A CIRENCESTER  software consultancy firm has designed a revolutionary approach to food service in the shape of a  programme that lets those with special food requirements know what they can safely consume before their visit to an eatery.

Not Just Code’s  Free My Menu programme allows diners who are allergic to foods like peanuts, or have specific dietary requirements to create a menu on a food establishment’s website.

Using the Free My Menu tool that is installed on the eatery’s website, a person can select foods they cannot eat and at the click of a button then see a shortened version of a menu that includes food items that are suitable for them.

The restaurant can also print a bespoke menu in seconds for any diner who tells their server they have special dietary requirements.

“If you are a vegetarian why do you have to wade through a website or a menu looking for that little v symbol? It should be done for you, ” says Dr Jered Bolton, managing director of Not Just Code.

“We called it Free My Menu because it stops restaurants being trapped by their menus. They can update what’s online so easily while complying with the relevant laws and it is so easy to use you can upload it using a mobile phone.”

The programme allows eateries to update their menus at a click of button and it can be installed on any website in seconds.

Many food establishments across the UK have signed up to the programme, including  a host of Cirencester pubs an restaurants such as Made By Bob, Somewhere Else, Eat Wild and the Crown.

Free My Menu was designed with a particular focus on helping chefs meet strict European Union legislation introduced in December 2014.

These laws mean any venue selling food, has to be able to inform diners if any dish on their menu contains ingredients that should be avoided by someone with any of the 14 most common food allergies or dietary requirements.

Any business failing to do so could face fines of upwards of £5,000.

Last December’s EU legislation drew widespread criticism from UK chefs who said it would hurt the creativity of chefs.

Dr Bolton said: “Restaurants need to wake up to the fact that customer service no longer starts at the front door in most cases. People have already looked at their website and received their first impression.

“If a business has a website that’s out of date how out of date is their food? It does not create a good impression.”

The Free My Menu programme was recently shortlisted for the Takeaway Innovation Expo Award, “breaking boundaries in the food sector,” which celebrates pioneers in the restaurant industry.