There are 14 priority food allergens that must be declared for all foods and drinks in the EU when they are used as ingredients in preparing or producing food.
What you need to know:
- For prepacked foods, food allergens must be declared by the food business by highlighting the appropriate names in the list of ingredients on the label. Where there is no list of ingredients, the allergens must be indicated by “Contains …..”.
- For non-prepacked food in Ireland, food allergens must be declared in clear and legible writing that can be easily accessed and understood by you, without the need to request such information.
- For non-prepacked food and in addition to the availability of written allergen information, people with a food allergy (or their caregiver) should discuss their particular food requirements with a member of staff to ensure there are no misunderstandings that could lead to an allergic reaction.
- People with an allergy to a food that is not on the EU priority allergen list should discuss their particular food requirements with the food business.
- People who believe that a food business is not incompliance with EU and Irish food law relating to food allergen declarations should discuss the issue with the food business and/or report it to the FSAI via our online complaint form.
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Learn more about how the 14 food allergens must be declared
Information about the 14 food allergens:
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The 14 allergens
There are 14 allergens that must be declared by law:
- Cereals containing gluten - wheat (such as spelt and Khorasan wheat), rye, barley, oats. Note: The cereal name e.g., 'wheat', must be declared and highlighted, not 'gluten'.
- Crustaceans e.g., crabs, prawns, lobsters
- Eggs
- Fish
- Peanuts
- Soybeans
- Milk
- Nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecan nuts, brazil nuts, pistachio nuts, macadamia/Queensland nut). Note: The name of the nut, e.g., 'almond', must be declared and highlighted, not 'nuts'.
- Celery
- Mustard
- Sesame seeds
- Sulphur dioxide and sulphites (at concentrations of more than 10mg/kg or 10mg/L in terms of total sulphur dioxide) – used as a preservative
- Lupin
- Molluscs e.g., mussels, oysters, squid, snails
Note: there are some derivatives of these allergens which are so highly processed that they are not considered an allergenic risk and so do not need to be highlighted as allergens. View the full list of allergens and exemptions.
Use MenuCal - the menu calculator - a free tool to help you record your recipes and allergens.
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How to display allergens - prepacked food
The allergen must be:
- indicated in the list of ingredients with clear reference to the name of the allergen
- highlighted in a way that makes it stand out from the other ingredients. This could be through, for example, font, style or background colour, e.g.
Ingredients: Flour (wheat), sugar, eggs, milk, salt, raising agent: sodium bicarbonate
No list of ingredients?
Where a food is not required to have a list of ingredients, e.g., alcohol, the allergen indication must include the word ‘contains’ followed by the name of the allergen, e.g., ‘contains barley’.
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How to display allergens - non-prepacked food
Food businesses must indicate allergens in writing for non-prepacked food at the point of:
- presentation, or
- sale, or
- supply
Non-prepacked food includes:
- foods sold in loose form, e.g., foods sold in restaurants, delis, cafés, canteens, takeaways, butcher shops, retail outlets, etc.
- foods packed on the premises at the request of the consumer, e.g., a sandwich made and packed into a plastic triangle for the customer
- foods packed on the premises for direct sale to the consumer or mass caterer, e.g., lasagne made in a café kitchen and sold packaged from a fridge in the café
In Ireland, the information must:
- be provided in written form in English or in Irish and English
- be easily located and accessible before the sale or supply of the food - customers must have the information before buying and must not have to ask for the information
- relate directly to a food or beverage so there is no confusion about which food it relates to. It is not acceptable to say ‘Our food contains…’. You must identify the exact food, e.g., ‘spaghetti bolognaise - contains milk, celery, wheat’.
- be in a legible handwritten or printed format
See our booklet Allergen Information for Non-prepacked Food for advice, options and examples.