US Food Allergen Labelling Explained
The nine major allergens US law requires to be declared, the "Contains" statement, how sesame joined the list, and why additive skin triggers still need you to read the full ingredients.
What the law covers
In the United States, federal law requires packaged foods to declare nine major allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. Sesame became the ninth, added under the FASTER Act, with the requirement in force from January 2023.
As in the UK, this list exists because these foods cause most serious, mainly IgE-mediated food allergies. The labelling is designed to make those specific ingredients easy to spot, quickly, on a busy shelf.
This page is educational only and is not medical advice. If you have a diagnosed food allergy, follow the advice of your allergist. A reaction with swelling of the lips or throat, or difficulty breathing, is a medical emergency and needs urgent care.
How it appears on labels
US labels must name a major allergen clearly, in one of two ways. Either the plain-English name appears within the ingredients list, for example “wheat”, or it appears in a separate “Contains” statement placed just after the ingredients, for example “Contains: wheat, milk”. Many products use the “Contains” line because it makes the big nine easy to read at a glance.
The plain-English requirement matters. Without it, an allergen could hide behind a technical name, for example “casein” for a milk protein or “albumin” for egg. The rules mean the everyday word has to appear, so you do not need to know every scientific alias to catch the major allergens.
The gap to know about for sensitive skin
As in the UK, this system targets serious, mainly IgE allergies, not the additives behind many skin reactions. There is one notable difference from the UK to keep in mind. Sulphites are not one of the nine US major allergens, so they will not appear in the “Contains” line. However, US labels must still declare sulphites separately when present at 10 parts per million or more, so you look for that separate sulphite declaration rather than expecting it among the big nine.
Synthetic colours, which can flare sensitive skin in some people, are listed by name, for example “FD&C Yellow 6”, but they are not classed as major allergens. That means they are declared, but not highlighted, so you read for them yourself in the ingredients list.
How to read a US food label well
A practical routine looks like this:
- Check the “Contains” line first for the big nine, as a fast screen.
- Then read the full ingredients for your additive triggers, looking for colours by their FD&C names and preservatives by name.
- Look separately for the sulphite declaration if sulphites are one of your triggers, since these will not be in the “Contains” line.
The “Contains” line is a quick filter, not the complete picture for skin. For additive-driven reactions, the full ingredients list is where the answer lives.
Why the two countries differ
If you shop across both systems, or read US products sold in the UK, the differences are worth remembering. The UK emphasises 14 allergens including sulphites; the US names nine and handles sulphites through a separate declaration. Neither system is designed around additive skin triggers, so in both cases the reliable move is the same, read the full ingredients for the specific colours and preservatives you personally react to, rather than relying on the allergen summary alone.
A few other practical differences catch people out. The UK list includes celery, mustard, lupin, molluscs and cereals containing gluten, which the US nine do not name separately, so a product cleared under US rules is not automatically cleared under UK ones. Colour naming also differs in style, with US labels using FD&C names such as FD&C Yellow 6 while UK and European labels often use E numbers such as E110 for the same colour. If a particular colour is your trigger, it helps to learn both its FD&C name and its E number so you can recognise it whichever label you are reading.
For imported foods, remember that the label follows the country the food is sold in, not where it was made. A US product legally sold in the UK should carry UK-style allergen emphasis, and vice versa. When in doubt, the full ingredients list is the constant that does not change between systems.
Check products against your list
Allergen labels cover nine things; your skin triggers may be others. A free database like Open Food Facts and Fig give broad ingredient information, while a personal-list app like ClearaScan lets you save your own triggers and scan any product, food, medication or cosmetic, against your ingredient guard list, flagging only yours, regardless of which country’s labelling rules apply. Its Reaction Journal lets you tie a flare back to a product, a shared Care Circle lets family scan for you, and a Trusted Products list keeps what you have cleared. It is currently in early access. (Disclosure: our editor co-founded ClearaScan, and we are not paid to mention the others.)
The Sensitive Skin Ingredient Decoder
A free one-page guide to reading a skincare label fast: the irritants to watch, the fragrance loopholes, and what "fragrance-free" and "hypoallergenic" really mean.
Common questions
Are food dyes labelled in the US?
Yes. Certified colours are named in the ingredients, for example FD&C Yellow 5, which is tartrazine. They are not classed as major allergens, so they are not repeated in the "Contains" statement, but they are declared, so you can read for them by name.
Is sesame really a new addition?
Yes. Sesame became the ninth required major allergen under the FASTER Act, with the requirement in force from January 2023. Older packaging and older guidance may not treat it as a labelled allergen, so it is worth checking the ingredients directly.
What is the "Contains" statement?
It is a short line just after the ingredients, for example "Contains: wheat, milk", that names any of the nine major allergens present. It is a fast way to screen for the big nine, but it does not cover additives or colours, so it is not the whole story for skin.
Are sulphites treated the same as in the UK?
No. Sulphites are not one of the nine US major allergens, so they do not appear in the "Contains" line. However, US labels must still declare sulphites separately when present at 10 parts per million or more, so you look for that separate declaration.
Does US labelling help with additive skin triggers?
Only partly. Like the UK system, it targets serious allergies, not the colours and preservatives behind many skin reactions. Those additives are declared by name in the ingredients, so you have to read the full list yourself to find your specific triggers.