Pre-packed foods labelling advice

Allergen identification

Allergens are required to be labelled and appropriately highlighted, for example, underlined, bold text or italic text.

The allergens that need to be indicated are:

  • cereal containing gluten
  • crustaceans - for example, crab or lobster
  • eggs
  • dairy, for example, milk, butter or cheese
  • fish
  • shellfish - for example, mussels or cockles
  • soya
  • peanuts
  • nuts - for example, walnuts, hazelnuts or pecans
  • celery
  • sesame - for example, seeds or oil
  • sulphites and sulphates
  • lupin
  • mustard - for example, powder, paste, kernels, seeds or salad leaves

These must be what you have put into the food. Where you have a compound ingredient that has been made within a premise that handles allergens and its packaging has a “may contain” statement, then in certain cases it may be advisable to carry this information forward. Further information can be found at:

Food Standards Scotland - What to consider when labelling foods

Page last modified: 1 October 2025