Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the PlateProof platform, website, applications and related services (the “Service”), operated by Trades Office Limited trading as PlateProof (“PlateProof”, “we”, “us”). By accessing or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, you must not use the Service.

1. About PlateProof

PlateProof is an evidence-backed allergen-compliance platform for food businesses. The Service lets a kitchen photograph ingredient packaging, uses AI to help identify allergen information, and records a named individual’s review and sign-off — producing allergen cards and a compliance record.

PlateProof is not:

• a food-safety authority
• an allergen-testing or certification service
• a regulatory or legal adviser
• a guarantor of allergen accuracy or food safety
• or a substitute for the food business operator's own controls

PlateProof provides assistive identification, record-keeping and evidence tools only.

2. Business Use Only

The Service is provided solely for business use by food business operators acting in the course of business, not as consumers. To the fullest extent permitted by law, consumer-protection legislation does not apply to these Terms. This does not, and cannot, affect the rights of any end consumer or diner who is harmed (see clause 13).

3. Eligibility & Accounts

You must be at least 18, have authority to enter into these Terms, provide accurate account information, and use the Service lawfully. You are responsible for the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activity under your account, including the sign-offs made by named users in your organisation.

4. The Service

The Service may include:

• smart photo capture of ingredient packaging and dishes
• AI-assisted allergen identification
• per-finding provenance (label-verified / AI-estimate / operator-declared)
• a named human review and sign-off
• allergen / buffet cards
• dietary and alcohol flags
• a public scan-to-verify record
• and a compliance / evidence pack

Features may change over time and may differ between plans.

5. AI Assistance & Human Sign-Off

The Service uses artificial intelligence to assist with identifying and organising allergen information. All AI outputs are suggestions only and may be incomplete, inaccurate, outdated, ambiguous or incorrect. They must not be relied upon without human review.

A named individual in your organisation must review and sign off every allergen declaration before it is printed, displayed or relied upon. That sign-off is your declaration: the named individual, on your behalf as the food business operator, reviews the allergens and accepts responsibility for the declaration. PlateProof records and time-stamps that review and keeps the supporting evidence — it does not make the declaration for you, and it does not verify, certify or guarantee that a dish is safe for any individual.

You warrant that any individual who reviews and signs off a declaration on your behalf is appropriately authorised, competent and trained to do so. You remain solely responsible for the accuracy and completeness of every allergen declaration, for what is served, and for compliance with all applicable food-safety and allergen law.

6. Allergen Framework & Jurisdiction

The Service is configured to a defined allergen framework (currently the UK/EU 14 major allergens, which also covers the US FDA (FALCPA) majors). You are responsible for confirming that the configured framework is appropriate for the jurisdiction(s) in which you operate and for any additional local labelling, dietary or religious requirements not covered by that framework. PlateProof does not warrant that the framework satisfies the law of any particular jurisdiction.

7. Subscriptions & Billing

Subscriptions are billed in advance for the agreed term (typically annual). Enterprise and multi-site agreements may be billed by invoice on agreed payment terms. We will give at least 30 days’ notice by email before any material price increase to existing customers. Access may be suspended where payment is overdue or disputed. Partial-period and unused-feature refunds are not provided unless required by law or stated in your order.

8. Acceptable Use

You must not use the Service:

• unlawfully
• to create false or misleading allergen records
• to impersonate another person or business
• to upload malicious code
• to infringe intellectual-property rights
• to interfere with or attempt unauthorised access to the Service
• or to scrape it by automated means

We may suspend or terminate access where we reasonably believe misuse, fraud, unlawful conduct or a security risk has occurred.

9. Intellectual Property & Your Data

PlateProof and its licensors retain all intellectual-property rights in the Service, software, prompts, interfaces and branding. You retain ownership of the records, images and content you upload. You grant PlateProof a limited licence to host, process, store and transmit your content solely to operate and improve the Service. Your data is not used to train general-purpose AI models. Subject to applicable law and provider terms, outputs generated specifically for you belong to you. Feedback you provide may be used without restriction.

10. Service Availability

The Service is provided on an “as available” and “as is” basis. We do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation, and are not liable for losses arising from maintenance, outages, or third-party-provider failures (including Supabase, Vercel or Anthropic), to the extent permitted by law and subject to clause 13.

11. Evidence, Records & Public Verification

Sign-off records, the supporting photographs, and the frozen declaration snapshot are retained as your compliance evidence in accordance with the Privacy Policy and Data Processing Agreement. Evidence associated with a signed declaration is retained on an append-only basis and is not edited after sign-off; a correction is made by a fresh review and sign-off.

You are responsible for ensuring records are retained for any period your own legal, regulatory, insurance or limitation-of-liability needs require. The standard retention and post-termination export periods are set out in the Data Processing Agreement; extended or archival retention can be arranged — contact us before cancelling if you need records kept longer.

Public verification records.PlateProof may make a signed declaration available at a public verification link (for example, via a QR code on a card). Such a record simply reproduces the food business operator’s own declaration as recorded at sign-off, and is provided for transparency only. No diner, regulator, auditor, insurer or other third party may rely on a PlateProof record as a guarantee or certification of food safety, or of the accuracy or completeness of any declaration. The food business operator is solely responsible for the declaration and for what is served; anyone with a severe allergy should always confirm directly with the venue.

12. Suspension & Termination

We may suspend or terminate access where these Terms are breached, payment is overdue, or there is a security or misuse risk. You may stop using the Service at any time. Following termination you may export your data for the period set out in the Data Processing Agreement; after that, data may be deleted except where retention is legally required.

13. Limitation of Liability & Indemnity

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot be excluded or limited by law — including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for fraudulent misrepresentation.

Subject always to the paragraph above, and to the fullest extent permitted by law: PlateProof is not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential or special losses, or for loss of profit, revenue, business, goodwill or data; PlateProof is not responsible for decisions made on the basis of AI outputs, for declarations reviewed and signed off by you, or for what you choose to serve; and PlateProof’s total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to the Service or these Terms (other than for the matters that cannot be limited, above) shall not exceed the total fees paid by you to PlateProof in the 12 months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

Indemnity.You will indemnify and hold harmless PlateProof against any claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) brought by a third party and arising out of or in connection with: (a) food you prepare, serve or sell; (b) allergen or dietary declarations you make or publish; (c) your failure to review, verify or correct AI-assisted outputs before relying on them; (d) your breach of any food-safety, allergen-labelling or other applicable law; or (e) your misuse of the Service. This indemnity does not apply to the extent a claim arises from PlateProof’s own negligence or wilful default, or to any liability that cannot be limited by law.

14. Changes to the Service or Terms

We may update the Service or these Terms. Where changes materially affect your rights or obligations, we will give at least 30 days’ notice by email before they take effect. Continued use after that constitutes acceptance.

15. Force Majeure

We are not liable for delay or failure to perform caused by events outside our reasonable control, including internet, telecommunications, cyber-attack, cloud-provider or AI-provider outages, governmental action or natural disasters.

16. Privacy & Third-Party Services

We process personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Data Processing Agreement. The Service relies on Supabase (database, authentication and storage; EU-hosted), Vercel (application hosting; EU region) and Anthropic (AI allergen identification). See the Sub-Processors Policy. We are not responsible for the availability or performance of third-party services.

17. Disputes

If a dispute arises, the parties will attempt to resolve it by good-faith correspondence first. Contact us at hello@plateproof.io; we will acknowledge within 5 business days and aim to resolve within 30 days. Nothing prevents either party seeking urgent injunctive relief.

18. Governing Law & Jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction over disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service.

19. Contact

Trades Office Limited, trading as PlateProof. Company No. 17181500. Hexham, Northumberland, United Kingdom. ICO Registration: ZC133896. Questions: hello@plateproof.io.

Summary of legal positioning. PlateProof is an assistive allergen-identification, record-keeping and evidence platform. It is not a food-safety authority, an allergen-testing or certification service, or a guarantor of accuracy or safety. Every allergen declaration requires a named human review and sign-off before use; the food business operator owns the declaration and remains responsible for accuracy and for compliance with applicable law.