Eating abroad with dietary needs: allergen rules, labels and planning

If you have an allergy or a strict diet, a new country brings new labels and menus. The rules differ between countries, and some protections you rely on at home may not apply. This guide sets out what the official food-safety pages we read say for the UK and Ireland. It is not medical advice. For managing a condition, speak to your doctor.

What we could confirm, and what we could not

We read official guidance from the UK Food Standards Agency and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. We did not read an official page for Germany or the other countries on this site, so we do not describe their rules. Rules in another country may differ from these two.

The 14 allergens

Both authorities list the same 14 regulated allergens: cereals containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats), crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, tree nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphur dioxide and sulphites above 10 mg per kg or litre, lupin and molluscs. The Irish guide traces its list to EU Regulation 1169/2011. If your allergy is not on this list, these rules do not guarantee a label declaration, so ask directly.

Shops and packaged food

The FSA says food that is prepacked for direct sale, such as a sandwich wrapped on site, must show the name of the food and a full ingredients list with the 14 allergens highlighted. That has applied since 1 October 2021 across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Restaurants, takeaways and cafés

For food that is not prepacked, the businesses must tell you if any of the 14 allergens are in the dish. The FSA treats the written information as best practice, such as a menu, a matrix, a booklet or a sign saying how to get it. It also expects staff to talk through your needs, check the ingredient records rather than guess, and say so if they cannot confirm an answer. For phone and online orders, information should reach you before you order and again at delivery.

The Irish guide adds practical detail:

• Written information is the minimum, and staff can add it verbally.
• The wording should say what the dish contains. "May contain" is a precautionary statement, not an allergen declaration.
• Drinks, sauces, condiments and specials are in scope, and information for specials must change when the dish changes.
• Do not rely on a dish name: fish cakes, for example, may contain several allergens not named in the title.
• Cooking oil can matter: chips fried in peanut oil should declare peanut, but chips fried in oil previously used for fish need not declare fish.
• Occasional food from private individuals, such as a cake from a friend, is outside the rules.

Self-catering and groceries

If you cook for yourself, read the ingredients list on every product. The pages we read confirm highlighted allergens for items prepacked for direct sale in the UK, but we did not read the general rules for factory-packed goods, so the layout may differ elsewhere. For loose items such as bakery goods or deli counters, ask, because the rule for non-prepacked food is about information on request or on display. Read the label each time, even for a product you have bought before, because a recipe can change.

Questions worth carrying with you

• "Does this dish contain any of the 14 allergens? Which?"
• "Is there a risk of cross-contact from the kitchen or the fryer?"
• "Can you check the recipe or ingredient record for me?"
• "Is the allergen information written down anywhere I can see?"