Mint was built by a family living with severe food allergies. We have dealt first hand with the stress and worry of young children with severe food allergies. Every restaurant seemed to treat allergy management differently, and there was always the risk of relying solely on messages passed between table and kitchen. We avoided eating out - the inconvenience of cooking at home was less stressful than eating out, every time.
But surely there had to be a better way of making our restaurant visits less stressful? We couldn’t find one, so we built one: Mint.
Mint is a UK service that shows diners restaurant menus filtered to their food allergies. A customer scans the restaurant’s QR code, selects the allergens they need to avoid, and sees which dishes are safe for their allergies. Mint is free for diners - we would never charge allergy sufferers - and there is no app to download or need to create an account. Mint covers all 14 allergens regulated by food laws in the UK.
For restaurants, cafés, coffee shops and takeaways, Mint is a simple way to give customers written, up-to-date allergen information that reduces communication errors and improves regulatory compliance. A venue enters its menu, tags the allergens in each dish, and prints a QR code for its tables. It’s as easy as that. Updating a dish with new ingredients or allergens takes moments and reaches every customer straight away - no need to reprint paper menus.
Because we know exactly what is involved when living with severe food allergies, safety shapes every decision we have taken when designing Mint:
We hope that Mint helps allergy sufferers enjoy dining out again with extra peace of mind. Let’s help allergy sufferers get safer and more enjoyable dining, and help businesses achieve more trust in the allergy community.