What allergens should be mentioned on a food product?

Verified 23 October 2025 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Allergens should be mentioned on the different types of food that have undergone a transformation : prepackaged or not, already cooked, sold on the shelf or in self-service, or in bulk, in stores or in the restaurant industry. We present you the obligations of professionals to inform the consumer before his purchase or before his consumption.

It is a substance that triggers or promotes allergy or intolerance.

An allergen can also cause the body's immune system to react to a contact (touch the product), of a inhalation (breathe the product) or ingestion (eat and swallow the product).

These reactions can be cutaneous, digestive, or other:

  • Angiedema
  • Anaphylactic shock
  • Urticaria, etc.

Allergic reactions can be serious for the health, hence the importance of mentioning their presence, even in small quantities, for inform the consumer before purchase and before consumption.

Allergens are mainly present in food products.

Please note

The labeling requirements are the same for all European States (EU). On the other hand, for products sold in non-EU countries, since the allergens are not exactly identical, the mandatory particulars differ. For example, in Japan, soy, sesame and gluten are not considered allergens, while buckwheat is.

General principle

The obligation to label (on the packaging) and display (near the product sold) allergens concerned only substances voluntarily incorporated in products. These are therefore products or foods that have undergone a transformation.

Ripening a fruit or vegetable is not considered a processing.

Products concerned

This requirement for allergen labeling applies to the following food products:

  • Packaged processed products e.g. breakfast cereal cans, chocolate spread jars, canned ready meals, chocolate bars, ice cream jars, mayonnaise jars, pickles etc.
  • Unpackaged processed or cooked products e.g. dishes served in a restaurant, bread, pastries, sandwiches and quiches in a bakery, chocolates at a chocolatier, terrines of a charcutier, etc.
  • Prepackaged products for immediate sale e.g. trays of dishes prepared at a caterer, biscuit sachets and mixed salads at a baker, etc.
  • Products packaged by the customer himself at the time of purchase: e.g. food sold in bulk (dried fruit mixtures, almonds, hazelnuts, pasta, etc.)

Exceptions

If the name of the food clearly refers to presence of an allergen, theindication of this is not mandatory in the list of ingredients.

For example, cheese, butter or cream that contain the allergen “milk” do not require the presence of milk.

The same applies to a box of eggs, the presence of the allergen “egg” being obvious, the professional does not need to mention it on the box.

Similarly, the allergen ‘gluten’ is not required on a package of wheat flour.

Please note

When these allergenic products are present in dishes served at the restaurant, the trader must make available to customers a written information mentioning all allergens. It can be a slate, a notebook listing the allergens present in the dishes served, a written statement on the menu inserts, or any other information system directly and freely accessible to customers.

The obligation to mention allergens applies to all professionals in the agri-food chain of manufacture and sale:

  • Producer, distributor
  • Small retail, grocery, supermarket, etc.
  • Restaurant, bar, cafe, bistro, etc.
  • Specialized or general mouth trade (butcher, delicatessen, caterer, baker, chocolatier, pastry chef, cheese maker, fish maker, etc.)
  • School canteen, company restaurant.

These rules apply in France but also in all the Member States of the European Union (EU).

FYI  

The requirement to display and label allergens does not apply to charity sales, fairs, local parties and meetings, or soup kitchens. She does not apply to the takeaway, but only for meals offered to be consumed on site.

All ingredients recognized as allergens must be indicated to the consumer before purchase or before consumption.

The following list lists the allergens that must be labeled or displayed and those that are optional:

Tableau - List of food allergenic ingredients to be reported to the consumer

Mandatory mention of allergen

Products with optional allergen indication

Cereals containing gluten: wheat (such as spelt and Khorasan wheat), rye, barley, oats or their hybridized strains and products thereof

  • Wheat glucose syrups, including dextrose
  • Wheat-based maltodextrins
  • Glucose syrups based on barley
  • Cereals used in the manufacture of alcoholic distillates, including ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin.

Crustaceans and crustacean products

Eggs and egg products

Fish and fish products

Fish gelatin used as a support for vitamin or carotenoid preparations or ichthyocolle used as a clarifying agent in beer and wine

Peanuts and peanut products.

Soya and soya products

  • Fully refined soybean oil and fat
  • Natural mixed tocopherols
  • Phytosterols and phytosterol esters derived from vegetable soya oils
  • Vegetable stanol ester produced from sterols derived from vegetable soybean oils

Milk and milk products (including lactose)

  • Whey used for the manufacture of distillates or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin for spirit drinks and other alcoholic beverages
  • Lactitol

Nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, macadamia, from Brazil, Queensland, pistachios) and products based on these fruits

Nuts used in the manufacture of distillates or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin for spirit drinks and other alcoholic beverages.

Celery and celery products

Mustard and mustard products

Behenic acid having a minimum purity of 85% obtained after two distillation steps used in the manufacture of emulsifiers E 470a, E 471 and E 477

Seeds of sesame and sesame seed products

Sulfur dioxide and sulphites in concentrations greater than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/l

Lupin and lupin products

Molluscs and mollusk products

Depending on the type of packaging of the products

The way to inform the consumer differs according to the type of packaging and sales of products:

  • Products wrapped (food, fresh or not, whatever the packaging)
    The mention of the presence of allergens must be written on the packaging.
  • Products in bulk and self-service
    The mention of the presence of allergens must be written nearby products visible to the consumer.
  • Dishes cooked and dishes served in an establishment
    The mention of the presence of allergens must be written nearby products offered, or close to places of consumption, in a visible way.

FYI  

Everything intermediate, such as a delivery person, must give the professional (at a restaurant or canteen), a document mentioning all allergens present in each food product.

Visible and precise information

Allergens should be evident within the list of ingredients and stand out from it easily. The goal is to make them visible quickly by the consumer.

The particulars and labels must comply with a writing form particular (font characters), different the rest of the information: bold, underlined, italic.

The consumer should not have to look for or ask for the information.

Warning  

It is not enough to write the word allergens. We must name precisely the allergens present: eggs, milk, gluten, nuts (nuts, hazelnuts, etc.), mustard, sesame, lupin, crustaceans, etc.

The name of the allergens should not be codified. For example, ‘soy lecithin’ must be written in full and not by its code ‘E 322’.

Gluten in very small amounts

When gluten is present in very small amounts, it is possible to use indications optional.

They must not impair the visibility of the mandatory particulars or encroach on the space dedicated to them.

The absence or low presence of gluten may be indicated on the food product as follows:

  • Only if the gluten content does not exceed 100 mg/kg : “Very low gluten” and “Suitable for people with gluten intolerance”
  • Only if the gluten content is less than 20 mg/kg : “Gluten-free” and “Suitable for people with celiac disease”.

Please note

Above these quantities, the gluten must be indicated like allergen.

Allergens present unintentionally

Manufacturers may introduce unintentional allergenic substances in their products.

This accidental incorporation may occur during transport or during residual contact in the production line.

He is recommended but not required to warn the consumer of this possible presence a small amount of an allergen.

For this reason, manufacturers have become accustomed to using on the labels the precautionary formulas following:

  • "Possible traces of....."
  • "Made in a workshop that uses..."

Who can help me?

Find who can answer your questions in your region

  • Departmental Directorate of Population Protection (DDPP) or Employment, Labor, Solidarity and Population Protection (DDETSPP)

  • Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF)

    If you wish to report a difficulty encountered with a merchant

    On the internet

    You can use the site Conso signal.

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