Protect customers with food allergies across every service channel.
Get in-depth insight on real-world allergen checks, from food-to-go counters to sit-down meals.
Trained auditors using scenario-based allergy requests to mirror real customer behaviour
All in one service covers compliance, customer experience and lab testing
Nationwide and international coverage with scalable programmes and fast turnaround on results
Clear, evidence-led reports suitable for training, investigations and legal due diligence
How Serve Legal can help
The Risk
Poor allergen management can lead to serious harm for customers and major legal, regulatory and reputational consequences for businesses. With more guests relying on accurate allergen information, you need to know what actually happens in your sites – not just what’s written in your policy.
How We Help
We use trained mystery shoppers to test how your teams handle allergen requests in real life.
Audits can cover:
Food to go and drive-thru – quick-service counters, kiosks and drive-thru lanes where speed can push allergen questions to the bottom of the list.
Takeaway and home delivery – phone, app and third-party platforms through to the doorstep, checking how allergen information is given and confirmed at each step.
Cafés, pubs and restaurants – full sit-down meal experiences, assessing how staff handle allergy declarations from first interaction to ordering, serving and bill payment.
For each scenario, we assess whether staff proactively ask about allergies, provide clear and reliable information, check ingredients correctly and serve food free from the stated allergens. Reports are concise but detailed enough to use in training, internal reviews and due-diligence evidence. AllergyWise® / Anaphylaxis UK partnership – For clients who want an enhanced framework, we can deliver AllergyWise® audits in partnership with Anaphylaxis UK, aligned to their guidance and supporting participation in the AllergyWise® Programme.
Lab testing – Where needed, product samples from audited sites can be sent to our partner laboratory for allergen testing. This provides an extra layer of evidence on whether “allergen-free” and other claims are accurate, and supports investigations, due diligence and regulatory discussions."
Data and Analytics Reporting
We don’t just run audits, we turn them into live, actionable intelligence. Our investment in data, software and automation goes far beyond industry norms, giving our clients faster insight, lower reporting costs, and a genuine competitive edge. Take a look at our reporting ecosystem, combining interactive Power BI dashboards, AI-powered data assurance and a developer-friendly REST API, helping you take control of compliance performance across your organisation.
Interested? Contact Us Now to Find Out More About Our Services
Start operating confidently when it comes to age-restricted products
Make Your Audit Your Own with Flexible “Bolt-On” Features for Every Service
Already planning an audit programme but want more insight?
Add extra checks, like promotional compliance, retail compliance, customer experience, or venue safety, without setting up a whole new programme. With Serve Legal’s bolt-on service, every audit is bespoke to your needs.
Our success stories
We were approached by nationwide luxury hotel group a number of years ago, asking if Serve Legal could test whether their allergen training was actually being used in real guest interactions.
We ran a programme of mystery visits across their restaurants and bars, using scenario-based allergy requests. Audits showed where staff handled allergies confidently and safely, and where the customer journey broke down — unclear questioning, inconsistent information or low confidence at the point of order.
The findings gave managers clear, real-world examples to challenge teams and target refresher training. Follow-up audits showed more consistent behaviour across the estate, helping the brand ensure that guests with allergies receive the same high standard of experience as every other customer.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Our auditors follow structured briefs and are trained on how to declare allergies, ask questions and record staff responses accurately.
Yes. You can select any combination of food to go, drive thru, takeaway, home delivery, cafés, pubs or restaurants, and we’ll design the programme around those channels.
Yes. We can include brand-specific questions, processes and red flags so the audit reflects your policies and training.
We can design programmes around any allergen, with a core focus on the 14 major allergens. We can also adapt programmes to cover specific intolerances and dietary preferences in line with your customer base.
Yes. Our reports are evidence-led and structured so they can support internal investigations, training programmes and external due diligence.
About us
In early 2006, Ed Heaver and Julian Sargeson were alcohol retailers with a problem. The local authority had decided one of their sites was consistently serving underage people.
They wanted to check their staff, measure the site performance and demonstrate to the authority they were taking the issue seriously. They couldn't find a company providing a cost-effective service, so they decided to do it themselves.
The business has since grown to become the market leading provider of compliance auditing services in the UK & Ireland, and a leading voice in the conversations around age-verification and food allergy policy.
Our Customer Experience Allergen audit has been designed in collaboration with an experienced Environmental Health Practitioner and is approved by Trading Standards.
Our Awards
Don't just take our word for it, see the awards that back up our claims of excellence.
Elite Business Award Winner 2025
Top 100 SME Businesses - #8 in the UK
Elite Business Award Winner 2025
Top 100 SME Businesses - #8 in the UK
Growing Business Awards Winner 2023
Customer Experience and Loyalty Award
The Golden Grocer Awards 2022 Finalist
Business Initiative of the Year
Growing Business Awards Winner 2022
B2B Business of the Year
Business Champion Awards 2022 Finalist
Business Community Award
Start operating confidently when it comes to food allergies
Start operating confidently when it comes to age-restricted products
Looking to work for us as one of our mystery shoppers?
