Allergen matrix

Build your routines around the food control plan or national programme that applies to your New Zealand business. For cafes using MPI's Simply Safe & Suitable template, the selected cards and your registered activities determine the work. Keep the completed checks and supporting methods ready for your verifier.

1. Use the NZ menu declaration options and review every recipe against the current supplier information. Keep wheat, gluten and individual tree-nut declarations clear.
2. Follow substitutions through the menu chart and the instructions available to front-of-house staff. Retain the version reviewed for publication.
3. Apply the allergen-handling methods in the business's plan alongside the ingredient chart. Cross-contact controls and customer conversations still need an informed team.

• MPI: using a Simply Safe & Suitable food control plan ↗

NZ sites offer wheat and gluten separately and individual tree nuts. Check recipes, supplier specifications, processing aids and added sulphites at 10 mg/kg or more. Review cross-contact before selecting may-contain statements.

The published matrix retains its declaration vocabulary and reviewer. Review and republish legacy matrices after a country correction; old published versions keep their original meaning. Use Retail food labels for reviewed ingredients, bold allergen declarations, nutrition information, batch dates and saved PDF history. Kitchen labels remain for internal stock handling.

• MPI allergen labelling guide ↗

1. Open Allergens and add your menu items.
2. Tick the allergens each item contains as an ingredient.
3. Where a risk assessment supports it, mark may-contain for cross-contamination risks — shown separately from contains.

Publishing creates a clean, versioned customer-facing view. Each published version is kept, so you always have a record of what was shown and when. Download it as a PDF or print the chart straight from the page.

• Inspection report & exports guide
• Allergen management — feature overview