Eating out is supposed to be fun. If you have celiac, a food allergy, or even a “my stomach hates that” intolerance, it can turn into a guessing game with real consequences. In Episode 38 of DissedMedia: A Startup Story, Ben sits down with Dylan McDonnell, Founder and CEO of Foodini, to unpack a problem millions of people deal with every single day; restaurants usually cannot tell you what’s actually in the food, and the people closest to the menu often have the least reliable information. This conversation is part founder story, part product breakdown, and part “here comes the compliance wave” for restaurant groups that have treated allergen transparency like an optional extra.
A Founder Story Built on a Real Health Constraint
Dylan did not come up through food or hospitality. He was a corporate lawyer, moved from Ireland to Australia, and kept running into the same wall while dining out; it was shockingly hard to get clear answers about ingredients.
The origin is personal. Dylan was diagnosed with celiac at age 10, and after two decades of navigating gluten-free dining, he decided the real issue was not “more options.” It was better information around food transparency.
He also makes a point that matters for anyone building in health-adjacent categories:
Foodini is not here to tell you what’s healthy. It’s here to tell you what’s in it, so you can decide.
The Scale of the Problem Is Bigger Than Most People Think
One of the most interesting moments in the episode is Dylan’s explanation of market size. People assume “dietary needs” is niche until they stack the categories:
- Diagnosed food allergies
- Non-allergy intolerances (like dairy sensitivity)
- Lifestyle and gut-health preferences (vegan, keto, low FODMAP, etc.)
Dylan’s takeaway; it adds up to a massive chunk of the country that either needs or strongly wants ingredient clarity and food transparency to make confident dining decisions.
What Foodini Actually Does, in Plain English
Foodini’s pitch is not “another restaurant discovery app.” It’s more like a menu transparency layer:
- Users build a profile around allergens and dietary preferences.
- Foodini helps match those needs to menus and menu items.
- The company emphasizes transparency, not recommendations.
On the product side, Foodini positions itself as dietitian-reviewed for credibility and trust, with versions of “screened” vs “verified” style menu confidence depending on how complete the ingredient detail is.
Why Restaurants Care: Fewer Questions, Fewer Mistakes, Better Data
Dylan describes a reality every operator knows: front-of-house staff often becomes the human “API” for ingredient questions, and that is a risky place to be.
Two practical outcomes stood out:
- Fewer staff interruptions. Foodini sees about a 60% reduction in questions to staff when the info is placed directly in front of the consumer.
- Fewer mistakes. Dylan frames this as brand risk, legal risk, and customer trust all rolled into one.
Then the operator brain candy: once you know what diners need, you can tune the menu.
Dylan talks about being able to show restaurants the mix of dietary profiles in a location (gluten-free, vegan, keto, etc.) and identify simple ingredient swaps that could unlock demand.
The Big Tailwind: California SB 68 and the Compliance Moment
This is where the episode moves from “helpful product” to “this market is about to get dragged forward.”
Dylan explains that California’s SB 68 was signed and is set to require major allergen disclosures on menus (or via digital formats like QR-linked allergen menus) for covered restaurant chains.
From the law itself and major coverage: the requirement is tied to restaurants already under federal menu labeling rules (the chain-restaurant nutrition disclosure framework), and it begins July 1, 2026.
In other words: for a lot of multi-location brands, this stops being “nice to have” and becomes “show me your process.”
And yes, Dylan is blunt about what that means for Foodini’s positioning:
We’ve essentially become compliance software in the last few weeks.
The Bigger Trend: Food Transparency Is Turning Into Infrastructure
Even if you ignore regulation, the direction of travel is clear:
- Consumers want ingredient transparency.
- People with dietary needs are loyal when a place “gets it right.”
- Chains want scalable systems that reduce risk and customer friction.
That is why this conversation feels bigger than one startup. Dylan is building on top of a shift that is moving from preference to expectation, and in some places, into law.
If You’re an Operator, Here’s the Practical Play
If you run a restaurant group (or advise one), this episode basically hands you a checklist:
- Centralize ingredient and allergen data so it’s not trapped in someone’s head
- Create a customer-facing disclosure path (menu, QR, digital menu, or alternative written method)
- Treat allergen transparency like you treat calories: a repeatable operational system, not a one-off PDF someone forgets to update
