Question 1

What is TrustDiner?

Accepted Answer

TrustDiner is a community-led platform that helps people with food allergies make more informed decisions about where to eat, travel and stay, while helping businesses better manage and communicate how they handle food allergies. For diners, we bring together real experiences and honest reviews from people living with allergies, helping you understand how restaurants, hotels, airlines and other businesses have handled allergies. For businesses, we provide tools to improve allergen communication, manage allergen information, respond to customer feedback and build trust with the allergy community. TrustDiner was built by Dan Kelly and Jacob Payne, who both live with severe food allergies.

Question 2

Is TrustDiner free?

Accepted Answer

Yes, TrustDiner is completely free for diners. You can explore listings, read reviews and share your own experiences without paying anything. Businesses can also register for free and access a range of tools, with additional capabilities available through our paid business plans.

Question 3

Do I need an account to use TrustDiner?

Accepted Answer

No. Anyone can browse TrustDiner and read reviews without creating an account. You can even start writing a review without signing in. You will only need to register for a free account before your review can be published.

Question 4

Is TrustDiner available as an app?

Accepted Answer

TrustDiner is currently a mobile-friendly website, rather than a dedicated iPhone or Android app. We've taken this approach to make TrustDiner accessible from any device, while allowing us to focus on improving the platform and introducing new features. You can add TrustDiner to your home screen for quick access: on iPhone, open TrustDiner in Safari, tap the Share button and select Add to Home Screen; on Android, open TrustDiner in Chrome, open the browser menu and select Install app or Add to Home screen. We also have plans to introduce dedicated mobile apps in the future.

Question 5

How accurate are TrustDiner's allergy ratings?

Accepted Answer

TrustDiner's ratings come from real people sharing their experiences of how businesses handled their allergies. Each rating reflects an individual's experience, rather than an independently verified assessment of a business's safety. Experiences can vary between visits, locations and staff members, so reading several reviews can help you build a more complete picture. Always speak directly with a business about your allergies before visiting.

Question 6

What does each rating score mean?

Accepted Answer

TrustDiner uses a five-point scale to help people describe their allergy experiences. 1 (Avoid) means poor allergen handling or serious concerns about cross-contact. 2 (Caution) means limited allergen awareness or inconsistent handling. 3 (Moderate) means basic allergen awareness, with some precautions taken. 4 (Good) means good allergen awareness and appropriate precautions. 5 (Excellent) means outstanding allergen awareness and handling. These ratings represent community experiences, not a guarantee that a business is safe for everyone.

Question 7

Can I rely on reviews if I have life-threatening allergies?

Accepted Answer

TrustDiner can help you learn from other people's experiences, but no review or rating should be your only safety measure. Allergy handling can vary, even at highly rated businesses. Always explain your specific allergies to staff, ask about ingredients and preparation methods, and check how potential cross-contact is managed. Continue to follow your personal allergy management plan and carry any prescribed emergency medication.

Question 8

Where does TrustDiner's venue information come from?

Accepted Answer

Venue details, such as business names and addresses, can come from publicly available business information and services such as Google Places. Allergy ratings and community reviews come from people sharing their own experiences. We don't independently verify every review or inspect businesses to certify their allergy safety. Business information may also change, so we recommend confirming important details directly with the venue.

Question 9

How often are reviews and venue details updated?

Accepted Answer

New community reviews and ratings contribute to TrustDiner as they're published. Venue information can also be updated as listings are added or details change. However, information may not always reflect the latest changes at a business, including staff, menus or allergen procedures. Check directly with the business for the most up-to-date information.

Question 10

What if I disagree with a rating?

Accepted Answer

Everyone's experience is different, and that's exactly why we encourage people to share their own reviews. If your experience of a business differs from its existing ratings, you can add your own review explaining what happened. Both positive and negative experiences help the community understand how allergy handling can vary.

Question 11

How do I find places suitable for my allergies?

Accepted Answer

You can search TrustDiner for restaurants, cafés, pubs and other supported places, then use allergen filters to find relevant community experiences. You can also read individual reviews to understand how businesses handled particular allergies. Remember that appearing in filtered results doesn't guarantee a venue can safely accommodate your needs.

Question 12

What if I can't find a restaurant or hotel?

Accepted Answer

TrustDiner doesn't have every restaurant, café, pub or hotel in our database just yet, but that doesn't mean you can't review them. We're building our directory with help from the community, and you can add qualifying places yourself when leaving a review. Sign in or create a free TrustDiner account, select Add a Review and search for the business. If it isn't listed, select Expand search with Google, search for the business using Google's wider directory, then select the correct location and follow the steps to add it to TrustDiner and leave your review. This works for eligible independent businesses and individual locations of larger chains. If you're still unable to find somewhere, please contact us with its name and location and we'll be happy to help.

Question 13

How do I leave a review?

Accepted Answer

Find the business or travel category you'd like to review and follow the review steps. You'll need to provide a rating for at least one allergen, and you can also add optional written comments about your experience. You can start a review without signing in, but you'll need a free account to publish it. We encourage positive reviews as well as negative ones.

Question 14

Can I review the same business more than once?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can leave a separate review for each visit or journey, which helps show how allergy handling can change over time, between staff members or across different experiences. You can submit multiple reviews for the same venue, airline, cruise line or country. When reviewing different branches of a chain, please select the relevant individual location.

Question 15

Can I edit a review?

Accepted Answer

Most reviews can be edited from your profile. Sign in, open your profile and find the review you want to change. You can edit restaurant, hotel, airline, cruise and country reviews. If you need help with a review, please contact our support team.

Question 16

Can I review airlines, cruises and countries?

Accepted Answer

Yes. TrustDiner covers more than restaurants. You can share experiences of hotels, airlines, cruise lines and countries, helping other people understand what travelling with allergies can be like. These reviews are particularly valuable because allergy handling can differ significantly between destinations and travel providers.

Question 17

Which countries can I use TrustDiner in?

Accepted Answer

TrustDiner currently supports 29 countries, including the UK, Australia and all 27 EU member states: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Australia. You can choose your country when searching for venues or sharing your experiences. We're still growing our community, so some countries will have more reviews and listed businesses than others. If a qualifying restaurant or hotel isn't listed, you can also use Expand search with Google to find and add it.

Question 18

Which allergens does TrustDiner support?

Accepted Answer

TrustDiner currently supports 14 major allergen categories: celery, cereals containing gluten (shown as Gluten), crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphites and tree nuts. These are based on the major allergen categories recognised in UK food information regulations. We know other allergies exist and recognise that our current selection won't cover everyone's needs.

Question 19

Can I add an allergen that isn't listed?

Accepted Answer

Not just yet, but expanding the allergens supported by TrustDiner is part of our plans. We initially launched with the 14 major allergen categories recognised under UK food information regulations. This gave us a starting point for building the platform, but we know that allergies extend far beyond these categories. We've heard from people with allergies to foods such as peas, lentils, chickpeas and coconut, amongst many others. For now, custom allergens can't be added to your profile or reviews. If your allergy isn't listed, we'd love to hear from you, because understanding which allergens people need helps us make better decisions about what to introduce next.

Question 20

Why isn't wheat listed separately from gluten?

Accepted Answer

A wheat allergy and conditions requiring someone to avoid gluten aren't the same thing. When we first built TrustDiner, we chose to use the 14 major allergen categories recognised under UK food information regulations. This includes cereals containing gluten, which our platform currently displays simply as Gluten, so wheat, barley and rye aren't currently available as separate allergen options. We recognise that this isn't precise enough for everyone, particularly as someone with a wheat allergy may have different requirements from someone with coeliac disease. We're working towards supporting more specific allergen categories. In the meantime, please always check ingredients and potential cross-contact directly with businesses, rather than relying on our allergen categories alone.

Question 21

How do allergen filters work?

Accepted Answer

When you select multiple allergens, TrustDiner shows results that have rating data for every allergen you've selected. This information can come from different community reviews, so it doesn't necessarily mean one person, or one visit, covered every selected allergen. For restaurant chains, ratings may also include experiences from different branches. Filters help you find relevant experiences, but they don't confirm a venue is safe for your specific allergies.

Question 22

How do I change my profile name or personal information?

Accepted Answer

Sign in, open your profile and select Edit. You can update your public display name, first and last name, profile picture, profile type and selected allergens. Your display name is shown publicly alongside your reviews, so it can be different from your personal name. If you need to change the email address associated with your account, please contact our support team.

Question 23

How do I reset my password?

Accepted Answer

Select the password reset option on the sign-in page and follow the instructions sent to your email address. Reset links normally expire after one hour. Your new password must contain at least eight characters, including an uppercase letter, lowercase letter, number and special character. If you don't receive the email, check your spam folder or contact us for help.

Question 24

How do I unsubscribe from emails?

Accepted Answer

You can unsubscribe from TrustDiner marketing emails using the unsubscribe link included in those messages. If you're having trouble or receiving unexpected emails, please contact us. You may still receive essential account-related messages, such as password resets and verification emails.

Question 25

How can TrustDiner help my business?

Accepted Answer

TrustDiner helps hospitality businesses better manage and communicate food allergies, while connecting them with a community of diners looking for places that take allergies seriously. Our tools help businesses claim and manage their TrustDiner listings, respond to customer reviews and feedback, share information about their allergen policies and procedures, create and maintain digital allergen menus, use AI-assisted tools to help draft allergen information, provide clearer allergen information to diners before and during their visits, and access additional menu publishing and print-related features through paid plans.

Question 26

Is TrustDiner free for businesses?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Businesses can create a free TrustDiner account without providing payment details. Our Free plan includes tools to claim and manage your listing, respond to reviews, share allergen information, and draft allergen menus. We also offer paid plans for businesses wanting additional features, including publishing digital allergen menus and accessing print-related materials. You can explore the available features and pricing on our For Business page.

Question 27

How do I claim my business on TrustDiner?

Accepted Answer

If you own or manage an eligible business listed on TrustDiner, you can register for a free business account and request to claim your listing. To protect businesses and diners, we'll ask you to provide evidence that you're authorised to represent the business. This might include an official business email address, publicly listed telephone number or business social-media account. Our team reviews claims before approving them. If you represent a chain, an individual chain location or more than five independent venues, please contact us to discuss your requirements.

Question 28

Can businesses respond to customer reviews?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Once your business has been claimed and verified, you can respond directly to reviews left by diners. This gives you the opportunity to thank customers for positive feedback, provide further context, respond to concerns and demonstrate how your business approaches allergy management. Responding to reviews is available through our free business offering.

Question 29

How can I suggest improvements or get further help?

Accepted Answer

We'd love to hear from you. TrustDiner is built around the experiences of people living with allergies, and community feedback plays an important role in shaping the platform. Whether you'd like to suggest a new allergen, country or feature, report a problem or simply ask a question, please contact our support team. Healthcare professionals, charities and allergy organisations are also welcome to get in touch about sharing TrustDiner as a community resource.

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