Allergens: Why They Matter and How to Add Them

Allergens in Menivo – why they matter and how to add them correctly to each product

For any manufacturer, bakery, pastry shop, restaurant or catering business, correctly informing customers about allergens is no longer optional. It is a legal obligation in Romania and, more importantly, a direct responsibility for consumer safety.

In Menivo we have integrated a simple and clear system for marking allergens, directly at product level, through the field:

Allergens (hold Ctrl / Cmd for multiple selection)

This way, you can quickly select all allergens present in a recipe, and the information is displayed consistently in menus, labels or on your website.

What are allergens and what does legislation require

According to Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, in the European Union – and thus in Romania – it is mandatory to highlight a number of 14 groups of allergens when present in a product.

These include, for example:

gluten from cereals (wheat, rye, barley, etc.)
eggs and egg products
milk and dairy products
peanuts and tree nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachios, etc.)
soy, celery, mustard, sesame seeds
fish, crustaceans, mollusks
sulfur dioxide and sulfites (frequently used as preservatives)

These allergens must be clearly indicated in the ingredient list and visually highlighted (different font, style or background), so that the consumer can identify them at a glance.

Why it's important to mark allergens correctly

1. Consumer safety

Food allergies can range from mild reactions to episodes of severe anaphylaxis, with life-threatening risk. In many cases, the only "protection system" for the customer is the information on the label or menu.

If a product does not have allergens clearly marked:

allergic individuals may accidentally consume that product
the risk of a serious incident increases
legal and moral responsibility falls directly on the business operator.

2. Legal compliance

Non-compliance with allergen labeling rules can result in:

fines from control authorities
product recalls
reputational issues that are difficult to repair.

By correctly marking allergens in Menivo, you create internal traceability: you know exactly what allergens go into recipes and how they are displayed to the customer.

3. Trust and transparency

Consumers are becoming increasingly careful about what they eat – not just for medical reasons, but also for lifestyle (diet, sports, children, personal preferences).

A menu or online store where allergens are clearly indicated conveys:

care for the customer
professionalism
seriousness in relationships with authorities and partners.

How the "Allergens" field works in Menivo

In Menivo, things are designed to be quick for those who work daily with recipes and menus.

1. Opening the product

For each product (e.g.: "Cheesecake with berries", "Chicken meatballs", "Whole wheat bread"):

you enter the product sheet
you have a dedicated section for ingredients, nutritional values and Allergens.

2. Selecting allergens – multiple selection

The field is configured as a list with multiple selection, because in practice, a product usually contains more than one allergen.

The instruction in the interface:

Allergens (hold Ctrl / Cmd for multiple selection)

means concretely:

on Windows / Linux: hold Ctrl and click on each allergen present in the product
on Mac: hold Cmd and click on the relevant allergens

This way you can mark, for example, for a cheesecake:

gluten (from the base)
milk (cream)
eggs
possibly tree nuts, if they are in the topping.

3. Allergens become reusable information

Once set in Menivo:

allergens appear in a standardized way on the product sheet
they can be displayed in the online menu, in PDF labels, in printed menus or in any product list generated from the platform
if you transfer the data via API to online stores or other platforms, the allergen information goes along with the product.

Benefits for your business when you work "correctly with allergens" in Menivo

Fewer internal errors
The entire team works with the same allergen list, in the same format, directly in Menivo. There are no longer different versions in Excel, Word or in email.
Centralized updates
You modify a recipe or a critical ingredient?
- review the allergens on the product sheet
- all partners and all subsequently generated materials will have the correct information.
Easier scaling
As your portfolio grows, it's impossible to manually remember what contains gluten, milk, soy, nuts, etc. The system in Menivo becomes your brand's "memory": each product has allergens clearly marked.
Preparation for the future
The official list of allergens may be expanded over time, as new scientific data and new eating habits emerge.
Menivo allows rapid adaptation: new allergens can be added to the list, and you can check them for products without completely changing your way of working.

Conclusion

Marking allergens is not just a compliance checkbox, but:

an essential measure of safety for customers
a mandatory legal objective in Romania and throughout the European Union
an instrument of brand and trust.

Through the "Allergens (hold Ctrl / Cmd for multiple selection)" field in Menivo:

you no longer need separate files with allergen lists
you no longer risk forgetting changes when someone modifies a recipe
you have all products aligned to the same rules, clear and easy to verify.