Key takeaways
- The 14 allergens are set out in Annex II of retained Regulation 1169/2011: celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites, and tree nuts.
- They must be emphasised in the ingredients list of prepacked and PPDS food, and information about them must be available for loose food.
- Name the specific cereal or nut: 'wheat' and 'almonds', not 'gluten' and 'nuts'.
- A small number of highly processed derivatives, such as wheat-based glucose syrup and fully refined soybean oil, are exempt.
- 'May contain' statements are voluntary and only meaningful after a real cross-contamination assessment.
- The EU list is identical to the UK's. The USA has nine major allergens and leaves out celery, mustard, lupin and molluscs; Australia and New Zealand name each tree nut; Japan adds buckwheat; most of Asia and the Gulf follow the Codex eight.
The 14 allergens at a glance
The list below is the legal one. It comes from Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, which continues to apply in the UK as retained law, and it is enforced through the Food Information Regulations 2014 and the equivalent regulations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Food Standards Agency keeps an allergen guidance page for food businesses that reflects any changes. These 14 are the allergens you must declare; nothing stops you declaring others voluntarily.
| Allergen | What it covers | Where it hides |
|---|---|---|
| Celery | Celery stalks, leaves and seeds, celeriac, celery salt | Stock cubes, soups, salads, some spice mixes and sausages |
| Cereals containing gluten | Wheat (including spelt and khorasan), rye, barley, oats | Soy sauce, beer, batter, breadcrumbs, gravy granules, some stock, couscous, malt vinegar |
| Crustaceans | Prawns, shrimp, crab, lobster, crayfish, langoustines, scampi | Shrimp paste, fish sauce, some Thai and Chinese sauces and stocks |
| Eggs | Hen, duck, quail and other eggs, in any form | Fresh pasta, mayonnaise, glazes on pastry, meringue, some sauces and dressings |
| Fish | All fish species, fresh, frozen, tinned or dried | Worcestershire sauce, Caesar dressing, fish sauce, some relishes and stock |
| Lupin | Lupin seeds and flour | Some flours, pastries, bread and pasta, especially from continental Europe |
| Milk | Milk from any animal, including lactose, whey, casein, butter, cream, cheese, yoghurt | Whey powder in bread, crisps and sauces, ghee, milk powder in batters and coatings |
| Molluscs | Mussels, oysters, clams, scallops, squid, octopus, cuttlefish, snails, whelks | Oyster sauce, some fish stocks and seafood mixes |
| Mustard | Mustard seeds, powder, leaves and liquid mustard | Mayonnaise, salad dressings, marinades, curry pastes, some sausages and pickles |
| Peanuts | Peanuts (groundnuts) and products made from them | Satay, some curry sauces, unrefined groundnut oil, snack mixes, some biscuits |
| Sesame | Sesame seeds, sesame oil, tahini | Hummus, bread toppings, halva, some stir-fry sauces and dressings |
| Soybeans | Soya beans, tofu, edamame, soya flour, soya milk, miso, tempeh | Soya lecithin in chocolate, vegetable protein, some bread, ready meals and sauces |
| Sulphur dioxide and sulphites | At more than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre of total sulphur dioxide | Dried fruit, wine, cider, beer, some meat products, pickled foods, some soft drinks |
| Tree nuts | Almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios, macadamia (Queensland) nuts | Pesto, marzipan, praline, nut oils, some breads, sauces and desserts |
A few of the entries need a closer look. Cereals containing gluten is a group, and the law requires you to name the cereal: wheat (which includes spelt and khorasan wheat, sometimes sold as Kamut), rye, barley or oats. Tree nuts is also a group, limited to the eight nuts named in the table, and again the specific nut must be named. Milk covers milk from any animal and everything made from it, including lactose. Crustaceans and molluscs are separate allergens, so a dish with prawns and mussels declares both. Sulphur dioxide and sulphites only count above 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre, measured as total sulphur dioxide in the food as it will be eaten.
Where the 14 allergens hide
Most allergen failures in kitchens are not about the obvious ingredient. Nobody forgets that a prawn cocktail contains crustaceans. The problems come from compound ingredients bought in a tub, jar or packet, where the allergen is three lines down the supplier's ingredients list.
- Celery is in most stock cubes, bouillon powders and packet soups, and in celery salt used in seasoning blends.
- Mustard is in mayonnaise, many salad dressings, piccalilli, some curry pastes and a surprising number of sausages.
- Sulphites are in dried apricots and other dried fruit, wine and cider used in cooking, some burgers and sausages, and pickled vegetables.
- Lupin flour turns up in some breads, pastries and gluten-free products, particularly those made in continental Europe.
- Fishis in Worcestershire sauce (anchovies), Caesar dressing, fish sauce and some stocks and relishes, so a “vegetarian” Bloody Mary or Caesar salad can declare fish.
- Sesame is in hummus and tahini, on bread and burger buns, in halva and in many Asian dressings and marinades.
- Soya lecithin is in most chocolate and many baked goods; soya protein is in processed meats and some breads.
- Milk appears as whey powder in bread, crisps and sauces, and as milk powder in batters and coatings.
- Egg is in fresh pasta, pastry glazes, meringue, some noodles and many sauces.
- Gluten cereals are in soy sauce (wheat), beer (barley), malt vinegar and malt extract (barley), gravy granules, stock and breadcrumbs.
The practical answer is to hold a specification for every bought-in ingredient and to treat its ingredients list as part of your own. If that sounds like a lot of paperwork, it is exactly the job that recipe software does for you: each ingredient carries its allergens once, and every recipe that uses it inherits them.
How the UK 14 compare with the EU, USA and the rest of the world
The UK list is the EU list: it was written into Annex II of Regulation 1169/2011 and retained in UK law after Brexit, so a product labelled for Great Britain satisfies the allergen rules in Ireland, France or Germany and the other way round (Northern Ireland follows the EU text directly). Beyond Europe the lists diverge. Every country starts from the same core of milk, eggs, fish, crustaceans, peanuts, tree nuts, soy and wheat, then adds or drops items according to its own allergy data: the USA treats sesame as a major allergen but not celery or mustard, Japan requires buckwheat and names shrimp and crab, Australia insists each tree nut is spelled out. The matrix below shows where each of the UK 14, plus the items other regions add, must be declared.
| Allergen | UK14 | EU14 | USA9 | Canada11 + gluten sources | AUS / NZ14 incl. named tree nuts | Japan8 + ~20 recommended | China8 | Codex8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cereals containing gluten | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared1 | Must be declared2 | Must be declared3 | Must be declared4 | Must be declared5 | Must be declared |
| Crustaceans | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared6 | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared7 | Must be declared | Must be declared |
| Molluscs | Must be declared | Must be declared | Not on the list8 | Must be declared | Must be declared | RRecommended or voluntary9 | Not on the list | Not on the list |
| Eggs | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared |
| Fish | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | RRecommended or voluntary10 | Must be declared | Must be declared |
| Peanuts | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared |
| Soybeans | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | RRecommended or voluntary11 | Must be declared | Must be declared |
| Milk | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared |
| Tree nuts | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared12 | Must be declared13 | Must be declared | Must be declared |
| Celery | Must be declared | Must be declared | Not on the list | Not on the list | Not on the list | Not on the list | Not on the list | Not on the list |
| Mustard | Must be declared | Must be declared | Not on the list | Must be declared | Not on the list | Not on the list | Not on the list | Not on the list |
| Sesame | Must be declared | Must be declared | Must be declared14 | Must be declared | Must be declared | RRecommended or voluntary | Not on the list | RRecommended or voluntary15 |
| Sulphur dioxide and sulphites | Must be declared | Must be declared | RRecommended or voluntary16 | Must be declared | Must be declared17 | Not on the list | Not on the list | Must be declared18 |
| Lupin | Must be declared | Must be declared | Not on the list | Not on the list | Must be declared | Not on the list | Not on the list | Not on the list |
| Buckwheatnot UK | Not on the list | Not on the list | Not on the list | Not on the list | Not on the list | Must be declared19 | Not on the list | Not on the list |
| Other region-specific itemsnot UK | Not on the list | Not on the list | Not on the list | Not on the list | Not on the list | RRecommended or voluntary20 | Not on the list | Not on the list |
- 1 USA — Cereals containing gluten: Wheat only — rye, barley and oats are not major allergens
- 2 Canada — Cereals containing gluten: Wheat and triticale, plus gluten sources (barley, oats, rye)
- 3 AUS / NZ — Cereals containing gluten: Wheat, plus barley, oats and rye as gluten
- 4 Japan — Cereals containing gluten: Wheat only; buckwheat is listed separately
- 5 China — Cereals containing gluten: Mandatory from the 2025 revision (effective 2027); recommended before
- 6 USA — Crustaceans: “Crustacean shellfish”
- 7 Japan — Crustaceans: Shrimp and crab are named individually
- 8 USA — Molluscs: Not a major allergen in the USA
- 9 Japan — Molluscs: Squid and abalone on the recommended list
- 10 Japan — Fish: Salmon, mackerel and salmon roe on the recommended list
- 11 Japan — Soybeans: Recommended, not mandatory
- 12 AUS / NZ — Tree nuts: Each nut must be named individually; pine nut is included
- 13 Japan — Tree nuts: Walnut mandatory (since 2023); almond, cashew and macadamia recommended
- 14 USA — Sesame: Added by the FASTER Act, mandatory since 1 January 2023
- 15 Codex — Sesame: Being added in the current revision of the Codex list
- 16 USA — Sulphur dioxide and sulphites: Must be declared at 10 ppm or more, but not classed as a major allergen
- 17 AUS / NZ — Sulphur dioxide and sulphites: At 10 mg/kg or more
- 18 Codex — Sulphur dioxide and sulphites: At 10 mg/kg or more
- 19 Japan — Buckwheat: One of the 8 mandatory allergens; also mandatory in South Korea
- 20 Japan — Other region-specific items: Recommended list also names beef, pork, chicken, gelatine, orange, kiwi, banana, peach, apple and yam
Reviewed October 2026 against each regulator's published list (column headers link to them). Lists change; confirm the current text before printing an export label.
Read the columns as “what must appear on the label there”, not as which foods cause reactions: an allergy to celery is just as real in Boston as in Birmingham, but a US label is not required to flag it.
Region by region
United States: nine major allergens
US law (the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act, extended by the FASTER Act) names nine “major food allergens”: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and, since 1 January 2023, sesame. They are declared either in the ingredients list or in a separate “Contains” statement, and the specific fish, crustacean and tree nut must be named. Four of the UK 14 are missing entirely: celery, mustard, lupin and molluscs. Only wheat is covered, not rye, barley or oats, and sulphites are declared as an ingredient at 10 parts per million or more rather than as an allergen.
Canada: closer to the UK than the USA
Canada's priority allergens are eggs, milk, mustard, peanuts, crustaceans and molluscs, fish, sesame, soy, tree nuts, and wheat and triticale, together with the gluten sources (barley, oats, rye, triticale, wheat) and sulphites at 10 ppm or more. Mustard and molluscs put it nearer the UK list; celery and lupin are not included.
Australia and New Zealand: name every nut
The joint food standards code requires peanut, each tree nut by name (almond, Brazil nut, cashew, hazelnut, macadamia, pecan, pine nut, pistachio, walnut), milk, egg, sesame, fish, crustacea, mollusc, soy, lupin, wheat, the gluten cereals and sulphites. Under Plain English Allergen Labelling the required name must appear in bold in the ingredients list and in a separate summary statement, in the prescribed words. Celery and mustard are not on the list.
Japan: eight mandatory, around twenty recommended
Japan requires eight “specified raw materials”: egg, milk, wheat, buckwheat, peanuts, shrimp, crab and walnut (added in 2023). A second, recommended list of about twenty items includes soybeans, sesame, squid, abalone, salmon, mackerel, salmon roe, beef, pork, chicken, gelatine, and fruit such as orange, kiwi, banana, peach and apple. Note that soy and sesame, mandatory across Europe and North America, are only recommended in Japan, and that labels must be in Japanese.
China: the Codex eight, becoming mandatory
China's general labelling standard GB 7718 lists eight categories matching the Codex baseline: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, fish, eggs, peanuts, soybeans, milk and tree nuts. Under the 2011 standard declaring them was recommended; the 2025 revision makes it mandatory, with an implementation date in 2027. Check the current position before relying on a voluntary declaration.
Codex and the countries that follow it
The Codex Alimentarius standard for prepackaged food is the international reference and the basis for many national lists: cereals containing gluten, crustacea, eggs, fish, peanuts and soybeans, milk, tree nuts, and sulphites at 10 mg/kg or more. An FAO/WHO expert review recommended adding sesame and naming specific tree nuts, and the list is being revised on that basis. Regions that follow Codex, or something close to it, include:
- South Korea
- Around 20 items, including the familiar ones plus buckwheat, peach, tomato, pork, beef, chicken, mackerel, squid, pine nut and sulphites.
- Brazil
- Seventeen named items: wheat, rye, barley and oats, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soy, milk of all mammals, and eight individually named nuts including pine nuts and chestnuts, plus natural latex.
- India
- Eight categories close to Codex: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, milk, eggs, fish, peanuts and tree nuts, soybeans, and sulphites at 10 mg/kg or more.
- South Africa
- Common allergens under R.146: egg, cow's milk, crustaceans and molluscs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, tree nuts and significant cereals containing gluten.
- Gulf states (GCC), Hong Kong, Singapore
- Follow the Codex eight: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, tree nuts, and sulphites at 10 mg/kg or more.
- Taiwan
- Eleven categories that include mango alongside crustaceans, peanuts, milk and goat's milk, eggs, nuts, sesame, cereals containing gluten, soybeans, fish and sulphites.
- Switzerland, Norway, Iceland
- Apply the EU list of 14 through their own legislation or the EEA agreement.
What this means if you export, import or buy from abroad
Selling abroad.Label for the destination's list, in the destination's format and language. A UK label is a good start for most markets because the 14 already include everything on the US, Canadian and Australian lists except the way nuts are named, but the format rules differ: the USA accepts a “Contains” statement, Australia requires prescribed bold names and a summary statement, Japan needs Japanese text and its own eight. Where one pack serves several markets, declare the union of the lists.
Buying from abroad.The bigger risk runs the other way. A US supplier's specification is not required to mention celery, mustard, lupin or molluscs, and will say “wheat” where you need to know about barley or rye; a Japanese specification may be silent on soy and sesame. Ask overseas suppliers for the UK 14 explicitly, in writing, before an ingredient goes into a recipe, and treat a blank as “unknown” rather than “free from”.
Ingredients that are exempt
Annex II exempts a small number of derivatives that are processed so far that they are no longer expected to trigger a reaction. These are the exemptions you are most likely to meet:
- Wheat-based glucose syrups, including dextrose, and wheat-based maltodextrins; glucose syrups based on barley; and cereals used to make alcoholic distillates, including ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin.
- Fish gelatine used as a carrier for vitamin or carotenoid preparations, and fish gelatine or isinglass used as a fining agent in beer and wine.
- Fully refined soybean oil and fat, and certain soya-derived tocopherols, phytosterols and stanol esters.
- Whey used for making alcoholic distillates, and lactitol.
- Nuts used for making alcoholic distillates, including ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin.
How to label the 14 allergens
How you declare the allergens depends on how the food is sold. There are three cases, and most food businesses deal with at least two of them.
Prepacked food
Food packed by one business and sold by another carries a full label. The allergens are emphasised in the ingredients list by font, style, background or colour, and the label also carries the other mandatory information: nutrition, net quantity, dates, the business address and so on. Our UK food labelling rules guide walks through the full list.
Prepacked for direct sale (PPDS)
Food you pack on your own premises before the customer orders it, such as sandwiches in a chiller or wrapped cakes at the counter, must carry the name of the food and a full ingredients list with the allergens emphasised. This is Natasha's Law, in force since 1 October 2021; our PPDS labelling guide explains what does and does not count.
Non-prepacked (loose) food
Food served after ordering, loose at a counter or on a plate does not need a label, but allergen information must be available for every item. It can be written, on a menu or matrix, or given verbally, provided a clear written sign tells customers to ask.
In every case, declare the allergen by its proper name and, for cereals and nuts, name the specific one. Where an allergen appears more than once in a recipe, for example wheat in both the pastry and the sauce, it is emphasised each time it appears in the list.
Cross-contamination and “may contain”
Declaring the allergens you put in is the legal minimum. Allergens can also reach a dish by accident: a shared fryer that has cooked battered fish, a slicer used for both cheese and ham, open tubs of nuts above a prep bench, or a flour-dusted surface. Managing this is part of your food safety system rather than your label, and the starting point is a walk through the kitchen listing where each of the 14 is stored, handled and cooked.
Where a risk cannot be removed, a precautionary statement such as “may contain peanuts” tells the customer. It is voluntary, it must reflect a real risk, and it should never be used as a blanket disclaimer: a menu that says every dish may contain every allergen gives an allergic customer nothing to eat and no information. The FSA's guidance treats such blanket statements as unacceptable.
Building an allergen matrix for your menu
An allergen matrix is a grid with your dishes down the side and the 14 allergens across the top, with a tick wherever a dish contains an allergen. It is the most common way to meet the information duty for loose food, it gives staff one page to check when a customer asks, and an inspector will usually ask to see it. A good matrix also records may-contain risks separately from confirmed ingredients, and carries the date it was last reviewed.
You can build one in minutes with our free allergen matrix generator: enter your dishes, tick the allergens, mark any may-contain risks, then print it or download it. The weakness of any static matrix is that it goes out of date the moment a recipe or supplier changes, which is why Recipee generates the matrix from the recipes themselves, so a change to an ingredient updates every dish that uses it.
Staff training and talking to customers
The law puts the duty on the business, but the conversation usually happens between a customer and whoever is on the till or the floor. Training should cover what the 14 allergens are, where the information is kept, how to check it rather than guess, and what to do if a customer has a reaction. Keep a record of who has been trained and when.
Two habits prevent most incidents. Ask every customer whether anyone in their party has an allergy, so the question is not left to them. And when the answer is yes, check the written information for that dish rather than relying on memory, because the recipe may have changed since the last time anyone looked. The FSA offers free online allergen training for food businesses at allergytraining.food.gov.uk.