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Buffet allergen label legend
Written by a hotel banquet operations manager ·
A buffet allergen label legend is the key to your labels: it spells out each dietary code, such as GF for made without gluten-containing ingredients, and names the nine major US allergens. This one prints on one page, in English and Spanish, with the exact wording Hotelwright prints on its labels. Keep a copy at the start of the line, in the pre-shift binder and in the kitchen.
14-day trial, no cardEnglish · Español
| English | Español | |
|---|---|---|
| V | Vegetarian | Vegetariano |
| VG | Vegan | Vegano |
| GF | Made without gluten-containing ingredients | Elaborado sin ingredientes que contienen gluten |
| DF | Dairy-free | Sin lácteos |
| PN | Contains peanuts | Contiene cacahuetes |
| TN | Contains tree nuts | Contiene frutos secos |
| SE | Contains sesame | Contiene sésamo |
| H | Halal | Halal |
| English | Español |
|---|---|
| milk | leche |
| eggs | huevos |
| fish | pescado |
| crustacean shellfish | mariscos crustáceos |
| tree nuts | frutos secos |
| peanuts | cacahuetes |
| wheat | trigo |
| soy | soja |
| sesame | sésamo |
V Vegetarian · VG Vegan · GF Made without gluten-containing ingredients · DF Dairy-free · PN Contains peanuts · TN Contains tree nuts · SE Contains sesame · H Halal. Allergens listed are as confirmed by the hotel. Our kitchen handles all major allergens. Please ask your banquet captain.
V Vegetariano · VG Vegano · GF Elaborado sin ingredientes que contienen gluten · DF Sin lácteos · PN Contiene cacahuetes · TN Contiene frutos secos · SE Contiene sésamo · H Halal. Alérgenos según lo confirmado por el hotel. Nuestra cocina maneja todos los alérgenos principales. Consulte a su capitán de banquetes.
Use with your own labels and check each dish with the kitchen. Your local food code decides what a label must show. The sentence "Our kitchen handles all major allergens." is optional: strike it out if your kitchen would rather not say it. From hotelwright.com.
What is on the sheet
Three things, all on one page:
- The dietary codes hotels commonly put on a buffet label, with the full words next to each
- The nine major US allergens, as they read after "Contains:"
- The legend line that sits at the bottom of a label or card, in both languages
The sentence "Our kitchen handles all major allergens." on the legend line is optional. In Hotelwright it is a switch in the label style; on this printable, strike it out if your kitchen would rather not say it.
How to read a Contains line
A Contains line lists the major allergens in a dish, such as "Contains: fish, wheat". It is the line a guest with an allergy reads first, so it should only be printed after someone has checked it against the recipe. Hotelwright's buffet labels print it only after a person on your team confirms the event's allergens.
If a confirmed dish has none of the nine, the line reads "Contains: none declared by the hotel".
Why GF doesn't say gluten-free
GF reads "Made without gluten-containing ingredients". It describes the recipe, not the kitchen. A banquet kitchen that handles wheat all day can't promise a dish is free of it, so the code says what went into the dish and the legend asks guests to speak to the banquet captain.
Use your own codes if you have them
Hotels disagree on codes, so yours are editable in Hotelwright, and kosher (K) and spicy (SP) can be switched on. If your labels use different letters, write yours over the codes on this sheet by hand, or edit the codes in Hotelwright, so that the key and the label never disagree.
The nine major US allergens are the list the FDA publishes. Buffet label requirements covers what else belongs on a label and why to check your local food code.
Spanish that matches the kitchen
Allergen names and dietary codes in Spanish come from a fixed list, never from machine translation, so "cacahuetes" and "frutos secos" read the same on every label, card and sheet your team prints.
Sources
FAQ
What banquet managers ask.
Which allergens does the legend cover?
The nine major US allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy and sesame.
Is this enough to meet allergen labeling rules?
It is a key for your own labels, not a replacement for them or for checking each dish with the kitchen. Rules differ by country, state and county, so check your local food code.
Can I print it in Spanish only?
The sheet shows both languages side by side. Print it as it is, or cut the column you don't need.