also helping to keep the information current.

Thank you so much for wanting to share your review with the Allergy Companions community. You can easily submit a review on our website. We will endeavour to publish your review within 48-72 hrs from receiving your review. Please note, we reserve the right not to publish reviews where an incident is mentioned or does not comply with our acceptable use policy. Allergy Companions cannot be involved in the investigation of incidents where someone had a bad reaction to the food served. Allergy Companions cannot act or substitute the role of the Food Standard Agency and as such we recommend you consult the guidance on the Food Standards Agency about your rights and possible next steps in respect of such incidents.

Yes please. The more we are reinforcing the message that one of the listed restaurants lives up to the standards expected by the Allergy Companions community, the more other diners with allergies will feel confident eating there and also the food venue will appreciate how important it is for diners with allergies to be looked after. Also, it might be that this time your experience includes some constructive feedback, which will be useful to other diners and the venue itself.

Allergy Companions is designed to share positive reviews of restaurants that take allergies seriously and that are able to make anyone with allergies feel welcome. We are not a government body, or a food inspector, and such incidents need to be reported to the Food Standard Agency website, who will carry out a full investigation on your incident if this is the action you wish to take. If the venue in question is already on our website, please contact us by emailing hello@allergycompanions.com so we can consider taking the venue down temporarily while any investigation takes place.

If the restaurant was able to cater for your allergies, but you did not like the food or the service overall did not meet your expectations, you can still post a review. Our scoring goes from 1-5 hearts, so you can pick the one that best describes your dining experience. Feedback on areas from improvement can be really helpful for venues.

If you felt that the food venue could have done more to meet your allergy needs, you can still submit a review – tell other diners why the venue did not meet your expectations. Your review will also be visible to the venue, so they will be able to understand what they could have done better on the allergy front. Please note – Allergy Companions will not be able to investigate complaints made with regards to the overall dining experience, as this falls outside the remit of Allergy Companions. Each diner will experience the food and the overall setting at a personal level, which will not necessarily reflect other diners’ expectations. If you feel that the dining experience should be reported to the Food Standard Agency this is a report you, as the diner may decide to make, as this goes beyond the scope and reach of Allergy Companions.

If the restaurant was able to cater for your allergies, but you did not like the food or the service overall did not meet your expectations, you can still post a review. Our scoring goes from 1-5 hearts, so you can pick the one that best describes your dining experience. Our Allergy Companions members have signed up to a charter that certifies they are happy to live up to the values of Allergy Companions. The members of Allergy Companions are not there to guarantee you will enjoy the food or overall dining experience. However, there are plenty of other review sites where you can share your views on the restaurant.

If you felt that one of our Allergy Companions members did not take your allergy/allergies seriously and/or did not live up to the Allergy Companions values (please see full list here), please leave a review for this venue and explain your reasons for scoring them low. You can also email us at hello@allergycompanions.com, and provide details of your booking (date and time), who served you, as well as full reasons as to why you did not feel your expectations were met. We will then speak to the venue to understand full details of what potentially went wrong, and provide you with a response. Please note – Allergy Companions will not be able to investigate complaints made with regards to the overall dining experience, as this falls outside the remit of Allergy Companions. Whilst restaurants will ultimately feature on Allergy Companions because diners had a positive experience with their allergies and they were happy to recommend the venue to other diners, each diner will experience the food and the overall setting at a personal level, which will not necessarily reflect other diners’ expectations. If you feel that the dining experience should be reported to the Food Standard Agency this is a report that you as the diner may make as this goes beyond the scope and reach of Allergy Companions.

At present, Owen’s Law (all 14 top allergens to be displayed on menus) is at petition stage, which means restaurants are not required by law to display all 14 allergens on their menu. However, we have found that just because restaurants do not have a clearly labelled menu, it does not mean they are not good at catering for allergies. The Allergy Companions community, which is made up of both Full Member venues and you (the community of reviewers), has shared information on food venues that have clearly demonstrated they are able to cater for people with allergies. Food venues will need to be able to clearly articulate what allergens are in each dish or be able to adapt some of their dishes to meet your allergy requirements.

Thank you for showing an interest in collaborating with Allergy Companions. We are always interested in finding out about allergy friendly businesses out there, which can help the lives of those living with allergies or coeliac disease. Please use this page to register your interest. Alternatively, please email us, hello@allergycompanions.com.

Thank you for showing an interest in collaborating with Allergy Companions. Please visit this page, which will explain next steps and how to become a Full Member.