Everyone at the Table: The Plainmula Food Needs Guide

Allergies, intolerances, coeliac disease, vegetarian and vegan eating, and faith and cultural food rules, explained simply in one guide you'll keep in the kitchen drawer.

Cooking for someone with a nut allergy? A friend who keeps halal? A family where one child is coeliac, one is vegetarian and a visiting friend is vegan? Everyone at the Table puts every food need in one place, so you can feed people safely and respectfully without spending an evening on Google.

Facts are checked against official and expert UK sources, including the Food Standards Agency, the NHS, Coeliac UK, Allergy UK, the Vegan Society and UK legislation, and every page lists its sources.

58 pages · A4 PDF · print it or use it on your phone

What's inside

• Start here: the golden rule (always ask), allergy vs intolerance vs coeliac disease, and what to do in an anaphylaxis emergency (call 999), with a cut-out fridge strip.
• The 14 UK regulated allergens: what they are and where they hide.
• Reading UK labels: emphasised allergens, Natasha's Law (PPDS), loose food and takeaways, "may contain", "free-from", "gluten-free" and what trust marks really mean.
• A safe kitchen: six steps to stop cross-contamination at home.
• At-a-glance chart: 19 food needs against 16 foods on one page.
• A two-page spread for each of 19 needs: coeliac and gluten-free; dairy-free and lactose intolerance; egg-free; peanut and tree nut; sesame; soya; fish and shellfish; celery, mustard, lupin and sulphites; vegetarian; vegan; pescatarian; halal; kosher; Hindu; Sikh; Jain; Buddhist; Ital (Rastafari); Seventh-day Adventist. Each shows what it means, what to avoid, hidden sources, what to look for on UK labels, budget swaps, store-cupboard no-oven meal ideas, a day's menu idea and questions to ask.
• Tools to print: cooking for a mixed table (with a worked example), a mixed-table planner, questions to ask a guest, and a "my household's food needs" card.
• Works with the 4-week no-oven food plan: a two-page, recipe-by-recipe chart showing which of the plan's 50 recipes (including its pan breads and tin-by-tin recipes) suit each need and what to swap. Luncheon meat and tinned ham are clearly marked as pork.

Respectful and practical: practice varies between people and communities, so the guide always tells you what to ask, not what to assume.

Free with the food plan: this guide is included at no extra cost with Feed Your Household for Less: The 4-Week No-Oven Food Plan.

How it works: Buy → download the PDF → keep it on your phone, or print the planner, the guest questions and the household card. No physical item is shipped.

From Plainmula. Checkout by our sister store, Plain Terms.

General information, not medical or dietary advice. For diagnosis see a GP. In an emergency call 999. Facts checked 8 November 2026. No brand is endorsed.