Allergen compliance in Malta
Allergen labelling on every dish, in every language your Maltese tables speak.
Malta applies EU Regulation 1169/2011, so all 14 allergens must be documented for every plate you serve. Qarta keeps that record on the dish itself - set it once, and it travels into all ten menu languages, the QR stickers and the table assistant.
- All 14 named allergens per dish
- Translated with the menu, not bolted on
- Edit a recipe once, everywhere updates
What the law asks for
The 14 allergens, and where they hide in Maltese cooking
Most Maltese menus already declare the obvious ones. The findings that cause trouble are the quiet ingredients: celery in the minestra base, milk in the ġbejniet crumbled over a salad, sulphites in the wine used to finish a stew, mustard in a rabbit rub. Qarta gives every dish a checklist so nothing is decided from memory during service.
Cereals containing gluten
Typically found in: ftira, bragioli breadcrumbs, pastizzi pastry
Crustaceans
Typically found in: prawn spaghetti, rizzi platters
Eggs
Typically found in: aljotta thickening, imqaret glaze
Fish
Typically found in: lampuki pie, anchovy in bigilla
Peanuts
Typically found in: satay dressings, some bar snacks
Soybeans
Typically found in: marinades, imported sauces
Milk
Typically found in: ġbejniet, kannoli ricotta, butter finishes
Nuts
Typically found in: almond helwa, kwarezimal, pesto
Celery
Typically found in: soffritto bases, minestra, stock
Mustard
Typically found in: rabbit stew rubs, dressings
Sesame seeds
Typically found in: ftira toppings, hummus sides
Sulphur dioxide and sulphites
Typically found in: wine, dried fruit in Christmas puddings
Lupin
Typically found in: gluten-free flour blends
Molluscs
Typically found in: octopus stew, klamari mimli
How it works in a real service
From paper menu to documented allergens in an afternoon
Photograph your printed menus
Food, drinks and desserts - the three cards you already have. Qarta transcribes every section, dish and price, keeping Maltese names such as lampuki, bragioli and ftira exactly as written.
Tick the allergens per dish
Your chef works down the list once. Add a cross-contamination note where the fryer or grill is shared. This is the written record inspectors and guests both ask for.
Publish to the QR sticker
Guests scan and read the allergens in their own phone language. Change a recipe in October and the German, Italian and Arabic versions change with it.
Qarta is a menu tool, not a legal opinion. You stay responsible for the accuracy of what your kitchen declares - we make sure the declaration is complete, current and readable at the table. If you want a second pair of eyes on your first menu, .
Questions
Malta allergen menu FAQ
- Is allergen labelling compulsory for restaurants in Malta?
- Yes. Malta applies EU Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food information to consumers, which requires information on the 14 named allergens to be available for every non-prepacked dish you serve. It can be given in writing on the menu or on a clearly signposted written record - but it must exist, be accurate and be reachable before the guest orders.
- Can we just tell guests verbally?
- Purely verbal information is risky: the regulation requires the details to be available in writing somewhere the guest is directed to, and a busy Maltese dining room in August is exactly where verbal chains break. A digital menu keeps the written record on the guest's own phone, in their own language.
- Do the allergen labels get translated too?
- Yes. Qarta carries allergens alongside each dish in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Polish, Arabic, Chinese and Japanese, so an Italian family reading 'crostacei' or a German guest reading 'Krebstiere' sees the same underlying flag you set once.
- What happens when the kitchen changes a recipe?
- You edit the dish once from your phone and every language, every QR sticker and the assistant update immediately. No stickers over laminated cards and no waiting for a reprint.
- Does the AI table assistant answer allergen questions?
- It answers strictly from the allergen data you entered for that menu and nothing else. If a dish has no flag set, it says so and tells the guest to ask a member of staff rather than guessing.
- Do you cover 'may contain' and cross-contamination notes?
- Each dish has a free-text note field alongside the 14 flags, which is where cross-contamination wording belongs. Fryer sharing, shared grills and shellfish handling are the ones Maltese kitchens most often need to state.
Get your allergen record off paper and onto the table
EUR 39.90 per month plus EUR 149 setup with printed QR stickers and staff training.