The 14 allergens (EU 1169/2011)
Updated
Short answer
The 14 allergens are the substances in Annex II of EU Regulation 1169/2011 that every food business must declare: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphites above 10 mg/kg, lupin and molluscs. The duty covers food sold loose or served at a table as well.
The list, read closely
Annex II names fourteen substances or products. Two of them are groups. Cereals containing gluten means wheat (including spelt and khorasan), rye, barley and oats. Nuts means eight tree nuts: almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios and macadamia nuts. Sulphites count once they exceed 10 mg per kilogram or per litre, expressed as sulphur dioxide. The annex also exempts a few derived products, such as glucose syrups made from wheat.
Prepacked and loose food
On prepacked food the allergens appear in the ingredient list, emphasised in a typeface that sets them apart, such as bold (article 21). For food that is not prepacked, the dish at a restaurant table or the salad at a deli counter, article 44 still makes the allergen information mandatory and lets each member state decide how it is given. Belgium set its rules in the Royal Decree of 17 July 2014 on allergen information for non-prepacked foods, the Netherlands in its Warenwet rules.
Where training comes in
The regulation asks for correct information, not for a course. The need to train comes from two places: Regulation 852/2004 requires food handlers to be supervised and instructed or trained in food hygiene, and the answer a customer gets at the counter has to be right, whoever gives it. The guide to allergen training for restaurant and foodservice staff covers what that training looks like on a busy floor.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food information to consumers, articles 9, 21, 44 and Annex II
- Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, Annex II, Chapter XII
- FAVV (Belgian food safety agency): allergens, with the Royal Decree of 17 July 2014 (in Dutch)
- NVWA (Netherlands): allergens and the Warenwet rules
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