Restaurant Allergen Guide: the 14 EU Allergens and How Each Country Wants Them Shown (2026)

Restaurants in the EU and the UK must tell customers which of 14 allergens are in each dish they serve. The list and the duty come from EU Regulation 1169/2011 (Article 44 and Annex II), which the UK kept after Brexit. How you give the information is left to each country: Ireland and France require it in writing, while the UK, Spain, Italy and Germany let staff give it verbally if a notice tells customers to ask.

This guide lists the 14 allergens, sets out what each of seven countries requires, and ends with a system for keeping the information right. For the full UK rules, including Natasha's Law, see UK restaurant allergen rules.

What does EU law require restaurants to declare?

Every restaurant, café, bar, food truck and caterer must make information available about any of the 14 Annex II allergens used as an ingredient or processing aid in a dish and still present in it. Article 44(1)(a) of Regulation 1169/2011 makes this mandatory for food sold without prepackaging, which covers everything a restaurant plates up. Article 44(2) lets each member state decide the means, so the method differs from country to country.

For food sold by distance communication, such as online orders for delivery or pickup, Article 14 adds a timing rule: the allergen information has to be available before the purchase is concluded.

What are the 14 allergens restaurants must declare?

These are the 14 groups listed in Annex II of Regulation 1169/2011, with common examples on a restaurant menu:

Annex II exempts a few highly processed derivatives, such as wheat-based glucose syrups and fully refined soybean oil. When in doubt, check the supplier's specification sheet.

Must allergen information be written down, or can staff tell customers?

It depends on the country. EU law leaves the method to each member state, and the UK has its own regulations. Customers must always be able to get the information before they eat or buy; whether they have to ask for it is what varies.

So the rule that customers must get written allergen information without asking holds in Ireland and France, but not in the UK, Spain, Italy or Germany. In those countries a well-trained team, a visible notice and a written record are enough. A written menu is still the safest route everywhere, because it doesn't depend on who is working that night.

For the detail in each country, in its language: Spain and the printable Spanish allergen list, France, Italy and the printable Italian list, Portugal, Turkey and the UK.

What are the penalties for missing allergen information?

Each country sets its own penalties, and they also depend on whether a customer was harmed. Italy is the clearest example: a food business that fails to give allergen information for non-prepacked food faces an administrative fine of €3,000 to €24,000, and one that gives it in a way that doesn't follow the national rules faces €1,000 to €8,000 (D.Lgs. 231/2017, article 23(2) and (3)). A customer who has a reaction can also bring a claim for damages.

What mistakes do restaurants make with allergens?

• Changing a supplier without checking the new product. A different stock, sauce or bread can bring in an allergen the old one didn't have.
• Forgetting processing aids and sub-recipes. Flour on the work surface, egg wash on pastry and the stock in a sauce all count if they stay in the dish.
• Relying on one person's memory. If only the chef knows, the information is gone on their day off. Where verbal information is allowed, the law still expects a notice, and outside the UK, a written record.
• Saying "everything may contain nuts". Regulation 1169/2011 covers allergens you use as ingredients; it doesn't regulate accidental cross-contact. Tell guests honestly about cross-contact risks, but a blanket warning doesn't replace declaring what is actually in each dish.
• Translating the dish but not the allergens. In tourist areas the allergen information is only useful in a language the guest reads.

How do you keep allergen information correct?

1. Build an allergen matrix. List every dish and sub-recipe against the 14 allergens, from supplier specification sheets rather than memory.
2. Update it when anything changes: a recipe, a supplier, a product reformulation or a new dish.
3. Put the information where your country's law expects it: on the menu, on a sign, in a folder, or a notice telling guests to ask staff.
4. Train every member of staff to answer allergen questions and to check with the kitchen rather than guess.
5. Keep a dated copy of the matrix, so you can show an inspector what the information was on a given day.

How does a digital menu help?

A digital menu puts the allergen information on every dish, so it no longer depends on who is on shift, and a recipe change shows up on every table as soon as you save it, without a reprint. Italy's law names digital systems explicitly, as long as written documentation backs them up. Keep a printed allergen matrix as well, for inspectors and for guests without a phone.

Menumigo tags all 14 EU allergens on every dish, in every published menu language, on every plan, including the free one. Guests can also hide dishes that declare gluten, milk, nuts, eggs, soy, shellfish, fish or sesame, with a note to confirm with staff, because a dish nobody tagged would still show. Menumigo takes no orders and no payments, so your staff still take the order and can answer questions. Create a free menu or see the demo menu.

FAQ

What are the 14 allergens restaurants must declare in the EU?

Cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame seeds, sulphur dioxide and sulphites above 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre, lupin and molluscs. They are listed in Annex II of Regulation 1169/2011, and the UK uses the same 14.

Do restaurants have to put allergens on the menu?

Not everywhere. Ireland and France require written allergen information that customers can see without asking. The UK, Spain, Italy and Germany allow staff to give it verbally, as long as a visible notice tells customers to ask, and Spain, Italy and Germany also require a written record.

Can a restaurant give allergen information verbally?

Yes in the UK, Spain, Italy and Germany, with conditions. You need a notice telling customers to ask staff, and in Spain, Italy and Germany a written or electronic record of the allergens in each dish that customers and inspectors can see on request.

What is the fine for not declaring allergens in a restaurant?

It depends on the country. In Italy, failing to give allergen information for non-prepacked food carries an administrative fine of 3,000 to 24,000 euros under D.Lgs. 231/2017, article 23. Other countries set their own amounts, and a customer who has a reaction can also claim damages.

Do allergen rules apply to online and delivery orders?

Yes. For food sold by distance communication, Article 14 of Regulation 1169/2011 requires the allergen information to be available before the purchase is concluded, so it has to be on the ordering page or provided before checkout.

Does "may contain" labelling count as allergen information?

No. The mandatory rules cover allergens used as ingredients or processing aids and still present in the dish. A precautionary "may contain" note about cross-contact is voluntary and doesn't replace declaring the allergens a dish actually contains.