For restaurants, cafés and takeaways in the Republic of Ireland, holding allergen information in the kitchen is not the same as making it available to customers. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) requires accessible written details linked to the specific food or drink. An operator’s task is to connect those details to what customers can actually order, including items served away from the main dining room.
Non-prepacked food and drinks covered by the rules
The declaration requirement covers designated allergens used in producing or preparing food and drinks. It is not confined to the main ingredient or the main food menu.
Work through the offering in three parts:
- Food menu: review the dishes served and the declarations attached to them.
- Sauces and condiments: these minor components are also covered by the allergen declaration requirement.
- Drinks: non-prepacked drinks covered by the requirement include draught beer, cider, wine by the glass, juices and smoothies.
Use this as a coverage list, not a way to guess allergen content from a product name. The declaration concerns the designated allergens used in preparation. This guide deals with non-prepacked service, rather than detailed prepacked labelling or medical advice.
Customer access before purchase or supply
Written allergen information must be easy to find and accessible before purchase or supply, without customers having to ask staff for the details. An invitation to ask staff does not replace accessible written information.
A useful check is to start where a customer chooses their food or drink and follow the route to the written declarations. Look at the information available from that position, rather than starting with the kitchen’s records. If the route depends on a staff explanation, review how the information is presented.
Finding the information is one part of the task. The customer must also be able to tell which declaration belongs to their choice.
Link each declaration to an exact item
Every allergen declaration must link unambiguously to the particular food or beverage. A general allergen list without item names leaves that connection unresolved: it does not identify which allergens belong to which choice.
For a working layout, separate the item name from its allergen details:
- Exact menu item: [insert name]
- Applicable declared allergens: [insert details]
Compare the name in each entry with the name customers see when ordering. Include separately listed drinks, sauces and condiments in that comparison. The aim is a clear match between the customer’s choice and its declaration, not simply a completed list of allergens.
These blank fields help organise the information; they do not establish which allergens a recipe contains. Keep identification and content as two separate points to check when preparing the declaration.
Keep specials and displays in step
When offerings advertised separately on chalkboards or displays change, their corresponding allergen declarations must be updated too. Daily specials therefore need attention alongside the main menu.
A useful service routine is to treat changing the specials display and updating its allergen details as one task. Put the changed offering beside its declaration and compare them before treating the display update as finished. Focus on what has changed, rather than relying on the main menu’s declarations to cover a separately advertised item.
Room-service menus and meeting platters
For room service, written allergen declarations may appear directly on the in-room menu. Alternatively, that document may clearly indicate where central allergen records can be viewed.
Review the in-room document itself. If it carries the declarations, compare its entries with the room-service offering. If it directs guests to central records, follow that direction from the guest’s starting point. The room-service task is to make the menu’s chosen approach usable, not merely to confirm that records exist elsewhere.
For small-scale catering, such as a meeting, a standalone sign beside a mixed sandwich platter can satisfy the written-information requirement if it lists the allergens for every sandwich type.
Here, the practical task is to match the sign to the assortment being served. Read it type by type rather than as a single declaration for the whole platter. This small-scale example does not establish a general division of responsibilities between caterers and off-site event organisers.
Remote orders: two information stages
For distance selling, meaning orders placed remotely, the FSAI describes a specific arrangement: where written allergen details are provided before ordering, allergen information must also be provided at delivery, verbally or in writing.
For that arrangement, review both stages:
- Before ordering: check the written details provided for the customer’s chosen items.
- At delivery: identify how the allergen information will reach the customer, verbally or in writing.
Follow one order from selection to arrival. Concentrate on the delivery handover: providing the written details before ordering is not the end of this process. For an order containing several items, check that the delivery information still makes clear which declaration belongs to each one.
This describes the arrangement above, not every permitted way of handling a remote order.
Frequently asked questions about Irish allergen declarations
Which Irish statutory instruments implement the allergen declaration requirement?
In Ireland, S.I. No. 489 of 2014, as updated by S.I. No. 656 of 2024, implements the requirement to declare allergen information for prepacked and non-prepacked food. S.I. means statutory instrument.
How many designated food allergens must businesses declare when used in preparation?
EU Regulation 1169/2011 requires food businesses to declare 14 designated food allergens whenever they are used in producing or preparing food and drinks.
Do wine by the glass and draught drinks fall within the declaration requirement?
Yes. Wine by the glass, draught beer and cider are covered by the requirement to declare designated allergens used.
Choose one service you operate and follow a current item from its menu entry to the point of supply. Use the FSAI guidance to review the declaration and how it reaches the customer, then address any gap that exercise reveals.
Referenced sources
