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AI & data

AI allergen matrix from recipes and spec sheets

This automation reads your recipe cards and supplier specification sheets and proposes which of the 14 declarable allergens each dish contains. The proposals go to a review sheet, and only the changes a chef approves reach the allergen matrix your team works from.

An example of how the studio would build it. No live services are connected.

From recipe cards to an allergen chart the chef has checked.

  1. Step 01

    Recipe updated

    A recipe card or supplier specification sheet is added or changed in the shared Google Drive folder.

  2. Step 02

    Ingredients read

    Claude lists each ingredient in the recipe and the allergens its supplier sheet declares, including “may contain” warnings.

  3. Step 03

    Dish checked

    Each dish is checked against the 14 allergens UK food businesses must declare, and any ingredient without a spec sheet is marked as unknown.

  4. Step 04

    Chef signs off

    Proposed changes appear in a review tab in Google Sheets, where the chef approves or corrects each one with the source document beside it.

  5. Step 05

    Chart updated

    Only approved rows update the allergen matrix your team works from, with the date and who approved them.

The result

An allergen chart that keeps up with the menu.

The AI never edits the live chart: only a person can approve a change. An ingredient with missing or unclear information is shown as unknown, never assumed safe.

Before we connect it.

Where this is useful

Useful for cafés, restaurants, caterers and small food producers whose menu or suppliers change often, and whose allergen chart is updated by hand when someone remembers. A sensible first version covers one menu and lists the differences between the current chart and the recipes, without changing anything.

What we need to connect

  1. 01Recipe cards and supplier specification sheets kept in one Google Drive folder, ideally one file per recipe and one per product.
  2. 02A Google Sheets allergen matrix with a row for each dish and a column for each declarable allergen.
  3. 03Who may approve changes, how “may contain” warnings should be shown and what happens when a supplier or product is swapped.

What needs careful handling

Supplier sheets differ in layout and wording, and some arrive as scans or photos, so the model can misread or miss an allergen. That is why every proposed change is checked by a person against the source document, and anything unreadable is marked as unknown. Substitutions on the day, such as a different brand of flour, are a process question as much as a software one, so the kitchen needs a simple way to record them.

Questions people ask.

Does this make us compliant with allergen law?

No software can do that on its own. The legal responsibility stays with your business, and this is a tool to keep records consistent and catch differences sooner. The Food Standards Agency’s published advice and your local authority’s food safety team remain the reference.

Can customers see the chart directly?

They can, once it has been approved, for example as a printed sheet or a page on your website. We would still suggest staff ask about allergies when taking orders, because a chart can’t cover every change in a busy kitchen.

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