- If you give the information in writing, it can be on labels stuck to the food or on notices next to it, where it is sold (Royal Decree 126/2015, Article 6.2).
- If you give it verbally, the area where food is sold must have a visible, legible and accessible notice saying where the information is or that customers can ask staff (Article 6.5.b).
- If the premises have several sections (bar, display counter, terrace), that notice must be in each one.
- The notice is not needed if the allergens are already on labels or notices next to the food that can be read before buying (Article 6.5.c).
- Mandatory information goes in a prominent, visible and legible place and cannot be hidden by any other information or image (Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Article 13(1), and Royal Decree 126/2015, Article 7).
Icons on the menu?
Neither Royal Decree 126/2015 nor Regulation 1169/2011 requires icons. If you use them, they must match what the dish sheet says and be explained, and the dish of the day must have its information too.
In practiceOn the bar's pintxos counter you put up a notice: «Allergen information: please ask our
staff». On the terrace, where people order from a different menu, you put up the same notice.
Source: Real Decreto 126/2015, food information for non-prepacked foods (consolidated text, in Spanish), Articles 6.2, 6.5.b and c and 7 · Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, Article 13(1)