FALCPA 2004 · FASTER Act 2021
Allergen statement generator
A US Contains statement must name every one of the nine major food allergens present, and for tree nuts, fish and Crustacean shellfish it must name the specific type. This allergen statement generator builds the sentence for you — start from the four allergens in a banana walnut loaf below, tick your own, or paste an ingredient list and have it scanned.
The nine major allergens
The nine, and what each one has to say
| Allergen | Declared as | Specific type required? | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milk | Milk | No | FALCPA 2004 |
| Egg | Egg | No | FALCPA 2004 |
| Fish | Fish (type) | Yes | FALCPA 2004 |
| Crustacean Shellfish | Crustacean Shellfish (type) | Yes | FALCPA 2004 |
| Tree Nuts | Tree Nuts (type) | Yes | FALCPA 2004 |
| Peanuts | Peanuts | No | FALCPA 2004 |
| Wheat | Wheat | No | FALCPA 2004 |
| Soy | Soy | No | FALCPA 2004 |
| Sesame | Sesame | No | FASTER Act 2021, effective 1 Jan 2023 |
The names that hide an allergen
The declaration has to reach the consumer, and consumers do not know the technical names. Casein and caseinate are milk. Albumen is egg. Semolina, durum, spelt, farro, bulgur and seitan are wheat. Miso, tempeh, edamame and tamari are soy. Worcestershire sauce is normally anchovy, which is fish. Marzipan is almond, a tree nut. Coconut is classed as a tree nut for US labelling purposes even though it is botanically a drupe.
The scanner on this page matches all of those, and deliberately leans towards a false positive. It cannot, however, see an allergen that is not named in the text you give it — a proprietary flavour blend, a dusting agent on dried fruit, a release spray on a pan. Those come from your supplier specifications, not from a text field.
Frequently asked questions
- How many major food allergens are there in the US?
- Nine. Milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soybeans were defined by the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004. Sesame became the ninth on 1 January 2023 under the FASTER Act of 2021, Public Law 117-11. Any product made on or after that date must declare sesame.
- Do I have to name which tree nut?
- Yes. 21 U.S.C. 343(w)(1) requires the specific type to be named for tree nuts, fish and Crustacean shellfish — 'Tree Nuts (Walnut)', not 'Tree Nuts'. Milk, egg, peanut, wheat, soy and sesame are declared by their group name alone because the group is the species.
- Where does the Contains statement go?
- Immediately after or adjacent to the ingredient list, in type no smaller than the type used for the ingredient list, per 21 U.S.C. 343(w)(1)(A). You can instead declare each allergen inside the ingredient list itself, for example 'whey (milk)' or 'lecithin (soy)', but you must not do half of each and leave one out.
- Is refined soybean oil a soy allergen?
- Highly refined oils derived from a major allergen, and ingredients derived from those oils, are excluded from the statutory definition by 21 U.S.C. 343(w)(2). Refined soybean oil is the usual case. Cold-pressed, expeller-pressed and extruded oils are not covered by the exemption. If you are not certain which your supplier ships, ask them in writing.
- What about 'may contain' warnings?
- Advisory statements about cross-contact are voluntary and are not part of the required Contains declaration. FDA's position is that they must be truthful and not misleading, and that they are not a substitute for good manufacturing practice. They cannot be used to cover an allergen that is actually an ingredient.
- Does a Contains statement replace the ingredient list?
- No. Every ingredient still has to be declared by its common or usual name in descending order of predominance by weight under 21 CFR 101.4(a)(1). The Contains statement is an additional, plainer signpost to the nine allergens, not a substitute for the list.
Building the whole label rather than just this statement? The food label generator produces the panel, the ingredient statement and this declaration together from one recipe.
Keep going
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- serving size referenceAll 146 reference amounts customarily consumed from 21 CFR 101.12(b), the table that decides your serving size.