Dietary requirements.
Dietary requirements are the food restrictions guests need the kitchen to respect — preferences such as vegetarian or vegan, religious rules such as kosher or halal, and medically critical allergies such as nuts, shellfish or coeliac disease — collected by count before the event and logged on the BEO.
Also called dietary notes or allergies, they are one of the few details on an event where a mistake can genuinely hurt someone. That is why good BEOs separate simple preferences from medically critical allergies, and give the kitchen exact counts rather than "a few vegetarians".
Types of dietary requirements
Not every requirement carries the same risk, and the kitchen handles each type differently. A guest who prefers not to eat meat needs a good alternative dish. A guest with a severe peanut allergy needs a dish made without peanuts, kept away from cross-contact, and served by someone who knows which plate it is.
| Type | Examples | Kitchen risk |
|---|---|---|
| Lifestyle preference | Vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian | Low — a wrong dish disappoints but does not harm |
| Religious | Kosher, halal, no pork, no beef | Medium — may need certified suppliers or separate prep |
| Intolerance | Lactose, gluten sensitivity | Medium — causes discomfort; needs ingredient control |
| Medical allergy | Peanut, tree nut, shellfish, sesame, coeliac disease | High — cross-contact can be life-threatening |
In the US, nine major allergens cause most serious reactions: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy and sesame.
How they are collected and passed on
Requirements are usually gathered with the RSVP or registration form, then confirmed with the final guarantee a few days before the event. On many events around one guest in ten asks for something, and conferences often see more. The BEO lists them by count — 14 vegetarian, 6 vegan, 2 nut allergy — with the medically critical ones flagged.
How they are served depends on the format. At a plated dinner each special meal is tied to a table and seat, often marked on the place card. At a buffet, every dish is labelled and guests with severe allergies are usually offered a separately plated meal, because shared serving spoons make cross-contact hard to avoid.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Recording "allergies: yes" without saying what the allergy is or how severe.
- Collecting requirements at RSVP but not re-checking them with the final guarantee.
- Giving the kitchen counts but not seat or table numbers for a plated meal.
- Treating gluten-free as a preference when the guest has coeliac disease.
Related terms
- Full banquet & catering glossary
- BEO — where dietary counts are written for the kitchen
- Final guarantee — the point when dietary counts are confirmed
- Plated service — where each special meal is tied to a seat
- Buffet service — where labelling and cross-contact matter most
- Menu tasting — a chance to test the alternative dishes
Dietary requirements — common questions.
What is the difference between a dietary preference and an allergy?
When should dietary requirements be collected?
Do caterers charge extra for special meals?
How are dietary requirements handled at a buffet?
Dietary notes the kitchen can't miss.
In LightCater, dietary notes sit on the BEO and function sheet together with the menu, timing, room setup and staffing, so the kitchen and floor team work from the same counts on the night. Try it free for 14 days, no credit card to start.