July 29, 2026

The 14 Allergens EU Food Labels Must Declare

EU food law names 14 allergens that must always be declared. The rule comes from Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, and it applies across the EU, with equivalent rules retained in the UK.

Knowing the list is useful. Knowing its edges is more useful.

The 14

1. Cereals containing gluten — wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, kamut
2. Crustaceans — prawns, crab, lobster
3. Eggs
4. Fish
5. Peanuts
6. Soybeans
7. Milk (including lactose)
8. Nuts — almond, hazelnut, walnut, cashew, pecan, Brazil, pistachio, macadamia
9. Celery
10. Mustard
11. Sesame seeds
12. Sulphur dioxide and sulphites — above 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/l
13. Lupin
14. Molluscs — mussels, oysters, squid, snails

What the law actually requires

On packaged food: the allergen must appear in the ingredient list, emphasised so it stands out — usually bold, sometimes capitals or underline. It must be named even when it appears as a derivative, so “whey” carries “milk” with it.

On unpackaged food — restaurants, bakeries, delis — the information must be available, but it does not have to be written on a sign. In many member states it is legitimate for the answer to be “ask a member of staff”. That is why asking directly still matters.

Prepacked for direct sale — the sandwich made on site and put in the chiller — has stricter rules in the UK than it once did, following Natasha’s Law: a full ingredient list with allergens emphasised.

The gaps

• “May contain” is not covered. Precautionary labelling is voluntary and unregulated, so it is not part of this guarantee at all.
• Only 14 are named. A kiwi, lupin-free legume or spice allergy has no equivalent protection; you are reading the full ingredient list yourself.
• Alcoholic drinks are treated differently. Full ingredient lists have historically not been required, though this has been changing.
• “Gluten-free” is a separate claim with its own threshold — below 20 ppm — and is not the same as the allergen declaration.
• Outside the EU and UK, none of this applies. US labelling covers nine major allergens and does not include celery, mustard, sulphites, lupin or molluscs.

That last point catches travellers. A label habit built in Europe does not transfer.

How this maps to an app

Allervibe covers 13 allergens closely matching this list, matched against product data on scan. Where an EU label emphasises an allergen, that is exactly the signal a scanner reads.

Each has its own page if you want the detail — milk, peanuts, gluten, and the rest under allergens.

For meals with no label

Restaurant food is where the “available on request” wording does the heavy lifting, and asking is the mechanism. A printed allergy card makes the ask survive the trip to the kitchen — free, 14 languages.