Peanuts on the menu: where they appear and how to label them

What it covers

Point 5 of Annex II of Regulation (EU) 1169/2011, still in force in the UK, covers “Peanuts and products thereof”. There are no exceptions, so it includes raw, roasted, fried and honey-roasted peanuts, peanut butter, peanut flour, sauces and the oil too, refined or not.

Keeping peanuts apart from tree nuts is not a technicality. Botanically the peanut is a legume, and a person can be allergic to peanuts and not to almonds, or the other way round. If your menu lumps them together as “nuts”, the guest cannot tell what the dish contains.

Where it appears

At the bar

• The bowl of peanuts that comes with a pint.
• Bar snack mixes, which often combine peanuts with tree nuts, corn snacks and crackers.
• Dry-roasted, honey-roasted and coated peanuts.

Asian and fusion cooking

• Satay sauce on chicken skewers.
• Pad thai, served with crushed peanuts.
• Massaman curry and other peanut curries.
• Thai and Vietnamese salads, summer rolls with peanut dipping sauce, kung pao chicken.
• Stir-fries cooked in groundnut oil.

African and Latin American cooking

• West African groundnut stew (maafe) and peanut soups.
• Some Mexican moles and Peruvian sauces, depending on the recipe.

Burger bars, brunch and cafes

• Burgers topped with peanut butter.
• Toast, pancakes, smoothie bowls, milkshakes, granola and protein bars.

Desserts

• Brownies, cookies, cakes decorated with chocolate bars, ice creams and toppings.
• Peanut brittle and some chocolates and pralines, depending on the maker.

On packaged products, peanuts are emphasised in the ingredients list. Also watch the “may contain” warnings on chocolate, ice cream and biscuits: they are common with peanuts.

Contact at the bar and in the kitchen

Peanuts leave residue easily, and the risk is not only in the kitchen:

• Shared bowls on the bar and the hand or scoop used to fill them.
• Crumbs on the bar and tables that are then used for another customer.
• Food processors, mortars and boards where peanuts are chopped before something else.
• The wok and the oil, if dishes with and without peanuts are cooked in them.
• Dessert toppings sprinkled with the same spoon.

If you cannot separate these processes, mark the affected dishes “may contain peanuts”. What does not work is taking the peanuts off a finished dish: it has to be made again.

When a guest tells you about an allergy

Peanut reactions can be severe, so it pays to have a simple routine the whole team knows:

1. Write the allergy on the order where it cannot be missed, and tell the kitchen in person.
2. Check the dish record or the allergen matrix, not your memory.
3. If you are unsure about a bought-in product, read the label or say clearly that you cannot guarantee it.
4. Prepare the dish with clean utensils and without toppings, sauces or garnishes from shared containers.
5. Do not put the bar snack bowl on that table.

In the UK you can give allergen information verbally, but the Food Information Regulations 2014 then require a notice, menu note or label telling customers they can ask staff for it. The FSA says written information backed up by a conversation works best.

Peanuts and lupin

Peanuts and lupin are legumes from the same family, and some people allergic to peanuts also react to lupin. Diagnosing anything is not your job, but marking both correctly is. If you serve lupini beans as a snack or use products with lupin flour, it is all explained on the lupin page.

In the US

Peanuts are one of the FDA’s nine major food allergens. One difference matters for menus: in the US, highly refined peanut oil is exempt from allergen labelling, so a US label will name “peanut oil” without flagging it as an allergen. UK and EU rules make no such exception. In states that have adopted the 2022 FDA Food Code, restaurants must tell customers in writing about major allergens in unpackaged food.

How to mark it on your menu

Peanuts are number 5 in Annex II. A few tips to make the information useful:

• Mark them with their own icon or number, never inside “nuts”.
• If you serve peanuts as a bar snack, even though they are not on the menu, your staff must be able to give allergen information about them.
• Say in the description when the peanut is in a sauce on the side that can be left off, and when it is part of the dish.
• Check labels every time you change supplier of chocolate, ice cream or Asian sauces.

If you build your menu with MenuDesign, peanuts have their own icon and the number 5, separate from tree nuts, and go straight into the key and the allergen matrix. If you are just starting, you can create your menu with allergens from a photo of the one you already have.