Guides · Materials

Can stone be used where food is handled?

In short. Natural stone does not appear in the list of materials for which Europe has written a dedicated food-contact measure. That does not put it outside the law: it puts it under the general rule, which is shorter and stricter than it looks. Here is what applies to a bar counter, a buffet or a stone worktop, and which document to ask for before ordering.

Why does the question always arrive once the design is closed?

It comes once the design is closed. The bar counter is drawn in marble, the breakfast buffet is a single stone top, and someone — the technical office, the food-safety consultant, the health authority inspector during a visit — asks whether that material is suitable for contact with food. At that point it is no longer a question of appearance: it is a document that either exists or does not.

The answer does exist, and it sits in two separate regulations that apply at two different moments: one concerns the material, the other the room the material is installed in. Almost nobody reads the two together, which is why the question looks unanswerable.

Why does stone have no dedicated European measure?

The European framework for materials intended to come into contact with food is Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004. Its Annex I lists the groups of materials for which the Union may adopt specific measures: active and intelligent materials, adhesives, ceramics, cork, rubbers, glass, ion-exchange resins, metals and alloys, paper and board, plastics, printing inks, regenerated cellulose, silicones, textiles, varnishes and coatings, waxes, wood. Seventeen entries. Natural stone is not among them.

Nor does any national list cover it in Italy: the Ministerial Decree of 21 March 1973 governs plastics, rubber, regenerated cellulose, paper and board, glass and stainless steel. Marble and the other stones do not appear. That absence is read sometimes as a prohibition and sometimes as a free pass. It is neither.

So what does apply?

Article 3 of Regulation 1935/2004 applies, and it covers every material, listed or not. Materials shall be manufactured in compliance with good manufacturing practice so that, under normal or foreseeable conditions of use, they do not transfer their constituents to food in quantities which could endanger human health, bring about an unacceptable change in the composition of the food, or bring about a deterioration in its organoleptic characteristics. The good manufacturing practice referred to is that of Regulation (EC) No 2023/2006, which applies across the whole chain, stone included.

On the declaration of compliance, Article 16 is precise: it is the specific measures that require one, and where there are none, Member States retain the power to maintain national provisions. For natural stone, therefore, there is today no mandatory European declaration template. The traceability obligation of Article 17 applies in full: for every piece it must be possible to say where it came from and who worked it.

Do a counter and a table follow the same rule?

No, and this is the distinction almost nobody writes down. The second regulation in play is Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs. Its Annex II, Chapter II, covers rooms where food is prepared, treated or processed, and at point 1(f) it requires that surfaces in areas where foods are handled, and in particular those in contact with food, are to be maintained in a sound condition and be easy to clean and, where necessary, to disinfect; and that this will require the use of smooth, washable, corrosion-resistant and non-toxic materials.

Four adjectives. It does not say steel, and it does not say not stone. It says smooth, washable, corrosion-resistant, non-toxic, and kept in sound condition.

It follows that the surface behind which lemons are cut and the surface a plate is set down on do not carry the same burden. The first is a working surface in a handling area and falls under Chapter II; the second, in the dining room, does not. The same marble, in the same building, can be a piece of furniture and a working surface two metres apart. The design has to say which one it is.

If not the stone, what is the problem?

Corrosion-resistant is the adjective that weighs. A calcareous stone — marbles are — reacts to acids: lemon juice, vinegar, wine and the wrong detergents strip the polish and leave a dull mark. We cover that separately in marble stains and etching. On a working surface, though, it is not a cosmetic problem: an etched surface is no longer smooth, and a surface that is no longer smooth is harder to clean. That is where compliance is lost, not on the day of installation.

Three practical consequences follow. The first is that choosing the stone comes before choosing the finish: dense, low-absorption stones make sense on a working surface, and an open-pored travertine or a soft limestone makes little, because they hold residue. The figure to ask for on the technical datasheet is water absorption at atmospheric pressure, determined to EN 13755. It is an ordinary measurement, and a serious supplier has it. Picking the slab takes the same question from another angle.

The second is that on the finish the question is not which is more beautiful, but which stays smooth after two years in service; we discuss that in the guide on the marble table top finish. The third is that the sealer becomes part of the surface: an impregnator applied to a handling surface is, to all intents, what the food touches. For that product the declaration of suitability for food contact can be asked for, obtained and filed — it is the one document in this story that already exists in standard form.

What about resin-treated slabs and composites?

Many slabs leave the quarry with resin spread across the face or a mesh glued to the back, both to hold a brittle material together. On the back it makes no difference, because that is not the face food touches. On the front it does: that resin is a different material from stone, it falls under plastics, and for plastics the specific measures and the declaration of compliance do exist. If the top is destined for a handling area, the question to ask is whether the face of the slab is resin-treated and with what.

The same applies to engineered quartz and agglomerates: they are ground stone bound with resin, and the binder is the part that counts. This is not an argument against them — they are dense, low-absorption materials — but it moves the question from the trade name to the product datasheet. Where the stone is natural, or quartzite, the face is what you see.

How we work

We work the stone in our own factory and we do not use resin to stiffen slabs: very large surfaces need support, and the mesh on the back is already a good one. So on the face, what remains is stone, and in a food-contact assessment that is a real simplification, because it removes one material that would have to be declared.

When a design puts a top in an area where food is handled, it helps to say so at quotation stage rather than at delivery: stone, finish and sealer are decided together, and the sealer’s documents arrive with the piece. Stoneform and Brianform are two divisions of the same company, with production in house: between whoever chooses the slab and whoever works it there is no commercial step, which is why a piece can be traced back to the slab and not only to the paperwork.

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The questions to ask before ordering

What is the water absorption of the chosen stone, to EN 13755? Is the face of the slab resin-treated, and with which product? Which sealer will be applied, and does it carry a declaration of suitability for food contact? Is the piece in a handling area or in the dining room? Who renews the sealer over time, and how often? Five questions to ask at quotation stage: each has a written answer, and putting them on record costs less than arguing about them later.

Frequently asked questions

Is marble banned where food is handled?

No. No rule bans it and none explicitly authorises it: natural stone is not in the list of materials with specific measures. What applies is Article 3 of Regulation 1935/2004 and, for preparation rooms, the requirement in Regulation 852/2004 for smooth, washable, corrosion-resistant and non-toxic surfaces.

Does a stone top need a declaration of compliance?

For the stone itself there is no European obligation today, because the specific measure that would require one does not exist. The document to ask for, and which does exist, is the one for the protective product applied to the surface; it is worth filing with the rest of the furniture documentation.

Can you cut directly on a marble top?

You can, but it is better not to, and not for hygiene reasons: the knife dulls the polish, and on marble that shows. A board can be washed at temperatures a fixed top never reaches.

Do the bar counter and the dining table follow the same rule?

No. Chapter II of Annex II to Regulation 852/2004 covers rooms where food is prepared, treated or processed. A service top behind the counter falls within it; a table in the dining room does not.

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The legislation referred to on this page is Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 on materials and articles intended to come into contact with food (Article 3 on general requirements, Article 16 on the declaration of compliance, Article 17 on traceability and Annex I listing the groups of materials that may be covered by specific measures), Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs (Annex II, Chapter II, point 1(f)), Regulation (EC) No 2023/2006 on good manufacturing practice, the Italian Ministerial Decree of 21 March 1973 as national legislation, and EN 13755 on the determination of water absorption of natural stone at atmospheric pressure. This page does not claim that stone is more or less hygienic than any other material: it reports the path the legislation sets out and the consequence that follows from that text. What you read here reports the law and describes how we work: it is not legal advice, it does not replace the food-safety assessment of the individual business, and it does not replace the written terms of the individual order.