The 14 allergens are the substances or products that cause allergies or intolerances and that, by law, must always be declared when used in a food and still present in the finished dish. The list is in Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 and applies equally across the whole European Union, both to packaged food and to food served unpackaged, such as at a catering event.
The list of the 14 allergens
The names in the second column are the official ones from Annex II. The third column is ours: where they tend to turn up in an events kitchen.
| No. | Substance or product (Annex II) | Where it may appear in catering |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cereals containing gluten: wheat (such as spelt and khorasan wheat), rye, barley, oats or their hybridised strains | Bread, batters and breadcrumbs, croquetas, béchamel, empanadillas (small pasties), pastry and doughs |
| 2 | Crustaceans | Prawns, langoustines, seafood rice and stocks |
| 3 | Eggs | Mayonnaise, batters, tortillas (Spanish omelettes), cakes and pastries |
| 4 | Fish | Fumet, salted and cured fish, fish rice and stocks |
| 5 | Peanuts | Nibbles, sauces, cakes and pastries |
| 6 | Soybeans | Sauces, plant-based drinks, ready-made preparations |
| 7 | Milk and products thereof (including lactose) | Béchamel, cheeses, butter, desserts |
| 8 | Nuts: almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecan nuts, Brazil nuts, pistachio nuts, macadamia or Queensland nuts | Turrón, picadas (pounded nut-and-garlic sauce bases), sauces, cakes and pastries |
| 9 | Celery | Stocks, sofritos, salads |
| 10 | Mustard | Sauces, dressings, cured meats |
| 11 | Sesame seeds | Breads, dressings, cakes and pastries |
| 12 | Sulphur dioxide and sulphites (more than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre in terms of the total SO2) | Wine, vinegar, pickles, dried fruit |
| 13 | Lupin | Nibbles, flours |
| 14 | Molluscs | Mussels, clams, cuttlefish, squid, octopus |
The annex leaves out some highly processed derivatives, such as certain wheat-based glucose syrups or fully refined soybean oil. The full list, with all its exceptions, is in the Official Journal of the EU.
Food allergy and food intolerance: the difference
AESAN (the Spanish food safety agency) explains it like this: in allergies, the immune system reacts against certain substances present in food; in intolerances, the symptoms may be similar, but the immune system is not involved in the same way. Annex II, in fact, brings together in one list substances that cause both, such as cereals containing gluten, lactose or sulphites.
For a kitchen, there is only one practical consequence: if someone tells us, their dish is made without that ingredient and kept well away from it.
How allergens are communicated in catering
For unpackaged food supplied to the final consumer and to mass caterers, Royal Decree 126/2015 requires:
- Indicating the allergen clearly, referring to the Annex II substance, unless the name of the dish already makes it clear.
- Giving it in writing, on labels or notices next to the food, or verbally, as long as that information is recorded in writing or electronically at the business, available to staff, inspectors and customers.
- Saying where to look: if it is not next to the food, a visible notice must say where the information is or that staff can be asked.
- Keeping it at least until it can reasonably be assumed that the food has been consumed.
Allergens at an event
What really helps is to tell the caterer early and ask for the information in writing:
- Ask in the invitation. Add a line about allergies and intolerances to the invitation, as we explain in our article on the company Christmas lunch, and send the list to the caterer in good time.
- Ask for the allergens in each item, not just on the menu as a whole. The name of the dish is not enough, least of all at a coffee break with lots of small things.
- Ask how things are kept separate in the kitchen and at service. A dish that does not contain an allergen may still have come into contact with it: that is cross-contamination.
- If someone has a serious allergy, they should speak directly to the kitchen.
At Xepep we plan for special diets and allergies in advance: tell us what your people need when you get a quote and we will plan it with the kitchen. And if you want to see how a caterer’s food safety is organised, read about HACCP (APPCC).
Planning a family celebration? See our guide to arranging a First Communion lunch in Alicante, with catering formats and a weekly checklist.
