A new app, MenuLab, designed for any business serving food to the public, is now available on Google Play and the Apple App Store, free of charge.

The app is designed to track allergens, as well as ease paperwork and legislation burden.

Ten months in the making, MenuLab is designed to be the alternative to recording allergens on paper. It includes features such as bar-code scanning and access to nearly 10,000 food service products and their allergen information – stock items can be turned into recipes and menus, helping chefs and waiting staff to see which allergens are in their dishes.

Lisa Cuthbert, managing director at MenuLab, said: “The allergen law came into force over a year ago, but still some businesses are still not recording allergens or, if they are, they are using pen and paper.

“This app has been designed to make it easy for business owners, chefs and waiting staff to quickly see what allergens are in their dishes, helping to please customers and stay compliant with the law. We urge businesses to download the app while it is free and provide feedback on their experience of using the app and what they would like to see in future releases”.

MenuLab is funded by a crowdfunding campaign, which was launched online in December. The team are currently working on additional paid-for features for the app. Phase two, which features nutritional analysis, will launch in June. There are also plans to develop a paid-for consumer-facing app later in the year.