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How Much Can Chain Restaurants’ Published Information Tell You About Pork and Alcohol?

Published: September 19, 2026 / Last updated: November 8, 2026

Category: For visitors

Some people already use this approach

Food Diversity.today, a media outlet covering halal information, has an article in which a writer with a Pakistani father and a Japanese mother describes their eating habits. In the section on eating out, the writer notes that many chain restaurants publish allergen information. They check it for beef, chicken, pork, and gelatin to help them decide what to eat.

At conveyor belt sushi restaurants, the writer eats the sushi if there is no mention of alcohol being used in the vinegar for the rice. They carry a small bottle of halal-certified soy sauce. For pasta, bread, and udon, they check the ingredients in advance on the restaurant’s website or by phone. This is one person’s account, so we cannot say everyone follows this approach. Still, at least some people eat out this way.

This article checks how far that approach can take you. Using actual tables published by chain restaurants, we separate what they tell you from what even a careful reading cannot reveal.

How restaurant labeling works

Restaurants are not required to provide labels

First, one point to keep in mind.

Ingredient labeling is legally required for processed foods, but meals served at restaurants are outside its scope. The April 2026 edition of the “Food Allergy Labeling Handbook for Processed Foods,” published for businesses by the Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA), lists foods served at premises equipped for eating and drinking among those outside the labeling requirements. This means food served at restaurants and meals delivered from them.

The allergen lists on chain restaurants’ websites are not published to meet a legal requirement. Each company chooses to publish this information.

Two things follow from this. Even though they do not have to, the companies in the table below publish it. And because it is voluntary, the information and detail provided vary from company to company.

Many chains publish it anyway

We compared information published by major chains. This is what we could confirm as of September 18, 2026.

ChainNumber of items listedPork (豚肉)Alcohol (アルコール)Updated
Sukiya (allergen information)28ListedNot listedSeptember 8, 2026
Sukiya (pictograms)14ListedListedNovember 16, 2022
Matsuya28ListedNot listedSeptember 15, 2026
Yoshinoya28ListedNot listedSeptember 10, 2026
Kura Sushi26ListedNot listedSeptember 18, 2026

The number of items differs. Sukiya, Matsuya, and Yoshinoya list 28, while Kura Sushi lists 26: eight specified ingredients and 18 equivalent items. None of these companies is breaking the law. Since labeling is not mandatory, each company decides how much to include.

Apart from the pictograms, all the update dates were within the previous two weeks. The tables themselves are kept up well.

What allergen tables can tell you

Pork is among the 20 recommended items

The following point matters for the purpose of this article.

Allergy labeling covers both legally required items and items recommended for labeling. Under the Food Labeling Standards effective April 1, 2026, nine items are mandatory and 20 are recommended. The CAA handbook and the explanation from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Public Health give the same breakdown.

The nine mandatory items are shrimp, cashew nuts, crab, walnuts, wheat, buckwheat, eggs, milk, and peanuts.

The 20 recommended items are almonds, abalone, squid, salmon roe, oranges, kiwifruit, beef, sesame, salmon, mackerel, soybeans, chicken, bananas, pistachios, pork, macadamia nuts, peaches, yams, apples, and gelatin.

Pork is in the recommended group. Companies may leave it out because it is not mandatory, but those that include the recommended items have a pork column. All four companies mentioned above had one.

Looking down the pork column for each menu item shows which dishes the chain uses pork in. This is faster than asking about every dish at the restaurant.

Which version of the categories does the table use?

The April 1, 2026 amendment moved cashew nuts from recommended to mandatory labeling and added pistachios to the recommended items. This produced the current division of nine mandatory items and 20 recommended items.

Yoshinoya’s list, however, uses the headings “Specified ingredients (8 items)” (特定原材料（8品目）) and “Items equivalent to specified ingredients (20 items)” (特定原材料に準ずるもの（20品目）). Cashew nuts remain in the equivalent group, and there is no pistachio column. The table still uses the categories from before the amendment.

Restaurants have no labeling obligation, so this does not mean a company has failed to meet a required standard. But the year of the categories used differs between companies. The total number of items alone does not tell you whether a table follows the new categories. You need to look at both the categories in the headings and the update date.

Pork stayed in the recommended group before and after the amendment, so this does not affect the purpose discussed here. The discrepancy concerns nuts. You do not need to worry about it if you are checking only pork and alcohol, but it is one reason to avoid taking a table at face value.

The same table can also show gelatin

Gelatin is also one of the 20 recommended items.

The CAA handbook explains that gelatin is often made mainly from cattle or pigs, although some is made from fish. It also says that gelatin made from pork or beef should be labeled as containing pork or containing beef.

Packaged processed foods often list only “gelatin” (ゼラチン), without showing its raw material. We discussed this in How to Spot Pork and Alcohol on Ingredient Lists, and What the Label Alone Can’t Tell You. Separate pork and gelatin columns in chain restaurant tables go a step further than the labels on packaged foods.

Alcohol and blank cells

Alcohol does not appear in these tables

Now we come to the limits.

Allergy labeling is a system for identifying ingredients that cause allergies. Alcohol is outside its scope because it is not an allergen. You will not find it anywhere among the 29 items.

Cooking sake (料理酒), mirin (みりん), vinegar with alcohol among its ingredients, and soy sauce with added alcohol: no matter how much of these is used, an allergen list tells you nothing about them.

Some companies in the table above include beer or sake as menu rows. But those are alcoholic drinks sold as products, which is a separate issue from alcohol used in cooking. A Japanese food chain that uses neither mirin nor cooking sake would be very hard to imagine. We discuss alcohol in seasonings in Are Soy Sauce, Mirin, Miso, and Vinegar Halal? Checking the Ingredients of Japanese Seasonings for Alcohol.

One example that lists both pork and alcohol

We found one exception.

Sukiya publishes a pictogram table separately from its allergen list. It has 14 items: beef, pork, chicken, sheep, fish, shellfish, alcohol, crab, shrimp, eggs, wheat, buckwheat, milk ingredients, and peanuts. It is intended for people who avoid ingredients because of their religion or beliefs, rather than allergies.

The alcohol column includes alcohol used in cooking with heat. Since pork and alcohol can be checked together in the same table, this format comes closest to the purpose discussed here.

This table needs care, though. Its update date stops at November 16, 2022. The company’s allergen list was updated on September 8, 2026, leaving a gap of almost four years. A note in the pictogram table also says the allergen information covers 27 items, while the current allergen list covers 28.

Tables from the same company are not necessarily equally up to date. This is where checking the date first helps.

A blank does not mean “not used”

How you read blank cells changes the conclusion.

There are two reasons.

First, restaurants are not required to provide labels. Since each company decides whether to publish information and what to include, a blank does not necessarily mean “checked and not used.” It may mean the item was not checked or was not included in the scope of the table.

The other reason concerns what the allergy labeling system measures.

Proteins in ingredients cause food allergies, so labeling decisions depend on how much protein remains. The CAA handbook has a section on handling trace amounts of allergens. It says foods are exempt from mandatory labeling when they are fully refined, have no detectable antigenicity, and cannot cause an allergic reaction. The same handbook notes that even highly refined lactose retains around 0.3 percent protein, and says the criteria based on the remaining amount apply.

Consider pork fat (豚脂) in this context. Lard (ラード) is pig fat and contains very little protein. This means that even when pork-derived oil is used, it may not appear as pork in an allergen table.

In the earlier article, we explained that shortening (ショートニング) can contain pork fat and that the absence of the words pork or gelatin on a packaged food label does not prove they are not used. The same applies to restaurant tables.

A mark tells you the ingredient is used. Without a mark, you do not know. The presence and absence of a mark do not carry equal weight as evidence.

Information outside the table

Restaurants describe frying oil and utensils in their own notes

Comparing the companies’ notes reveals some common points.

Yoshinoya states that all deep-fried foods are cooked in the same fryer and that accidental mixing between products or ingredients may occur during preparation. CoCo Ichibanya also says all deep-fried foods are cooked in the same fryer. Sukiya says unintended contact may occur because employees share utensils, equipment, and preparation areas.

“Is It Halal?” Is Not Enough: How to Ask When Checking at a Restaurant includes questions to ask restaurants about shared frying oil and utensils. With chains, the answer may already be available before you ask.

These notes are often in small print above or below the table and are easy to skip. They are worth reading before the main table.

Some companies also publish ingredient origins

Some companies publish where ingredients come from separately from their allergen information. Sushiro and CoCo Ichibanya do this.

Place of origin does not directly determine whether something is halal. As we wrote in the earlier article on ingredient lists, it may offer a clue to the source of meat or gelatin, but no more than that.

Sushiro sets a clear limit on its origin information. It explicitly excludes desserts, drinks, and toppings such as sauces and seasonings. Since seasonings are outside its scope, this table cannot tell you about mirin or cooking sake either.

There is also a note that ingredients may be sourced from other countries because of weather or procurement circumstances. Origins are not fixed.

Different branches of the same chain may differ

Besides its allergen list for all branches, Sushiro provides lists for specific branches. These cover cases such as the Dotonbori branch, which has dishes available only there.

CoCo Ichibanya also notes that menu availability may differ at some branches.

Assuming every branch of a chain is the same can lead you astray here. First check whether there is a table bearing the name of the branch you plan to visit.

The order to check things

Here is the process.

Find the allergen information page on the official website. It may be below the menu page or among the company information pages. Searching for the restaurant’s name and “allergy” (アレルギー) will bring it up.

Check the date and the number of items. If the date is old, avoid relying on it as it stands. A table listing 28 or 26 items includes recommended items. A table with only nine items has no pork column.

Look at the pork and gelatin columns. A mark means the ingredient is used. If there is no mark, treat it as unconfirmed.

Read the notes. Shared fryers and utensils are usually described here.

Check whether there is a table specifically for that branch.

Even after all these steps, the question of alcohol remains unanswered. To answer it, you need to ask the restaurant.

You can use the same reading method for products sold in supermarkets and convenience stores. For an example using snack makers’ published information, see Are Store-Bought Snacks Halal? What Snack Makers Say on Their Own Websites.

For examples involving convenience store onigiri and bento, see Are Convenience Store Onigiri and Bento Halal? What the Published Information from 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, and Lawson Tells You.

For an example involving ramen, see Is Ramen Halal? What to Check in the Soup, Sauce, Noodles, and Toppings.

Free tools for restaurants

The rest of this article is for businesses.

An independent restaurant cannot easily do everything a major chain does. But tools are available for smaller restaurants too.

Osaka Prefectural Government’s multilingual menu creation website distributes food pictograms in PDF and Excel formats. These include a pork pictogram and one indicating a dish contains no alcohol ingredients. The site asks each restaurant to decide how to use them. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has a similar website.

Pictures communicate even when people do not share a language. Adding English is another step in the same direction. Sukiya’s allergen list places Japanese and English side by side and explains the symbols in English too. This extra work affects whether visitors from abroad can read it themselves.

How Much Does Halal Certification Cost? A Breakdown, and Ways to Serve Muslim Customers Without It discusses the option of accurately disclosing what you offer without obtaining certification. These tools seem a practical first step along that path.

You do not need to meet every need, either. An article from the Japan Halal Business Association says halal certification is not an absolute requirement for dishes without meat, and that many Muslims eat dishes without pork or alcohol even without certification. It says what is needed is honest information and a little consideration.

Chain restaurant allergen tables do not mention certification.

On Halal Gohan, you can list your business for free with information organized around these points.

Quotes from Japanese sources in this article are our own translations.

Sources

Primary sources

Secondary sources (cited in the article and identified as such)

  • Food Diversity.today, “The Real Eating Habits of Muslims Living in Japan: Part 2” (在日ムスリムのリアルな食事情 ～後編～) (in Japanese), February 28, 2023 (a first-person contribution by a writer with a Pakistani father and a Japanese mother)
    https://fooddiversity.today/article_132699.html
  • Japan Halal Business Association, “What Do Muslim Visitors Eat in Japan?” (訪日ムスリムは日本で何を食べている？) (in Japanese), December 6, 2025 (田上明日菜, halal business consultant)
    https://jhba.jp/new/20302/

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