The 14 EU allergens on labels
Short answer. EU law names 14 allergens. If a food contains one of them as an ingredient, the ingredient list must highlight it. A separate "contains" box does not replace that highlighting.
The 14 allergens
Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 lists them:
- Cereals that contain gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, khorasan wheat and their hybrids)
- Crustaceans
- Eggs
- Fish
- Peanuts
- Soybeans
- Milk (including lactose)
- Nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts)
- Celery
- Mustard
- Sesame seeds
- Sulphur dioxide and sulphites, above 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre
- Lupin
- Molluscs
How labels must show them
- The name of the allergen must stand out from the other ingredients. Labels use bold, capitals, underline or a background colour.
- If a food has no ingredient list, the label must say "contains" followed by the allergen.
- If several ingredients come from one allergenic source, the label must make that clear.
- Loose food (for example in a café or bakery) must also give allergen information. Member States decide how.
What the law does not cover
- Other allergies. Allergies to fruit, garlic or spices are real but are not on the EU list, so read the full ingredient list.
- Hidden names. An allergen can sit inside another name, such as "casein" (milk) or "semolina" (wheat). The highlighting rule applies to these, but you still need to look.
- Cross-contact. Traces from shared production lines fall under precautionary labelling.
What IngrediScan does
You add your allergies to a profile, and the app flags every ingredient from the same allergen family. It tags "may contain" entries as "Trace". If you have an allergy, treat a trace as present.
Sources
Ingredient pages
The assessment is for information only. It does not replace the manufacturer's label or advice from a doctor or vet. Text recognition (OCR) can miss part of a label. No result does not mean the product is safe.