Deliveroo unveils major allergen communication overhaul: Restaurant delivery company Deliveroo has announced major changes to how it displays allergen content on menus to increase transparency for consumers and promote restaurant action in this area. Until now, restaurants and takeaways have been unable to display information for each dish on delivery apps, instead it has tended to be shown in-store or communicated via restaurant staff. To address this, Deliveroo’s engineering team has been working with restaurant partners to design a tool that will make this possible for delivery. Deliveroo will be the first UK delivery platform to provide dish-by-dish allergen information. From December, Deliveroo will begin rolling out in-menu allergen information for individual items to provide greater transparency before customers order. Deliveroo is also making immediate changes to ensure allergen warnings are more prominent in apps and making it easier for customers to contact restaurants regarding concerns. A spokesman said: “The company is doing this by making major tech changes and has a dedicated team of engineers redesigning Deliveroo’s menu system to allow restaurants to simply and quickly upload allergen information directly into Deliveroo’s menus. A number of Deliveroo’s major restaurant operators have asked for this level of functionality and, following active consultation and collaboration, we want to offer every restaurant the ability to display the same information previously only available on some partners’ websites or in-store. Deliveroo will increase the ability of consumers to directly flag restaurants regarding specific allergen requirements when they order. Deliveroo will write to all 10,000 UK restaurants it works with to urge them to use this tool and make it easier for customers to do this. Deliveroo will enable all restaurants on the platform to provide consumers with allergen content for each menu item through a new ‘menu tool’, which will be rolled out to all partners across 2019. The tool will be tested this year and, before the end of 30 December, restaurants that have almost 300 sites between them will have the ability to add allergen information to their menus. Tortilla, Tommi’s Burger Joint, Mildreds and Chipotle have committed to adding allergen content to their menus in December. Following the initial trial, 700 further restaurants will be able to make use of the tool. Other major national chains including YO! Sushi, PizzaExpress, Pho and Byron have said they will make use of the tool in January. Specifically, restaurants will be able to show which of the 14 EU allergens each individual food item contains when customers browse the menu. Deliveroo will encourage all partners to add detailed allergen information and will make tech support available for those who decide to do so. A new banner at the top of each menu will remind consumers about potential allergen content in meals and urge them to contact restaurants directly before any purchase.” Dan Warne, managing director Deliveroo UK and Ireland, said: “This is great news for consumers who want more information about the food they are ordering online. Deliveroo believes people should have an amazing delivery experience, and that must include making informed choices. Overhauling our menus is not a simple task but customers with allergies need this extra transparency before they order, which is why we are working with our restaurant partners to make it happen.”