Record every guest's allergies before the event, verify each ingredient with suppliers, separate preparation and service areas, label dishes clearly at the point of service, brief every member of staff, and keep an emergency plan ready in case of a reaction. Under EU and Spanish food law, information about allergens in non-prepacked food must be made available to guests, and as the host, you carry the responsibility for making sure your caterer delivers it properly.
TL;DR:
- EU rules require disclosure of 14 allergens in food served without packaging; in Spain, information must be available before service and backed by written records.
- Make allergy details a required RSVP field, separate from preferences, and ask about reaction severity and an emergency contact so the kitchen can plan early.
- Request written ingredient lists and ask suppliers about shared production lines; general product descriptions and verbal assurances do not establish cross contact risks.
- Buffets increase cross contact risk through shared utensils, so guests with severe allergies should receive plated meals or use a separate, staffed station.
- If anaphylaxis is suspected, staff should call emergency services immediately; a trained responder should use an available injector without delay.
Table of Contents
- A protocol checklist for before, during and after the event
- What EU and Spanish law require for non-prepacked food
- Planning the menu: talking to guests and vetting suppliers
- Keeping the kitchen and service line allergen-safe
- Emergency response and staff training
- Ready-to-use templates for RSVPs, kitchen checks and incident logs
- Sourcing ingredients and vetting suppliers for allergen safety
- Labelling allergen information in a private dining setting
- How allergy protocols work in practice at private events
- Why a private chef changes how allergy risk is managed
- Book a private chef who takes allergy planning seriously
- FAQ
- Sources
A protocol checklist for before, during and after the event
A private event runs smoothly when allergy safety is built into the planning from the first guest list, not bolted on the night before. We treat it as three distinct phases, each with its own tasks.
- Before the event: collect allergy information through your RSVPs, confirm every ingredient and possible cross-contact risk with your suppliers, and design separate dishes for guests with the most serious needs.
- During the event: label dishes or brief servers with point-of-service information, use dedicated utensils and plates for allergen-free dishes, and make sure every server knows which guests have which allergies.
- After the event: record any reactions or near misses, follow up with the affected guest and the supplier involved, and adjust your procedures for next time.
The details matter more than the headline steps:
- Ask allergy questions as a required RSVP field, not an afterthought.
- Request written ingredient lists from caterers and suppliers, not verbal assurances.
- Keep allergen-free dishes physically separate from the moment they are prepared.
- Brief front-of-house staff on which table or guest requires which precaution.
- Log any incident immediately, including what was served and what action was taken.
A short, repeatable checklist like this works for a ten-guest villa dinner or a seventy-guest wedding reception. The scale changes, the discipline does not.
What EU and Spanish law require for non-prepacked food
Private events almost always serve non-prepacked food, meals plated, platted or assembled on-site rather than pre-packaged with a label. Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 requires that information about ingredients and substances known to cause allergies or intolerances, including when present in a modified form, be made available to the people eating them.
The regulation lists 14 allergens that must be disclosed, among them gluten-containing cereals, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphites, lupin and molluscs.
Authorities have noted that most food-allergy incidents originate from non-prepacked food, which is exactly the category most private dining and catering falls into: regulatory commentary on Regulation 1169/2011 stresses that member states must ensure this information reaches consumers at the point of sale or service.
In Spain, Real Decreto 126/2015 sets out the practical rules: how allergen information must be presented, where it must be available, and what operators are responsible for recording. Compliance in practice means:
- Keeping a written or electronic ingredient list for every dish served.
- Making that information available before a guest orders or is served, not only on request.
- Presenting allergen information in Spanish, and in the relevant regional language where applicable.
A verbal answer from a server is acceptable under the rules, provided it is backed by accurate written records the kitchen can produce.
Planning the menu: talking to guests and vetting suppliers
Good allergy management starts at the invitation stage, long before any pan touches a stove. The RSVP is your first and most important safety tool, and it works best when it separates true allergies from simple preferences.
A clear RSVP line might read: "Please tell us about any food allergies (a medical condition that can cause a reaction) separately from any dietary preferences, so we can plan your meal safely. Please also share an emergency contact number if relevant." This distinction matters because an allergy demands strict separation, while a preference is a matter of taste.
Once replies are in, the next job is supplier verification:
- Request full ingredient lists from every supplier, not just a summary.
- Ask directly whether products share a production line with major allergens.
- Get written confirmation of allergen status wherever the supplier can provide it.
Menu design itself can reduce risk considerably. Building single-ingredient dishes, keeping sauces and dressings separate, and plating one allergen-free version of each course alongside the main menu all cut the chances of cross-contact without compromising on flavour or presentation. Our gluten-free menu examples for private events show how this works without guests ever feeling like an afterthought.
Pro Tip: Ask for allergy information in writing, even for a small villa dinner. A text message or email reply is easier to check against the menu than a conversation remembered secondhand.
Keeping the kitchen and service line allergen-safe
Once the menu is set, safety shifts to execution. Segregation is the backbone of this stage: a dedicated prep bench for allergen-free dishes, colour-coded chopping boards and utensils, and a clear physical gap between allergen-containing and allergen-free preparation areas.
Service needs the same discipline. We find these steps reduce confusion during a busy event:
- Do a final check of each allergen-free plate before it leaves the kitchen.
- Brief servers with a simple script: which table, which guest, which allergy.
- Route allergen-free plates first, so they never sit near dishes that could cross-contaminate them.
Practical controls to put in place:
- Dedicated serving utensils for allergen-free dishes, never shared with the main spread.
- Clear labelling or table cards at buffet-style stations.
- A full clean-down of prep surfaces between courses, not just at the end of service.
Buffet service carries more risk than plated service because guests serve themselves with shared utensils. Where a guest has a severe allergy, plated service or a clearly separated, staffed station is the safer choice.
Emergency response and staff training
A reaction can escalate quickly, so every member of staff working a private event should know the signs of anaphylaxis: swelling of the face or throat, difficulty breathing, a rapid drop in blood pressure, hives spreading across the body.
- Call emergency services immediately if anaphylaxis is suspected.
- If a trained responder is present and an auto-injector is available, it should be administered without delay.
- Keep the guest calm, help them into a comfortable position, and stay with them until help arrives.
Staff readiness should not be left to chance. Hospitality allergen management courses outline the basics every caterer should cover: identifying guests with allergies, a clear emergency protocol, ingredient verification, and documented staff training. Every server and kitchen lead working the event should know where any auto-injector is stored, and the chef should walk the team through the plan before service begins, not during a crisis.
Pro Tip: Keep a short written incident log with the event file, noting what happened, what was served and what action was taken. It supports guest follow-up and shows due diligence if the event is ever reviewed afterwards.
Ready-to-use templates for RSVPs, kitchen checks and incident logs
Having the wording and structure ready in advance saves time and avoids improvisation under pressure. Our guidance on communicating dietary preferences to your chef covers this in more depth, but two RSVP examples cover most private events:
- Short version: "Any food allergies we should know about? (Please list separately from dietary preferences.)"
- Detailed version: "Please list any food allergies, the severity of past reactions, and an emergency contact number. Dietary preferences such as vegetarian or low-carb can go in the next field."
A simple kitchen checklist and incident log, kept together in the event file, cover the essentials:
| Checklist stage | What to verify |
|---|---|
| Ingredient verification | Supplier confirms allergen content in writing |
| Segregation controls | Dedicated bench, utensils and storage in place |
| Staff briefing | Every server knows guest allergies by table |
| Labelling | Dishes marked or servers briefed at point of service |
| Incident log | Date, guest, suspected allergen, action taken, outcome |
Sourcing ingredients and vetting suppliers for allergen safety
An allergy protocol is only as strong as the ingredients behind it, which is why we treat supplier verification as a safety step, not a paperwork exercise. Before any ingredient reaches a private event kitchen, it should come with a clear answer to three questions: what it contains, whether it shares production lines with major allergens, and how the supplier handles cross-contact during storage and transport.
Written confirmation beats a verbal assurance every time. A supplier who can produce an ingredient list on request, ideally before the order is placed, gives the kitchen something concrete to check against the menu. Where a product is pre-packaged, the label itself should state allergen content clearly under Regulation (EU) 1169/2011; where it is not, the supplier's own records need to fill that gap.
Shared production lines deserve particular attention. Nut-free doesn't always mean nut-safe if a product is packed in a facility that also handles tree nuts, and the same caution applies to gluten, sesame and shellfish, three of the allergens most likely to cause serious reactions. Asking the direct question, rather than relying on a product's general reputation, closes that gap.
For recurring events or repeat clients, building relationships with a small number of trusted suppliers pays off. A supplier who already understands the standard of information required will provide it faster and more reliably than one approached for a single order. We favour local, traceable ingredients wherever possible, which also makes it easier to ask direct questions about handling and storage rather than working through several layers of distribution.
Labelling allergen information in a private dining setting
A private event rarely has the space or format for printed packaging labels, so allergen information has to travel through the room in other ways: table cards, menu annotations, or a server briefed well enough to answer questions accurately on the spot.
Table cards work well for seated dinners and buffets alike. A small card beside each dish naming its key allergens lets guests check for themselves without having to ask, which matters for guests who feel self-conscious about raising it at the table. For a plated menu, a simple annotation on the printed menu card, a symbol or a short note beside each course, does the same job with less clutter.
Verbal service information has to carry the same weight as a written label. Under Real Decreto 126/2015, oral disclosure is acceptable provided it is backed by accurate written records the kitchen can produce if asked. In practice, that means briefing servers with the same information that would appear on a card: not just "contains nuts" but which specific dish, for which guest, and what the alternative is.
Where a guest's allergy is severe, we go a step further and confirm their plate individually before it leaves the kitchen, rather than relying on labelling alone. Labelling reduces ambiguity for everyone else in the room; for the guests who need it most, direct confirmation closes any remaining gap.
How allergy protocols work in practice at private events
The clearest way to see a protocol work is to follow it through a typical private event. Take a villa dinner for twelve guests, one of whom has a severe nut allergy and another who is coeliac. The RSVP flags both conditions separately from general preferences, giving the kitchen weeks rather than hours to plan.
Menu design responds directly: a nut-free version of the starter and dessert, a certified gluten-free pasta for the coeliac guest, and ingredients sourced from suppliers who confirm in writing that neither product shares a line with nuts or wheat. On the night, both special plates are prepped first, on a separate section of the counter, before any nut-containing or gluten-containing dish is touched.
Service follows the same logic. The two affected plates are checked by the chef before leaving the kitchen and carried out ahead of the rest of the course, so there is no risk of a server confusing dishes mid-service. Both guests are told, simply and directly, which dish is theirs and why it looks slightly different from the one beside it.
This is the shape a protocol takes when it works: not a dramatic intervention, but a sequence of small, deliberate decisions made early enough that nothing has to be improvised under pressure. The same structure scales up for a wedding of eighty guests, with more suppliers and more RSVP replies to track, but the principle, separate, verify, label, brief, does not change.
Why a private chef changes how allergy risk is managed
Having cooked professionally for more than 13 years, trained in French gastronomy, I find that allergy safety improves most when one person designs the menu, sources the ingredients and oversees service. Direct supplier relationships and hands-on plating remove the handoffs where mistakes creep in. Hosts planning a villa dinner or wedding should raise allergy needs early, ideally at the first conversation about the menu.
— Joseph Warner
Book a private chef who takes allergy planning seriously
If you are planning a villa dinner, wedding or family celebration and need a menu that handles allergies properly, we build that into the process from the first conversation. Every menu we design, from the Celebration Menu to a bespoke Private Dining Experience, is built around your guest list, including anyone with dietary requirements or allergies.
With more than 13 years of experience across French, Spanish and Mediterranean cuisine, we work directly with trusted suppliers and confirm every ingredient before it reaches your table. Our page on how we accommodate dietary needs sets out the process in more detail, from menu planning through to service on the night.
Tell us about your event and any allergies we should plan around, and we will put together a menu that keeps every guest safe and well fed. Get in touch to check availability for your date and start planning your menu with us.
This article is general information, not a substitute for advice from a qualified doctor. Consult a qualified healthcare professional about your own circumstances before acting on anything here.
FAQ
What information must a host collect about guest allergies?
Collect the specific allergy, past reaction severity if known, and an emergency contact number, kept separate from general dietary preferences. This should be a required field in your RSVP, not an optional note, so the kitchen has time to plan around it.
Is a caterer legally required to disclose allergens at a private event?
Yes. Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 requires allergen information to be available for non-prepacked food, and Real Decreto 126/2015 sets out how that information must be presented and recorded in Spain.
What should staff do if a guest shows signs of anaphylaxis?
Call emergency services immediately, and if a trained responder is present with an auto-injector available, it should be used without delay. Keep the guest calm and in a comfortable position until help arrives.
How can hosts reduce cross-contact risk at a buffet-style event?
Buffet service carries more risk than plated service because guests share utensils across dishes. Where a guest has a severe allergy, use a clearly separated, staffed station or switch that guest's course to plated service instead.
Does The Sensory Chef accommodate allergies in private event menus?
Yes, menus are built around each guest list, including allergies and dietary requirements, with ingredients confirmed directly with suppliers before service. Details on this process are available on our dietary accommodation page.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 consolidated (AESA/National extract)
- Gestión de alérgenos en comercios minoristas, hostelería, restauración y restauración colectiva (course summary)