Safe Food List Builder
Add foods, tick the ones that are safe, and sort them into Always, Sometimes, or Not yet. Includes a quick UK 14 allergens picker + an Emergency action dropdown for school.
This is not medical advice — just a clear summary for school. If you have a formal care plan, match the wording.
Tip: The lists below are collapsible + scroll, so it won’t get messy even with lots of foods.
Always safe 0
Sometimes 0
Not yet 0
What is a safe food list?
A safe food list is a record of the foods a child will reliably eat — without distress, refusal, or meltdown. For autistic children and those with ARFID (Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder), the range of accepted foods is often very limited, and those foods matter enormously. Knowing exactly what a child will eat — and being able to share that list clearly with school, grandparents, or carers — removes a huge amount of daily stress for the whole family.
Why food selectivity is common in autistic children
Food selectivity in autistic children is not fussiness or bad behaviour — it is often driven by genuine sensory differences. The texture, smell, colour, temperature, or appearance of food can trigger a strong rejection response that the child cannot control. Many autistic children have a very narrow range of safe foods and will go hungry rather than eat something outside that range. Understanding this helps families and professionals respond with patience rather than pressure, and makes the safe food list a practical tool rather than an admission of failure.
How to use this tool
Add each food your child will eat, mark any allergies or sensitivities, and organise by category. The list prints cleanly so you can share it with school, after-school clubs, grandparents, or anyone else who needs to know what the child will and won't eat. You can also flag foods that are borderline — sometimes accepted, sometimes not — so carers know what to try carefully.
Everything saves locally on your device. Nothing is sent anywhere. Free, private, no account needed. See all free Helpset tools →