Notifiable Food Allergens

There are 14 notifiable food allergens which have to, by law, appear on food labels to tell the consumer what the food they are buying or eating contains. This information is printed on the food ingredients label and the item is printed in bold. In restaurants, foods containing allergens are marked on the menu or other documentation. The substances that have to be identified are cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, tree nuts, including almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios and macadamia nuts, soya beans, although there are some exceptions, milk and milk products including lactose, and again, with some exceptions, celery, mustard, sesame seeds, sulphur dioxides, and sulphites, concentrations of more than 10 milligrams per kilos, lupins and the final substances are products containing any form of molluscs. If these items are not identified clearly, then the business owner may face prosecution.