- 03/07/2026
- Posted by: Marta
- Category: Questions and answers
Dear Dongo lawyer,
I ask you to clarify what mandatory information must be provided by a fast food to consumers, regarding the food products that are sold and served on the premises.
Thank you very much, Matteo
The lawyer Dario Dongo, Ph.D. in Agri-Food Systems, answers
I fast food — like restaurants and trattorias, pizzerias, cafeterias and canteens (company, school and hospital), bars, hotels with catering, catering, food delivery, bars and cafes — are part of the food service, understood as the set of activities related to the preparation, serving and sale of food and drinks intended for consumption outside the home or in organised contexts.
As regards information to consumers or end users, the Food Information Regulation (EU) No 1169/11 distinguishes between the two hypotheses of:
- preparation and serving of food for immediate consumption;
- sale of food, pre-packaged and otherwise.
Food administration: mandatory information at EU level
Le community are defined by the Food Information Regulation as:
- 'any structure (including a vehicle or a fixed or mobile sales counter), such as restaurants, canteens, schools, hospitals and catering companies in which, within the framework of a business activity, they are prepared foods intended for immediate consumption by the final consumer' (EU Regulation No. 1169/11, Article 2.2.f)
In the event of supply and/or sale of foods'not prepackaged or immense considered sales unit', Regulation (EU) No 1169/11:
- defines aonly information that is always mandatory: the specific name of the allergens of which in Annex II present in each food (Article 44.1.a);
- also attributes to the Member states the powers to: prescribe other mandatory information, among those established in its Articles 9 and 10 (Article 44.1.b); define the tools and methods for providing such information (Article 44.2).
Food administration: current rules in Italy
The decree legislative 231/17 — which implements in Italy Regulation (EU) No. 1169/11, which integrates it into the parts reserved for concurrent national legislation and establishes the sanctions for violations of the relevant provisions — prescribes the following:
- 'in case of non-prepackaged foods or immense considered sales unit, served by communities, as defined in Article 2, paragraph 2, letter d), of the Regulation, the indication of the substances or products referred to in Annex II to the same Regulation is mandatory.
- Tale indication must be provided, so that it is attributable to each food, before it is served to the final consumer by the communities and must be placed on the menu or register or on a specific sign or other equivalent system, even digital, to be kept in sight. In case of use of digital systems, the information provided must also be shown by a written and easily available documentation both for the competent authority and for the final consumer […]' (article 19.8. Dongo, 2025).
The Supreme Court has also established the duty to specify the physical state 'thawed' of the characterising ingredients, when this corresponds to a different actual or perceived value of the food offered.
Loose Food Sales: Mandatory Information in Italy
- operators responsible parties must instead provide their users with a series of mandatory information - through 'a single sign or a specific register or other equivalent system, even digital', kept in plain sight near the display stands - in the different hypothesis of sale to final consumers of:
- 'food products without pre-packaging';
- 'products packaged at the point of sale at the consumer's request';
- 'pre-packaged products for direct sale';
- 'products not constituting sales units […] as they are generally sold after being split even if placed in protective packaging or wrapping, excluding food supplied by communities'(Legislative Decree 231/2017, article 19.1).
Le Required Information in this case they are:
- name of the food;
- list of ingredients, highlighting any allergenic ingredients (ex Annex II of EU regulation no. 1169/11);
- storage methods for rapidly perishable food products, 'where necessary';
- expiry date for fresh pasta and fresh stuffed pasta products as per Presidential Decree 187/2001;
- actual alcoholic strength by volume for beverages with an alcohol content exceeding 1,2 percent by volume;
- percentage of glaze, considered tare, for glazed frozen products;
- designation 'defrosted', in the cases provided for by EU Regulation no. 1169/11, Annex VII point 2 (Legislative Decree 231/17, Article 19).
Voluntary information and fair commercial practices
The communication of the large groups of the food service, such as chains of fast food, also requires attention with regard to voluntary information, which is subject to the requirements of fairness of commercial practices and are relevant under both legal profiles:
consumer information on food products (EU Regulation no. 1169/11, combined provisions of Articles 36 and 7; Legislative Decree 231/2017, Article 3.1). vigilance the application of these rules falls under the jurisdiction of the Central Inspectorate for the Protection of Quality and the Repression of Fraud in Agri-food Products (ICQRF) and the sanction the maximum administrative fine for the relevant violations, without prejudice to the application of criminal law, can now reach 100.000 euros (law 75/2026, article 9.1);
fairness of commercial practices (dir. 2005/29/CE, cd Unfair Commercial Practices Directive; Legislative Decree 205/2006 and subsequent amendments, the so-called Consumer Code). The Court of Justice of the European Union, with its ruling of 26.4.26 in case C-301/25, clarified the complementarity of the two regimes. competence in this case it falls on the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM, also known as Antitrust Italia) and the fines they can reach 10 million euros.
La law n. 75/2026 — in addition to increasing the administrative pecuniary sanctions in the field of food labelling and traceability (Dongo, 2026a), in a climate of 'witch hunt' which in Italy is objectively unjustified, in the opinion of the writer — it has reformed the penal code by introducing, among other things, the crime of food fraud (art. 517-e) and the related additional penalties which may include suspension or closure of the business (Dongo, 2026b).
Dario Dongo
Credit cover dedy kurniawan su Unsplash
References
Court of Justice of the European Union (First Chamber), judgment of 30 April 2026. Lidl Italia Srl v. Italian Competition Authority (AGCM). Reference for a preliminary ruling — Consumer protection — Unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices — Directive 2005/29/EC — Scope — Relationship between the provisions of that directive and other EU legislation regulating specific aspects of unfair commercial practices — Article 3(4) — Unfair food information practices — Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 — Existence of conflict — Complementarity of protection regimes. Case C-301/25. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/?uri=celex%3A62025CJ0301
Legislative Decree no. 231 of 15 December 2017. Sanctions for violations of the provisions of Regulation (EU) no. 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers and the adaptation of national legislation to the provisions of the same Regulation (EU) no. 1169/2011 and Directive 2011/91/EU, pursuant to Article 5 of Law no. 170 of 12 August 2016, "European Delegation Law 2015". Normative (consolidated text: 05/14/2026). https://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:decreto.legislativo:2017;231
Legislative Decree 6 September 2005, no. 206. Consumer Code, pursuant to Article 7 of Law 29 July 2003, no. 229. Normative (consolidated text: 05/15/2026). https://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:decreto.legislativo:2005-09-06;206
Dongo, D. (2026, June 1). Food labeling: fines up to €100.000. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/notizie/etichettatura-alimenti-sanzioni-100mila-euro%E2%81%A0/
Dongo, D. (2026, May 18). Italy, new food crimes. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/notizie/italia-nuovi-reati-alimentari/
Dongo, D. (2025, January 16). Loose and pre-packaged foods: the necessary information. FT (Food Times). https://www.foodtimes.eu/it/sistemi-alimentari/alimenti-sfusi-e-preincartati-le-informazioni-doverose/
Law No. 75 of April 21, 2026, Sanctioning Provisions for the Protection of Italian Food Products. Official Journal No. 110 of May 14, 2026 https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/id/2026/05/14/26G00089/SG
Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on the provision of food information to consumers. Consolidated text: 01/04/2025. http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2011/1169/2025-04-01
