For restaurants
How do restaurants show allergens and nutrition on their menu?
A restaurant can list each dish’s allergens and nutrition on a page guests open by QR code or link. BetterMenu builds that page from your menu and recipes, using USDA ingredient data and FDA rounding rules, and you approve every dish. Every guest who asks gets the same written answer, at every location.
By the numbers
Why do guests look for allergens and nutrition on a menu?
6.7%
of US adults had a diagnosed food allergy in 2024. Allergens listed for every dish answer the first thing they ask.
CDC NCHS, 202657%
of Americans use nutrition information at restaurants at least sometimes. Nutrition for every dish gives them something to use.
IFIC, 202570%
of Americans report trying to consume protein, more than any other nutrient. Each dish shows its grams.
IFIC, 202533.3%
of restaurant servers in a CDC study had food allergy training. A written allergen list per dish gives every server the same answer.
CDC, 2017
Figures as published by each source, checked on October 20, 2026.
Required or not
Do restaurants have to show allergens and nutrition?
Only chains with 20 or more locations have to, under the two rules below. Every other restaurant can choose to, and its guests are already looking for it.
Since July 1, 2026, California chains with 20 or more locations must list the major food allergens for every menu item, on the menu or in a digital format such as a QR code.
Source: California SB 68 (2025), Health and Safety Code 114093.5Since May 7, 2018, US chains with 20 or more locations under the same name must post calories for each standard menu item on menus and menu boards, and give guests written nutrition information on request.
Source: 21 CFR 101.11, eCFR
Not required? Your guests look for it anyway.
57% of Americans use nutrition information at restaurants at least sometimes. A guest who avoids an allergen, eats plant-based, or keeps track of protein or calories wants to know what is in a dish before they pick a place. When every dish shows its allergens and nutrition, they can check from their phone and choose you, without calling ahead. IFIC 2025 Food & Health Survey
It helps most when your menu is built around how guests choose to eat:
Plant-based and vegan menus
Diet tags you set, next to the full ingredient list, so guests see what is in the sauce before they ask.
High-protein bowls and plates
Grams of protein on every dish. 70% of Americans report trying to consume protein, more than any other nutrient.
Source: IFIC 2025 Food & Health SurveyDishes for guests who count calories
Calories and the full nutrition for each serving, worked out with FDA rounding rules.
Kitchens that plan for food allergies
The allergens in each dish’s ingredients, written down once, so every server gives the same answer.
How it works
How does BetterMenu put your menu online?
You send your menu and recipes
Share your menu and the recipe for each dish: the ingredients and how much of each goes in. For bought-in items such as sauces, breads and cheeses, send your supplier’s spec sheet.
We build each dish, you approve it
We match each ingredient to USDA data, and for bought-in items we use the nutrition and allergens from your supplier’s spec sheet. We work out the nutrition with FDA rounding rules and tag the allergens. You check each dish against what your kitchen makes, and we publish it once you approve it.
Guests open it by QR code or link
Each dish gets its own page, and your menu gets one page that lists them all. Guests open it on their phone, with no app to download.
Your menu, everywhere
How do guests get to your menu?
One menu page, four ways in. Every way opens the same page, so a dish you approve shows up everywhere at once.
- Your menu
bettermenu.live/organizations/stone-and-oatYour restaurant name here- Each dish
bettermenu.live/organizations/stone-and-oat/miso-mushroom-bowlEach dish name here
Show it inside your own website
If your website builder accepts custom HTML, we send you one line for whoever runs your website, and the menu appears on your page.
Print a QR code
Put it on tables, counters, printed menus and takeout bags. Guests scan it with their phone camera.
Try it: scan this code with your phone. It opens our demo menu.On your phone? Tap the code to open our demo menu.
Share the link
Set it as the menu link on your Google Business Profile, or send it by text, email or social media.
Source: Google Business Profile Help
For your guests
What do guests see on a BetterMenu dish page?
Every dish page shows the same things, in the same place, every time a guest opens it.
Allergens for every dish
The allergens in the dish’s ingredients. If none were entered, the page says so and asks the guest to check with their server. It lists only what is in the ingredients and never says a dish has none.
Ingredients
What goes into the dish, in plain names.
Diets the dish suits
Tags such as vegan or vegetarian, set by you.
Nutrition for each dish
Calories, protein, carbohydrate, fat, sodium, sugars and more, per serving.
One menu page
All your dishes on one page, grouped into collections such as breakfast or bowls.
Your brand
Your logo, colors and fonts, on every page.
Free tool
How much time do menu questions cost you?
We built the free Menu Questions Calculator for restaurants. It estimates the server time your guests’ questions about allergens, ingredients, diets and calories take each month, in hours and dollars. Every figure shows its math.
FAQ
What do restaurants ask before they start?
What does California SB 68 require, and from when?
From July 1, 2026, a California food facility covered by the federal menu labeling rule, which means a chain with 20 or more locations, must give written notice of the major food allergens in each menu item. It can be on the menu or in a digital format, and the law names a QR code as one example. Compact mobile food operations and nonpermanent food facilities are excluded. California SB 68 (2025), Health and Safety Code 114093.5
Does the FDA calorie rule apply to my restaurant?
It applies to chains with 20 or more locations doing business under the same name and offering substantially the same menu, including franchises. Since May 7, 2018 they must post calories for each standard menu item on menus and menu boards, and keep written nutrition information on the premises for guests who ask: calories, fat, saturated and trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrate, fiber, sugars and protein. A restaurant with fewer locations can register to be covered voluntarily. 21 CFR 101.11, eCFR
Does a BetterMenu page replace the calories on my menu board?
No. The FDA rule asks for calories on the menu and menu board itself. A BetterMenu page holds the full nutrition and allergen detail for each dish. Whether a page guests open on their phone counts as written information on the premises for your locations is a question for your counsel. 21 CFR 101.11, eCFR
What about cross-contact in the kitchen?
The page lists the allergens in a dish’s ingredients. It cannot know about shared fryers, grills or prep surfaces in your kitchen, so cross-contact questions still go to your server, and your staff should be ready to answer them.
What about sauces, breads and other items we buy in?
Send us your supplier’s spec sheet for each one. We use the nutrition and allergens it lists for that ingredient, and when the supplier or the product changes, tell us and we update the dishes that use it.
Who checks each dish?
We build each dish from the recipe you send and show it to you. You check it against what your kitchen actually makes, and we publish it once you approve it. When a recipe changes, tell us and we update the dish.
How long does setup take?
It depends on how many dishes you have and how complete your recipes are. We look at your menu on the call and give you a date.
What does it cost?
It depends on your menu and number of locations, so we price it on a short call. There is no cost to talk.
Can guests read the page in other languages?
Not yet. Dish pages are in English today.
Do small or independent restaurants need this?
The two rules on this page cover chains of 20 or more. A smaller restaurant is not required to follow them, but its guests still ask about allergens and nutrition. A menu built around how guests choose to eat, such as plant-based or high-protein dishes, gains the most from a page that answers the same question the same way every time.
Want to see your menu this way?
Two ways to start. Pick whichever suits you.
Book a call
Talk it through with Harit, Founder, BetterMenu. Bring your menu; we will show you what a dish page looks like and what setup takes.
Book a call