The “Allergens Fourteen”: Which Allergens Are Subject to Labeling?

Around 90 percent of all food allergies in Europe are triggered by 14 specific ingredients. These allergens are subject to labeling. Since December 13, 2014, these must be shown not only for packaged goods but also for loose goods. Since then, allergy sufferers have had to be informed at the bakery or butcher, in the restaurant, or at the weekly market whether the food contains one of the 14 allergens. Brochures listing the ingredients are often available for the products on offer, or they are issued on request.

The 14 most common allergens are:

• Milk and lactose;
• Eggs;
• Cereals containing gluten such as wheat, spelt, rye, barley, oats, and crosses of these varieties;
• Crustaceans such as shrimp, lobster, crayfish, lobster, or crab;
• Fish;
• Peanuts;
• Soy;
• Celery;
• Mustard;
• Sesame seeds;
• Nuts and nuts such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts, and Queensland nuts;
• Sulfites and sulfur dioxide provided that a quantity of 10 mg per kilogram or liter is reached or exceeded;
• Sweet lupins;
• Molluscs, i.e. mollusks such as snails, mussels, or squid.

In addition, processed products must also be labeled if they contain one of these allergens and are used as an ingredient. This applies, for example, to lecithin, which can be found in chocolate. If it was made from eggs or soy, this must be noted. The same applies to the designation vegetable oil if this was obtained from peanuts or nuts, for example.

In some cases, it is no longer enough just to talk about spice mixtures on the list of ingredients. If they contain mustard or celery, they must be labeled as allergens. If lactose was used as a carrier in vitamin mixtures and other food supplements, this must also be made clear.

Allergens do not have to be labeled if their original form has been modified to such an extent by industrial processing that they are no longer considered to be allergenic. This is the case, for example, with glucose syrup made from wheat starch. Even if nuts have been used for distillates of spirits, they do not have to be specially identified.

However, certain allergens can also be inadvertently mixed in during the processing of a product. So far, these have not been subject to mandatory labeling. The packaging may contain a note such as “May contain traces of…” or “Our facility also processes…”, but this is not mandatory.

Otherwise, you can recognize allergens in food either from the product name or from the list of ingredients, or from the corresponding information on the label.