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Italy: for restaurants and takeaways

Ready for the food inspection. Every day.

In Italy the app follows EU Regulation 852/2004, the allergen decree D.Lgs. 231/2017 and the guidance of the regions and local health authorities (ASL); the ASL food hygiene service (SIAN) inspects.

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The Chef Hygiene app on a computer: the home screen of a kitchen with its daily checksThe Chef Hygiene app on a phone: the home screen of a kitchen with its daily checks

Italy: food hygiene rules

Inspection body
Local health authority (ASL, Azienda Sanitaria Locale), food hygiene service SIAN
Public rating
No
Languages in the app
Italiano, English

Your inspection

The local health authority (ASL) inspects restaurants through its food hygiene service (SIAN). It has other names in some regions: ATS in Lombardy, ULSS in Veneto and ASP in Sicily. The Carabinieri NAS, a health unit of the military police, can also inspect and tells the ASL what it finds.

Visits are based on risk. A new restaurant notifies the ASL through the town’s one-stop desk (SUAP). Fines include €1,500–9,000 for no registration, €500–3,000 for breaking hygiene rules and €1,000–6,000 for no HACCP-based procedures. The ASL can stop all or part of the business, and selling food in a bad state of preservation is a crime.

Hygiene rating

Italy has no public hygiene rating or sticker. Inspection results are not published for each business, and nothing has to be displayed.

“Law” is a binding rule. “Official guidance” is not law, but inspectors expect it. “Chef Hygiene default” is a value the app checks against where no rule gives a number.

Temperatures

  • Official guidanceChef Hygiene checks fridges against 4°C. Local health authorities use a cold chain of 4°C (AUSL Bologna) and 0–4°C (ATS Brianza). Older national rules, whose status is disputed since 2021, allow cooked food eaten cold and filled fresh pasta up to 10°C.
  • LawQuick-frozen food: −18°C or colder in every part of the product, with short rises of up to 3°C in transport and display (D.Lgs. 110/1992, art. 4).
  • Official guidanceHot food: 60–65°C, and below 60°C it may not be served (Regione Veneto, 2021; older decree DPR 327/1980).
  • Official guidanceCooling: Italian and EU law only say to cool food as quickly as possible. Without a blast chiller (ATS Brianza, 2023) go from 65°C to 21°C within 2 hours, then to 5°C within 6 hours in all.
  • Official guidanceCooling with a blast chiller (Regione Veneto, 2021): 10°C in the centre within 2 hours of cooking, then 4°C within 2 more hours.
  • Official guidanceReheating: no law sets a number. The centre reaches 75°C (ATS Brianza); Regione Veneto says at least 70°C. Chef Hygiene warns on a reading below 75°C.
  • Official guidanceCooking: no law sets a core temperature. Regione Veneto gives 75°C in the centre as an example.
  • LawDeliveries: suppliers must keep meat at 7°C or colder, offal 3°C, poultry 4°C, mince 2°C, meat preparations 4°C, and fish near melting ice (Regulation 853/2004). Chef Hygiene checks chilled deliveries against 4°C and flags frozen ones above −15°C.
  • LawFish eaten raw or almost raw: freeze at −20°C or colder for at least 24 hours, or −35°C or colder for at least 15 hours (Regulation 853/2004).

Staff, training and health

  • LawItalian national law sets no food hygiene certificate, hours or renewal. The business must make sure staff are supervised and trained for their work (EU Regulation 852/2004). The old health booklet (libretto sanitario) ended in March 2021.
  • LawEach region sets its own training rules. In Lombardy the business trains its own staff with no set hours. In Emilia-Romagna there has been no regional course since 26 July 2025.
  • LawTuscany: everyone takes a 2-hour Module A; cooks, pizza makers and bartenders add a 4-hour Module B; owners and HACCP managers add an 8-hour Module C. Level 2 staff and managers do a 3-hour refresher every 5 years (regional decision DGR 540/2024).
  • LawFire wardens trained by the employer: 4 hours (level 1) or 8 hours (level 2), with a refresher at least every 5 years. First aid staff repeat their training at least every 3 years.
  • LawSick staff: anyone with a disease that can pass through food, infected wounds, skin infections or diarrhoea must not handle food, and must tell the business at once (EU Regulation 852/2004).

Allergens

  • LawThe 14 EU allergens: cereals with gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, tree nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphites, lupin and molluscs.
  • LawFor each dish, show the allergens before it is served: on the menu, a register, a sign or a digital system kept in view. A digital system also needs the information on paper that the inspector and guests can easily find (D.Lgs. 231/2017, art. 19).
  • LawOr put a notice on the menu, register or sign telling guests to ask staff. Written allergen sheets must then be easy to find for the inspector and guests. The information must be in Italian, clear and readable.
  • LawFines: no allergen information €3,000–24,000; information given in the wrong way €1,000–8,000; formal faults only €500–4,000 (D.Lgs. 231/2017, art. 23).

Fire safety checks

  • LawFire extinguisher checks and maintenance follow the technical standards and the maker’s instructions, and every check is recorded (decree DM 1 September 2021). The technician’s periodic check is every 6 months under standard UNI 9994-1; this is usual practice.
  • LawThe earthing system and any lightning protection are checked every 5 years, or every 2 years in places at higher fire risk. The ASL, ARPA or an authorised body does it (DPR 462/2001, art. 4).
  • LawGas boilers for heating or hot water get an efficiency check every 4 years (10–100 kW) or every 2 years (100 kW or more) (DPR 74/2013). No national law sets an interval for gas cooking appliances; a qualified installer fits them and maintenance follows the maker’s instructions.
  • LawBars and restaurants do not need a fire prevention certificate. Attached activities do, for example a heat plant over 116 kW (DPR 151/2011).
  • LawEvery employer does a fire risk assessment. An emergency plan is needed with 10 or more workers, or with more than 50 people present at once.

Records

  • LawYou must have self-check (autocontrollo) procedures based on HACCP principles (EU Regulation 852/2004, art. 5). Having none costs €1,000–6,000, and so does not applying them correctly (D.Lgs. 193/2007).
  • Official guidanceKeep temperature logs, cleaning logs, pest control reports, supplier and batch records, equipment maintenance records and staff training records.
  • LawNo national keeping period exists. EU law says to keep records for an appropriate period. In Tuscany, a business that runs its own staff courses keeps the course papers at least 10 years.

Official sources

Checked

This page is general information, not legal advice. Check with your local authority.

Italy: the Chef Hygiene app

The app loads these rules for your kitchen, checks your records against them and keeps proof for the inspector.

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