AllergySearch
We collect the allergen information restaurant operators publish, so you can see how far each one's disclosure goes.
What this site does
AllergySearch collects the allergen information that restaurant operators publish themselves and lays out how far each one's disclosure goes, in one consistent shape. Where a per-item chart is published, you can look it up menu by menu.
We do not produce that information. We take what each company publishes on its own site or in its own PDFs, cite where it came from, and lay it out in one consistent shape. Where nothing is published, we say so — and we show where we looked.
Allergen information for eating out is scattered: every operator puts it somewhere different and uses its own symbols. The work this site takes on is the looking.
How the information is collected
Everything published here is gathered in this order.
Find what the operator publishes
We look through the operator's official site, allergen pages and PDFs, and record where we found them. When we find nothing, we record where we looked and publish that too.
Read it as the document states it
We read the chart and its key, and lay it out as menu × allergen. Symbols such as ● and ▲ mean different things at different operators, so we record the meaning the document itself defines. Where a chart has a per-item column left unmarked, we read it as "not used as an ingredient" — as our own judgement, disclosed in the legend. A symbol we cannot rule stays "Not marked", and items the document does not cover stay unknown.
Keep the source and the date
Every entry carries which document it came from and when we checked it. The original document is linked directly from the page.
Watch for changes
We re-fetch the registered documents on a schedule, detect the documents whose contents have changed, and read them again. Broken links are caught the same way and repaired.
On some pages the operating company entered the information itself, and we have confirmed the account belongs to that company; those are marked “officially reviewed”. Anything without that mark was collected and organised by this site from public documents.
What we can and cannot promise
What we can promise
- Everything published here names its source.
- Every entry says when it was checked.
- What the document does not answer is shown as unknown. We do not fill gaps with guesses.
What we cannot promise
- That it is current. Operators revise their documents without notice.
- Medical advice. This site does not provide medical information; talk to a doctor about diagnosis and treatment.
- What happens in the kitchen. Cross-contact through shared kitchens and shared equipment often does not appear in these documents.
Reading an unmarked cell involves our own judgement
Restaurants in Japan are under no allergen labelling obligation, so an unmarked cell is not a legal "does not contain" declaration. Where the document states "not used" in its own words, and also where a chart has a per-item column left unmarked, we show "does not contain" — the latter as our own reading of the chart's structure. Each page's legend says which applies, and where we cannot rule it, the cell stays "Not marked" or "Unknown".
More in "How to read an allergen chart"Before you eat, always check with the restaurant or the operating company directly.
Why we collect it this way
Restaurants in Japan are under no legal duty to label allergens, yet most large operators disclose voluntarily. The form is anything but uniform: PDF tables are the most common, some documents are split per store, and some show nothing until you accept a disclaimer. The number of items a document covers also varies, and many documents never state their scope at all.
In other words, the information usually exists; it is just not in a form that reaches people. This site does not create the information. It takes what each operator already publishes and makes it findable, comparable, and readable on a phone — better access to the same facts.
The reasons for this approach, and its limits, are written up as articles based on the site's own survey. The numbers move as the survey progresses and operators revise their documents, so the articles carry their own verification dates.
Accessibility
Allergen information is useless if it cannot be read. Before public pages ship, they are checked for colour contrast, accessible names on controls, and visible keyboard focus (as of September 2026: 14 public routes and 9 owner-console routes).
There are limits. The menu × allergen table has many columns and needs horizontal scrolling on a phone. If something is hard to read in your screen reader or otherwise, please tell us through the contact page; anything that touches safety is handled first.
Who runs this site
- This site is run by an individual. We have no ownership or partnership ties to anything listed.
- No company payment changes whether or where a listing appears. Listings are our own editorial decision, and we accept no listing fees.
- Running costs are paid by the operator and partly covered by advertising. Advertising does not affect what is published or the order it appears in.
- When an operating company asks us to remove or correct something about their listing, we comply promptly and without contesting the legal merits.
Related pages
Contact
We take reports of errors, feedback, and listing enquiries from anyone. When an allergen value is reported as wrong, we unpublish it first and confirm afterwards.
Open the contact form- Or by email — Enquiries, reports and removal requests
- contact@search-allergy.com
- Security and vulnerability reports
- security@search-allergy.com