Allergens on the restaurant menu: what the law says and how to comply

Who must show allergens

Every venue that prepares food to be eaten straight away: restaurants, trattorias, pizzerias, bars, ice-cream parlours, pastry shops with seating, canteens, caterers and food trucks. The Regulation calls them "mass caterers".

It doesn't matter whether you made the dish or bought it ready: if you serve it, the information is yours to give. That's why the law also makes suppliers pass you the list of ingredients and allergens of what they sell you.

If you sell online or by phone, the Regulation requires the mandatory information to be available before the purchase is completed.

The 14 allergens to list

They are the ones in Annex II of the Regulation, including products made from them. The annex lists a few specific exceptions, such as wheat-based glucose syrups: if an ingredient leaves you in doubt, check the text.

• 
  Cereals containing gluten Wheat (spelt and khorasan included), rye, barley, oats and their products
• 
  Crustaceans Prawns, scampi, crab, lobster and their products
• 
  Eggs Also in egg pasta, mayonnaise and many doughs
• 
  Fish Every species, also as an ingredient: anchovies, colatura, fish stock
• 
  Peanuts And their products, such as peanut butter
• 
  Soybeans And their products, such as soy sauce and tofu
• 
  Milk And its products, lactose included: cheese, butter, cream
• 
  Nuts Almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts
• 
  Celery Also in soffritto, broths and stock cubes
• 
  Mustard Also in sauces and dressings
• 
  Sesame seeds Also on bread, breadsticks and in tahini
• 
  Sulphur dioxide and sulphites Above 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/l: wine, some vinegars, dried fruit
• 
  Lupin And its products, such as lupin flour
• 
  Molluscs Mussels, clams, squid, octopus and their products

How to show them: the accepted ways

The Italian Ministry of Health circular of 6 February 2015 explains where the information can go. Whichever way you choose, each allergen must be traceable to the single dish, visible and legible, before the dish reaches the table.

• On the menu, next to each dish, with the allergen name or a number and a legend.
• In an allergen register, the so-called allergen book, kept in view.
• On a sign or board in plain sight, dish by dish.
• On a digital system, such as a QR code menu or a tablet. In that case you also need written documentation that guests and inspectors can easily find.
• Alternatively, you can write on the menu or on a sign that guests should ask the staff. This only works if the information, dish by dish, is in written documentation the staff can show.

A generic sign saying "our dishes may contain allergens" is not enough: it doesn't tell guests what's in the dish they are about to order.

What you risk if they are missing

Fines are set by Legislative Decree 231/2017 and are administrative penalties:

• 3,000 to 24,000 euros if you don't show the allergens in your dishes;
• 1,000 to 8,000 euros if you show them in a way other than those allowed, reduced to between 500 and 4,000 euros if the mistake is purely formal;
• 1,000 to 8,000 euros for other breaches on non-prepacked food, such as not marking a product as "defrosted".

For micro-businesses (fewer than 10 staff and turnover up to 2 million euros) fines can be reduced by up to a third. If the breach can be fixed and it is the first time it is found, the inspector can give you 20 days to comply before fining you: this is called a formal warning ("diffida"). The fine is the smaller risk, though. If a guest falls ill because of an undeclared allergen, you face personal injury charges and damages.

Not just allergens: "defrosted"

The same decree requires products frozen before sale and served defrosted to be marked as such. On menus this is usually done with an asterisk next to the dish and a note at the bottom.

The exceptions are in Annex VI of the Regulation: for example, the rule does not cover the single ingredients of a composite dish. Read them before deciding which dishes to mark.

The most common mistakes

• The dish of the day told aloud or written on the board, with no allergens.
• The recipe changed but the menu didn't: the new supplier's bread has sesame, the pesto now has cashews.
• The waiter who "goes to ask the kitchen" with no sheet to check.
• The menu translated for tourists, with allergens left only in the Italian version.
• The phrase "may contain traces of..." used instead of the list: it's voluntary and doesn't replace the allergens actually present.

How to do it with Platevo, even for free

In Platevo you pick each dish's allergens from the list of 14. The QR code menu shows them with icon and name, and guests can exclude the ones they can't eat: they only see the dishes that suit them.

• Allergens and the filter are included in the Free plan, forever.
• The "frozen at source" note appears by itself on the dishes you mark.
• From the Starter plan the menu is translated, and allergens appear in the guest's language.
• From the Pro plan you print the menu as a PDF with allergens: it's the written copy to keep at the counter.

Frequently asked questions

Is a QR code menu enough to comply?

Yes, if every dish shows its allergens. With a digital system, though, the 2015 circular also asks for written documentation that is easy to find: keep a printed copy of the menu with allergens at the counter.

Can I just write "ask our staff about allergens"?

Yes, as long as the information is in written documentation, dish by dish, that the staff can show guests and inspectors. A spoken answer with no document is not enough.

Do bars have to show allergens too?

Yes. Croissants, sandwiches, toasties, cocktails and wine fall under the rule just like a restaurant's dishes.

Do I have to show traces of allergens?

No. "May contain traces" is voluntary. If you use it, it must not replace the list of allergens actually present.

Do I have to translate allergens for tourists?

The law asks for Italian. Translating them is not mandatory, but for an allergic tourist it's the most important information on the menu.