The 14 allergens list that UK and EU food businesses must declare
The 14 allergens are celery, cereals with gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soya, sulphites and tree nuts.
The 14 allergens in UK and EU food law
The 14 allergens are celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites, and tree nuts. They are listed in Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, which applies in the EU and, as assimilated law, in Great Britain.
So how many allergens are there? People can react to other foods, but only these 14 must be declared as allergens by law. That applies to additives, processing aids and other substances still in the finished food too, as FSA guidance states for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland uses the same 14, as listed by Food Standards Scotland.
The 14 allergens list
This allergen chart summarises Annex II. Each entry includes products made from it; sulphites count only above a set concentration.
| Allergen | What it covers | Main exemptions |
|---|---|---|
| Cereals containing gluten | Wheat (such as spelt and khorasan wheat), rye, barley, oats and their hybridised strains | Wheat-based glucose syrups including dextrose, wheat-based maltodextrins, barley glucose syrups, cereals used for alcoholic distillates |
| Crustaceans | Such as prawns, crabs and lobsters | None |
| Eggs | None | |
| Fish | Fish gelatine as a carrier for vitamin or carotenoid preparations; fish gelatine or isinglass used to fine beer and wine | |
| Peanuts | None | |
| Soybeans | Fully refined soybean oil and fat; from soybean sources, specified tocopherols, phytosterols, phytosterol esters and plant stanol ester | |
| Milk | Including lactose | Whey used for alcoholic distillates; lactitol |
| Tree nuts | Almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios, macadamia or Queensland nuts | Nuts used for alcoholic distillates |
| Celery | None | |
| Mustard | EU only, from 1 April 2025: behenic acid of at least 85% purity, obtained after two distillation steps, for E 470a, E 471 and E 477. None in GB | |
| Sesame seeds | None | |
| Sulphur dioxide and sulphites | More than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre as total SO2, as proposed ready for consumption or reconstituted as instructed | No allergen declaration at or below that level |
| Lupin | None | |
| Molluscs | Such as mussels and oysters | None |
Peanuts are not tree nuts. Crustaceans and molluscs are two entries, not one shellfish group. Products of the exempt wheat glucose syrups, wheat maltodextrins and fully refined soybean oil stay exempt only if processing is not likely to raise the allergenicity EFSA assessed for the source product.
The EU and Great Britain mustard difference
Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/2512 added the EU mustard exemption from 1 April 2025. GB Annex II has no equivalent. UK guidance updated 30 July 2026 expects that change only if the SPS agreement takes effect, intended for mid-2027 and still under negotiation. Don't use the EU exemption on a GB label yet. In Northern Ireland, ask the district council or the FSA first.
How the 14 must be shown
Article 9 requires a declaration for an ingredient or processing aid listed in, or derived from, Annex II, used in making the food and still present, even if altered. Article 21 requires a clear reference to the Annex II name, emphasised in the ingredients list. With no ingredients list, use "contains" plus that name. You don't need that indication where the name of the food clearly refers to the allergen. "May contain" wording is voluntary, must not mislead (Article 36), and does not replace the mandatory declaration. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, FSA guidance splits the practice by how the food is sold.
- Prepacked food: emphasise the allergen every time it appears in the ingredients list.
- Prepacked for direct sale (PPDS): a full ingredients list with allergens emphasised, required across the UK since Natasha's Law on 1 October 2021.
- Loose food: allergen information for every item containing any of the 14, in writing, or verbally with a clearly visible written notice saying how to get it.
- Distance selling: before the purchase is completed, and again on delivery.
Allergen posters and signs
A food allergen poster is not required on its own. If allergen information is given verbally, a clearly visible notice must say how to get it. You can use the FSA sign and matrix, free icons and posters, or your own wording.
The US has 9, not 14
The FDA's nine major food allergens are milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame (added 1 January 2023). Celery, lupin, molluscs, mustard and sulphites are not on that list. A UK or EU declaration is not a US label.
RegAffairs AI answers this allergen question with links to the cited legal text.