Mass gatherings and food safety enforcement: Rome’s Jubilee impact

Background

Official food safety controls generate enforcement actions when non-compliances (NCs) are detected. In mass gathering contexts, such as Rome’s 2025 Jubilee, increased demand on food services may amplify risks and test regulatory capacity. Analysing enforcement trends provides insight into both system responsiveness and persistence of violations.

Methods

Enforcement data from official inspection records (2024–2025) of the Local Food Hygiene and Nutrition Service (SIAN), Local Health Authority Roma 1 (ASL Roma 1), were compared. Indicators included administrative sanctions, prescriptive measures under Art. 138(2) Reg. (EU) 2017/625, cessation/suspension orders, criminal referrals and seizures.

Results

Inspected establishments rose from 881 (2024) to 1,162 (2025) (+31.9%), with NC rate increasing from 39.3% to 42.3%. Sanctions increased from 160 to 296 (+85.0%) and prescriptive measures from 354 to 507 (+43.2%). Cessation/suspension orders (Art. 138(2)(i)) tripled from 33 to 101 (+206%). Two criminal referrals and two penal seizures were recorded in 2025, versus none in 2024, both in bakery production. Public catering accounted for 68.6% of all 2025 sanctions (203/296) and 69.0% of prescriptive measures (350/507). In collective catering, sanctions quadrupled (2 to 8) and NC rate doubled (50% to 100%).

Conclusions

The marked increase in enforcement reflects both expanded inspection capacity and persistent structural NCs under surge conditions. The emergence of criminal proceedings and concentration of severe measures in food service sectors highlight priority risk areas. These findings support risk-stratified, surge-ready inspection models and multi-year prevention strategies for mass gathering settings.

Key messages

• Large-scale events can strain routine food safety systems: during Rome’s Jubilee, increased inspection activity went hand in hand with a rise in non-compliance and enforcement actions.

• Enforcement data can guide prevention: the concentration of severe measures in food service sectors points to where risk-based, forward-planned interventions are most needed.