diff --git a/apps/api/Dockerfile b/apps/api/Dockerfile
index 08cffa3..9e4441a 100644
--- a/apps/api/Dockerfile
+++ b/apps/api/Dockerfile
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ COPY --from=build /repo/apps/web/dist ./apps/web/dist
 
 WORKDIR /repo/apps/api
 EXPOSE 3000
-# Applies pending migrations before starting — keeps the review environment's
-# schema in sync automatically, no manual step needed.
-CMD ["sh", "-c", "node_modules/.bin/prisma migrate deploy && node dist/server.js"]
+# Applies pending migrations, then seeds the reference data (Diet/Category/
+# Allergy — see src/scripts/seed-runtime.ts) before starting. Both steps are
+# safe to repeat on every container start: migrate deploy only applies
+# pending migrations, and the seed upserts by unique name.
+CMD ["sh", "-c", "node_modules/.bin/prisma migrate deploy && node dist/scripts/seed-runtime.js && node dist/server.js"]
diff --git a/apps/api/src/scripts/seed-runtime.ts b/apps/api/src/scripts/seed-runtime.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5044d91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/src/scripts/seed-runtime.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+import { prisma } from "../db/prisma.js";
+import { seedReferenceData } from "../db/reference-seed-data.js";
+
+/**
+ * Runtime seed entry point for the production Docker image — run via
+ * `node dist/scripts/seed-runtime.js` in apps/api/Dockerfile's CMD, after
+ * `prisma migrate deploy` and before starting the server.
+ *
+ * Deliberately separate from `prisma/seed.ts` (the dev-time entry point
+ * wired to `prisma db seed`/`prisma migrate reset`): that one imports
+ * `seedReferenceData` from `../src/db/...` and runs via `tsx`, but the
+ * runtime image only ships compiled `dist` output, not `src` (see the
+ * Dockerfile) — this lives under `src/` instead, so `tsc` compiles it
+ * alongside everything else, and it runs under plain `node`, no tsx
+ * needed at runtime.
+ *
+ * Safe to run on every container start: `seedReferenceData` upserts by
+ * each row's unique name, so re-running it against a database that
+ * already has this data is a no-op.
+ */
+seedReferenceData(prisma)
+  .then(() => prisma.$disconnect())
+  .catch(async (err) => {
+    console.error(err);
+    await prisma.$disconnect();
+    process.exit(1);
+  });