What are the 14 groups?
The European list has 14 groups: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphur dioxide and sulphites, lupin and molluscs.
Each group includes its derived products. The list does not say only "wheat": flours, breads, thickened sauces and batters count too.
Learn them in blocks: cereals; fish, crustaceans and molluscs; egg and milk; peanuts, soybeans, lupin and sesame; nuts; celery and mustard; and sulphites.
To remember
- 14 groups, with their derivatives.
- Trick: learn them in blocks.
Facts and sources for this section
- The list of substances or products causing allergies or intolerances (Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II) has 14 groups: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphur dioxide and sulphites, lupin and molluscs. [S1]
Which cereals count?
Those that contain gluten: wheat (such as spelt and khorasan wheat), rye, barley, oats or their hybridised strains. "Kamut" is the trade mark of a type of wheat, khorasan.
This wording comes from Delegated Regulation (EU) No 78/2014, which corrected the 2011 list to make clear that spelt and khorasan are wheat.
There are exceptions: wheat-based glucose syrups (including dextrose), wheat-based maltodextrins, barley-based glucose syrups and cereals used for making alcoholic distillates do not have to be declared.
To remember
- Spelt and khorasan (kamut) are wheat.
- Some highly processed derivatives are not declared.
Facts and sources for this section
- Since Delegated Regulation (EU) No 78/2014, point 1 of Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 reads: wheat (such as spelt and Khorasan wheat), rye, barley, oats or their hybridised strains; "kamut" is the trade mark of a type of wheat, khorasan. [S2]
- The following are not declared as an allergen: wheat-based glucose syrups (including dextrose), wheat-based maltodextrins, barley-based glucose syrups and cereals used for making alcoholic distillates. [S1]
Milk, egg and animals from the water?
The milk group includes lactose. Whey used for making alcoholic distillates and lactitol do not have to be declared.
Eggs, fish, crustaceans and molluscs are separate groups. A prawn is a crustacean; a mussel, a clam or a squid are molluscs.
For fish, fish gelatine used as a carrier for vitamins or carotenoids, and gelatine or isinglass used to clarify beer and wine, do not have to be declared.
To remember
- Lactose: milk group.
- Crustaceans and molluscs: two different groups.
Facts and sources for this section
- The milk group includes lactose; whey used for making alcoholic distillates and lactitol are not declared. [S1]
- Crustaceans and molluscs are two different groups on the list, and eggs form another group. [S1]
- In the fish group, fish gelatine used as a carrier for vitamins or carotenoids, and fish gelatine or isinglass used as a fining agent in beer and wine, are not declared. [S1]
Nuts, peanuts and lupin?
The nuts on the list are almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios and macadamia nuts. Their derivatives count too: pralines, pestos, nougats, flours.
On the list, the peanut is not a nut: it has its own group. The same goes for lupin, whose flour sometimes appears in breads and batters.
If a customer says "nuts", ask which ones. For the law a hazelnut is not the same as a peanut.
To remember
- Peanut and lupin: groups of their own.
- Always ask which nut exactly.
Soybeans, sesame, celery and mustard?
Soybeans are a group of their own, with exceptions: among others, fully refined soybean oil and fat and natural mixed tocopherols (E306) derived from soybeans do not have to be declared.
Sesame, celery and mustard are three more groups, also with their derivatives. Sesame appears in breads and in pastes such as tahini; celery, in stocks and sofritos; mustard, in dressings and sauces.
They are easy to forget because they hide in spice mixes and bought-in bases. Read the label of every base.
To remember
- Fully refined soybean oil: not declared.
- Check the spice mixes and the bases.
And sulphites?
Sulphur dioxide and sulphites count as an allergen when they exceed 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre, measured as total SO2, in the ready-to-eat product or as reconstituted according to the manufacturer's instructions.
In the kitchen you do not measure them: you know them from the label or the supplier's sheet. They often appear in wines and in other products that use them as a preservative.
Practical rule: if the label of an ingredient says "sulphites", the dish that contains it has them too, and your sheet must say so.
To remember
- Sulphites: from 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre.
- You know them from the label, not by eye.
Facts and sources for this section
- Sulphur dioxide and sulphites count as an allergen when they exceed 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre in terms of total SO2, in ready-to-eat products or those reconstituted according to the manufacturer's instructions. [S1]
Check what you have learned
Three questions from the test, with their explanation. Tap an answer.
Question 1 of 3
Which of these is NOT a group on the European allergen list?
See the answer
Correct: C, Tomato. Celery, mustard and lupin are on the list of 14 groups. Tomato is not. [S1]
Question 2 of 3
Is lactose part of the milk group?
See the answer
Correct: B, Yes, the list says so expressly. The milk group is "milk and products thereof (including lactose)". [S1]
Question 3 of 3
When do sulphites count as an allergen?
See the answer
Correct: A, When they exceed 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre, measured as total SO2. Sulphur dioxide and sulphites count when they exceed 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre in terms of total SO2, in the ready-to-eat product. [S1]