Allergen rules for restaurants in Spain: the 14 allergens and how to inform customers
Every restaurant, bar and bakery in Spain has to be able to tell a customer which allergens are in each dish. The rules come from the EU, but how you're allowed to give that information comes from a Spanish decree, and that's where most of the confusion is.
Updated 15 October 2026 · 7 min read
The 14 allergens you must declare
Regulation (EU) 1169/2011, Annex II, lists the substances that cause allergies or intolerances and that must always be declared when they're used as ingredients:
| Allergen | In Spanish | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Cereals containing gluten | Cereales con gluten | Wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt; batters, breadcrumbs, sauces thickened with flour |
| Crustaceans | Crustáceos | Prawns, langoustines, crab; stocks and paellas |
| Eggs | Huevos | Mayonnaise, alioli, pastries, egg wash |
| Fish | Pescado | Stocks, anchovies in salads and sauces |
| Peanuts | Cacahuetes | Satay, some oils and snacks |
| Soybeans | Soja | Soy sauce, lecithin, some breads |
| Milk | Leche | Butter, cream, cheese; lactose included |
| Nuts | Frutos de cáscara | Almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pistachios; romesco, pesto |
| Celery | Apio | Stocks, sofritos, spice mixes |
| Mustard | Mostaza | Dressings, marinades |
| Sesame | Sésamo | Breads, tahini, hummus |
| Sulphites (over 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/L) | Dióxido de azufre y sulfitos | Wine, vinegar, dried fruit, some cured products |
| Lupin | Altramuces | Some flours and breads |
| Molluscs | Moluscos | Mussels, clams, squid, octopus |
How you can inform customers in Spain
For food that isn't pre-packed (what a restaurant serves, or what a bakery sells loose), Spain's Real Decreto 126/2015 sets out how the allergen information has to be given. There are two ways:
- 1In writing: on the menu, on a board, on a label next to the product or in a separate allergen menu.
- 2Verbally, by staff, when the customer asks, but only if two conditions are met: the information is recorded in writing or electronically on the premises, available at all times to staff and to the health authorities; and there's a clear, visible notice at the point of service telling customers they can ask staff for it.
Verbal doesn't mean from memory
The most common mistake is to rely on the waiter knowing. The law allows verbal information only when it's backed by a written record anyone on the team can check. If a recipe changes and the record doesn't, the information you give is wrong, even if it's given with the best intentions.
What the obligation covers, and what it doesn't
- It covers ingredients intentionally present in the dish, including those inside sub-recipes: if your romesco contains almonds, every dish with romesco contains nuts.
- "May contain traces" is voluntary, but if there's a real risk of cross-contact in your kitchen, telling the customer is the responsible thing to do.
- "Gluten-free" is a regulated claim. If you say a dish is gluten-free (*sin gluten*), it must contain no more than 20 mg/kg of gluten, which means controlling cross-contact, not just leaving out the bread.
Keeping the information right
Allergen information rarely goes wrong because someone didn't know the rules. It goes wrong because the list lives somewhere else and doesn't change when the kitchen does: a supplier swaps a product, a sauce gets a new ingredient, a dish gets a different garnish.
- Build an allergen matrix with every dish against the 14 allergens.
- Base it on your recipes, including sub-recipes, not on memory.
- Check product labels when a supplier changes, because the same product from another brand can have different allergens.
- Update the menu and the record every time a recipe changes.
- Train staff to check the record, not to guess, and to tell the kitchen when a customer has an allergy.
Menus in English
If many of your customers are English-speaking, giving the allergen information in English as well is a good idea and avoids misunderstandings at the table. Spanish rules expect the mandatory information to be available in Spanish, so the practical approach is a bilingual menu or an allergen menu in both languages.
For the bigger picture of your food safety system, see APPCC explained in English.
In gramo the allergens come from each recipe's ingredients and carry through sub-recipes, and your QR allergen menu updates itself.
Try gramo freeFrequently asked questions
- What are the 14 allergens restaurants must declare in Spain?
- Cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphites (over 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/L), lupin and molluscs. They're listed in Annex II of Regulation (EU) 1169/2011.
- Can a waiter give allergen information verbally in Spain?
- Yes, under Real Decreto 126/2015, but only if the information is recorded in writing or electronically on the premises, available to staff and health authorities, and there's a visible notice telling customers they can ask for it.
- Do I have to declare allergens in my own sauces and sub-recipes?
- Yes. Any of the 14 allergens used as an ingredient must be declared, including when it's inside a sauce, a stock or a dough that goes into the dish.
- Can I call a dish gluten-free if it has no wheat in it?
- Only if it contains no more than 20 mg/kg of gluten. That means controlling cross-contact in the kitchen (shared fryers, surfaces, flour in the air), not just leaving out ingredients with gluten.
Labelling and allergens
EU 1169 labels and an allergen menu by QR code.
Allergen labellingEvery gram counts
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