Scotland
Allergy-friendly restaurants in Edinburgh
Edinburgh changes character in festival season, when temporary kitchens and one-off menus sit beside the restaurants that are there all year. Allergen duties still apply. A Pass sticker is about hygiene, and it is a different question from your food.
A festival calendar and a normal week
For most of the year Edinburgh’s meals are the restaurants, cafes and pubs of the Old Town, the New Town, Leith and the neighbourhoods. In August, and during the city’s other festivals, temporary kitchens and special menus appear. A dish that was fine on a previous trip can have a new sauce. Ask on the day you are eating.
A stall that was built that morning is still a food business. It has to be able to tell you about the 14 allergens. Staff who are only there for the festival may know the script less well. If they cannot say what is in the food and what it was cooked with, choose something else.
Scottish plates, without guessing the recipe
Soups are sometimes thickened with barley or wheat. Oatcakes involve oats, and oats sit inside the cereals-containing-gluten group, with a separate question about contamination if you have coeliac disease. Haggis recipes differ, so ask about oatmeal and the stock rather than relying on a traditional recipe you read somewhere else. Tablet and fudge are milk dishes unless the maker tells you otherwise. Smoked fish is still fish.
If sulphites are the issue, include the drink. Wine and cider are common sources, and a sauce made with wine counts. Scotland’s allergen duties come through the Food Information (Scotland) Regulations. Since 1 October 2021, food packed on the premises before the customer chooses it needs a full ingredients list with the 14 allergens emphasised, in the same way as in the rest of the UK.
Pass is a hygiene result
Scotland uses the Food Hygiene Information Scheme. The result you see is usually Pass or Improvement Required, not a number from 0 to 5. People used to the English sticker sometimes think a missing number means the business was never inspected. It often means you are looking at a different scheme.
SafePlate may show a hygiene result when it can match a listing. A Pass means the hygiene standards were considered satisfactory at inspection. It is not an allergy clearance, and it does not replace the Allergy Confidence Score. That score still stays unknown until a menu or a visitor note mentions your food.
City of Edinburgh Council, and not East Lothian
The City of Edinburgh Council’s Food Health and Safety team investigates hygiene concerns and allergen labelling for businesses in Edinburgh. Its own page lists “concerns over allergen labelling / information” as something it can look at. The team is at Waverley Court, 4 East Market Street, EH8 8BG, on 0131 200 2000, email EnvironmentalHealth@edinburgh.gov.uk. Food Standards Scotland is the national body. The council does the local inspections and the Pass or Improvement Required result.
Leith, the Old Town and the New Town are in the city. Musselburgh is East Lothian Council. A festival stall is still a food business, and if it is trading in Edinburgh it is this team, not a visiting council from somewhere else. Waverley and Haymarket are the two stations in the centre. The tram runs from the airport through the city to York Place. A meal at the airport and a meal in Leith are both Edinburgh. A meal past the city boundary is not.
Little France, not the Western General
Call 999 for anaphylaxis. The adult accident and emergency department for Edinburgh is at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Little France. The Royal Hospital for Children and Young People is on the same campus. The Western General Hospital is not the place to head for a severe allergic reaction in the city. St John’s Hospital in Livingston is outside Edinburgh.
Anaphylaxis UK publishes support-group dates, including meetings in Scotland, on anaphylaxis.org.uk. That is not an Edinburgh restaurant list. Allergy UK’s helpline is national.
What to ask in Edinburgh
- Is this the regular menu or a festival special, and who made it today?
- Is there wheat, barley or oat in the soup, the sauce or the bread?
- Does the dish contain fish, fish stock or a splash of fish sauce?
- Is there wine, cider or dried fruit in the food if you avoid sulphites?
- If this was packed earlier for the counter, can I read the full ingredients list?
Search Edinburgh
Search Edinburgh for restaurants, cafes and pubs. A hygiene result, when one is shown, is not the allergy score.
Questions people ask
Do festival pop-ups in Edinburgh have to provide allergen information?
Yes. Temporary food businesses still have to be able to tell customers about the 14 allergens. A short run and a temporary stall do not remove that duty. If the person serving cannot find out what is in the food, do not guess from the sign.
Why do Edinburgh places not show a rating out of 5?
Scotland’s Food Hygiene Information Scheme uses Pass or Improvement Required. A Pass is about hygiene standards. It is not a statement that a kitchen is free from gluten, peanut, mustard or any other food.
How should I search Edinburgh?
Set your foods on your profile, then search Edinburgh. The results are restaurants, cafes and pubs from OpenStreetMap. During the festivals the map can lag behind a stall that appeared last week, so a missing pin is not the same thing as a closed kitchen, and a pin is not an inspection.
Set up your foods before you search. This is not medical advice. Confirm the meal with the kitchen. If you think someone is having anaphylaxis, call 999.