The allergen statement: declaring the Big 9

US law requires packaged food to declare the nine major allergens in plain English: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame (sesame became the ninth in 2023 under the FASTER Act). This applies to every packaged food, cottage-food sellers included in nearly every state, and it's the food-label rule with the highest stakes: allergen mistakes are the #1 cause of US food recalls.

The two legal ways to declare

1. In the ingredient list, with the allergen source in parentheses: “Enriched flour (wheat), whey (milk), lecithin (soy)”. If every allergen source is already plain in the list, no separate statement is required.
2. A “Contains” statement immediately after or adjacent to the ingredient list: “Contains: Wheat, Milk, Soy.”This is what most small makers use. It's clearer for customers and easier to keep correct.

Details that trip people up

• Name the species for fish, shellfish, and tree nuts.“Contains: Tree Nuts” alone is not sufficient; write “Tree Nuts (Almonds, Pecans)”, “Fish (Cod)”.
• Sub-ingredients count.If your chocolate chips contain soy lecithin, your cookie contains soy. Trace every purchased ingredient's own label.
• Coconut: the FDA classifies coconut as a tree nut for allergen-declaration purposes. Declare it when in doubt.
• “May contain” is voluntary.Advisory cross-contact statements aren't a legal substitute for good manufacturing practices, and they never replace a required “Contains” declaration for an actual ingredient.
• Gluten-free is a claim, not an allergen declaration. It has its own rule (under 20 ppm gluten) and its own liability.

Example, done right

INGREDIENTS: Rolled oats, honey, almond butter (almonds), chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin), sea salt.
Contains: Tree Nuts (Almonds), Soy.