The 14 allergens UK law recognises
Food labelling law in the UK identifies 14 allergens that must be declared when present as an ingredient: celery, cereals containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats and their hybrids), crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, soya, and sulphur dioxide or sulphites. That last one often surprises people — sulphites are a preservative used widely in dried fruit, wine, and some processed meats, and the law requires them to be flagged above a certain concentration in the finished product.
Lupin is another that catches shoppers off guard. It is a legume closely related to peanuts, and its flour increasingly appears in bread, pasta, and pastry — particularly in products marketed as high-protein or gluten-free alternatives. If lupin is a concern for you, your GP or allergy specialist is the right port of call for personal guidance.
How allergens must appear on prepacked food
On any food that arrives at the shop already sealed and labelled — what the law calls prepacked food — allergens must be emphasised within the ingredients list. Bold type is the standard approach, though underlining or a contrasting colour also satisfies the requirement. The point is that a shopper scanning a busy ingredients panel can spot the relevant allergen at a glance.
This applies to everything from a jar of pasta sauce to a bag of mixed nuts. The allergen must be named clearly even when present in a compound ingredient — so if a product contains a stock powder that itself contains celery, celery must still appear, in bold, in the main ingredients list.
What Natasha's Law changed for small producers
Before Natasha's Law came into force, food prepacked on the premises where it was sold — a café wrapping its own sandwiches, a bakery bagging up its own traybakes — sat in a legal grey area. Staff were expected to answer allergen questions verbally, but no full written label was required. Natasha's Law brought this category, known formally as food prepacked for direct sale, in line with standard prepacked food rules: a full ingredients list with allergens emphasised is now required on the packaging itself.
For shoppers buying from independent producers, this matters. A market baker selling bagged loaves made and wrapped that morning, or a small deli packing its own boards, must now label those products as a supermarket would. Compliance can vary — smaller operations are sometimes still finding their feet — but the legal obligation is clear. If a prepacked product at a market or farm shop shows no ingredients list, it is entirely reasonable to ask the producer directly.
Food sold loose — bread sliced to order, cheese cut from a wheel, deli items served from a counter — follows different rules. Businesses selling loose food must be able to provide allergen information on request, either in writing or verbally from trained staff, though many choose to display it proactively on menus or signage.
What 'may contain' actually means
Alongside mandatory allergen declarations, you will often see voluntary warnings such as may contain traces of peanuts or made in a factory that handles nuts. These are not legally required and are not regulated in the same way — they flag a risk of cross-contamination during production, even when the allergen is not a deliberate ingredient.
Because 'may contain' labelling is voluntary and unregulated, it is applied inconsistently. Some manufacturers use it very broadly as a precaution; others with rigorous allergen controls may not use it at all. The Food Standards Agency publishes authoritative guidance on what these warnings do and do not mean in practice — worth reading if you need to make decisions based on precautionary labelling.
Buying from artisan producers with allergies in mind
Independent food makers often use a narrower range of ingredients than large manufacturers, which can be an advantage — but it is never a reason to assume a product is safe without checking. Small-batch producers may share equipment across multiple products, and their ingredient suppliers can change more readily than a large factory's would.
The best small producers are generally very willing to talk through what goes into their products and how they manage allergens. Asking directly is always worthwhile. If you are buying food as a gift for someone with a known allergy, check at the point of purchase rather than relying on assumptions — our article on buying allergy-aware gifts covers this in more detail. For guidance on a specific allergy or medical condition, Allergy UK and the NHS both publish clear, regularly updated information that goes well beyond what a food label can tell you.
