TL;DR The EU requires fourteen allergens to be declared against the United States' nine. The five extras are celery, mustard, sulphites, lupin and molluscs. EU rules also cover food sold loose, so restaurants and bakeries must disclose them; US rules stop at packaging.
The European Union requires fourteen allergens to be declared, and it requires them on loose food as well as packaged food. The United States requires nine and only on packaging. If you have travelled with an allergic child and found the labels suddenly more informative, that is why.
What are the 14 allergens?
- Cereals containing gluten — wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt and kamut
- Crustaceans — prawns, crab, lobster, crayfish
- Eggs
- Fish
- Peanuts
- Soybeans
- Milk, including lactose
- Nuts — almond, hazelnut, walnut, cashew, pecan, Brazil, pistachio, macadamia
- Celery, including celeriac
- Mustard
- Sesame seeds
- Sulphur dioxide and sulphites above 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre
- Lupin
- Molluscs — mussels, clams, oysters, squid, snails
What does the EU list have that the US list does not?
Five things: celery, mustard, sulphites, lupin and molluscs. Each of those can be present in American packaged food without ever appearing in a "Contains" statement, because no US rule requires it. Mustard turns up in dressings and marinades, lupin in gluten-free baking, sulphites in dried fruit and wine, and molluscs in stocks and sauces.
The reverse gap is narrower. The US list names crustacean shellfish and the EU names both crustaceans and molluscs separately. Otherwise the nine US allergens all appear on the European list.
Why the EU rule reaches further
The bigger difference is not the count but the coverage. EU allergen rules apply to food sold loose, so a bakery, a deli counter and a restaurant all have to be able to tell you which of the fourteen are present. In the United States that obligation stops at the packaging, which is why a parent who can read a label confidently can still be stuck at a counter.
Do the numbers change?
They do, slowly, and in both directions. The US moved from eight to nine when sesame was added in 2023. The EU list has been stable at fourteen for over a decade. Any figure you read, including this one, is worth checking against the current regulation if you are relying on it for a severe allergy.
Related reading
- The FDA Big 9, and the names each allergen hides behind
- The full 15-allergen guide for parents
- How to read a nutrition label
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 14 allergens?
Cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphur dioxide and sulphites, lupin, and molluscs. All fourteen must be declared on food sold in the European Union and the United Kingdom.
How many allergens does the US require compared with the EU?
Nine in the US against fourteen in the EU. The five the US does not require are celery, mustard, sulphites, lupin and molluscs. All nine US allergens appear somewhere on the European list.
Do EU allergen rules cover restaurant food?
Yes. EU rules apply to food sold loose as well as packaged, so restaurants, bakeries and deli counters must be able to say which of the fourteen allergens are present. US labelling requirements stop at packaged food.
Is the UK list the same as the EU list?
Yes, the United Kingdom uses the same fourteen allergens. UK rules additionally require full ingredient labelling on food prepacked for direct sale, known as Natasha's Law, which goes further than the EU baseline.
Are sulphites really an allergen?
Sulphites cause sensitivity reactions rather than classic IgE-mediated allergy, but they can trigger severe asthma symptoms, which is why they are declarable above 10 mg/kg. They appear routinely in dried fruit, wine and some processed potato products.