Munchi Bar — Party Snack Bar Planning | munchibar.com
The nine major allergens, labelling practice and separate tools for nut-free zones.
US law requires declaring the major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame. These nine words must appear on the label of any packaged snack you put on the table, and on the jar label you write yourself.
Copy the ingredient list from the original packaging onto the jar label, or write the allergen words in plain text next to the snack name. Include 'may contain' warnings: a product that warns about possible cross-contact with peanuts still needs that warning on your label.
Keep a nut-free zone with its own tongs and scoop, placed at the start of the table. Separate tools matter more than separate jars — a clean jar with a shared scoop is not a nut-free station.
On narrow screens, swipe or scroll the plate sideways.
Do not rely on guests to ask. A labelled jar per snack type plus small paper bags lets guests serve themselves without touching shared food, and the label does the explaining even when the host is busy at the door.
Watch for the less obvious carriers: sesame appears in breadsticks and some crackers, wheat in pretzel sticks and cookie bites, milk in chocolate-coated anything, soy in many candy coatings. Read the original pack before writing the label rather than guessing from the appearance of the snack.
If a guest tells you about an allergy, walk them down the table in order and point at the labels rather than handing items over — this keeps the nut-free tools at the start of the row in use for their intended purpose.
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