Any allergies?
What it really means
Waiters often ask this when you order. UK restaurants must provide allergen information by law, and menus mark the 14 main allergens. If you have an allergy, always say so clearly and ask them to check with the kitchen.
Context, tips & common mistakes
UK food businesses are legally required to tell you about any of 14 regulated allergens — including peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, crustaceans, sesame, soya, gluten-containing cereals and, less obviously, celery, mustard, lupin, molluscs and sulphites — in anything they serve, so asking is never awkward or unusual here. Restaurants typically handle it through allergen menus or a folder behind the counter; if a server guesses instead of checking, ask them to confirm with the kitchen, which staff are trained to do. Since 2021, food packed on site for direct sale (sandwiches in a café fridge, for example) must carry a full ingredient list with allergens emphasised — known as Natasha's Law after a teenager who died from an unlabelled sesame allergy. Two habits matter for allergic newcomers: mention the allergy every time you order, even at a familiar place, and treat 'may contain' warnings seriously in takeaways where fryers and utensils are shared.