Additives and the EU allergen list
Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 lists 14 substances or products that an ingredients list must emphasise, and names a few products of them as exceptions. Some additives are made from one of them, some may be, depending on the manufacturer, and some are the listed substance itself. 57 additive pages are here.
This is about sources, not about any product. Whether a food must declare an allergen depends on what its additive was actually made from. A label naming lecithin does not show whether it came from soy, sunflower or egg. Where it matters, the manufacturer can say. Nothing here is advice on what anyone should eat.
1. Cereals containing gluten
Made from it
- Malt
Usually made from barley; other grains are also malted.
- Malt syrup (malt extract)
Extracted from malt, usually barley malt. Annex II item 1(c) excepts glucose syrups based on barley, which malt extract is not.
- Oat lecithin E322a
Extracted from oats, which Annex II item 1 lists among cereals containing gluten.
- Wheat gluten
The protein fraction of wheat.
May be made from it
- Acetylated distarch adipate E1422
Modified starch may be made from wheat as well as maize, potato, tapioca or rice. Annex II's wheat exceptions do not include modified starches.
- Acetylated distarch phosphate E1414
Modified starch may be made from wheat as well as maize, potato, tapioca or rice. Annex II's wheat exceptions do not include modified starches.
- Acetylated oxidized starch E1451
Modified starch may be made from wheat as well as maize, potato, tapioca or rice. Annex II's wheat exceptions do not include modified starches.
- Acid-treated starch
Modified starch may be made from wheat as well as maize, potato, tapioca or rice. Annex II's wheat exceptions do not include modified starches.
- Alkaline treated starch
Modified starch may be made from wheat as well as maize, potato, tapioca or rice. Annex II's wheat exceptions do not include modified starches.
- Bleached starch
Modified starch may be made from wheat as well as maize, potato, tapioca or rice. Annex II's wheat exceptions do not include modified starches.
- Dextrin
Made by heating starch, which may be wheat starch. Annex II's exceptions for wheat cover glucose syrups and maltodextrins, not dextrins.
- Distarch phosphate E1412
Modified starch may be made from wheat as well as maize, potato, tapioca or rice. Annex II's wheat exceptions do not include modified starches.
- Food starch-modified
Modified starch may be made from wheat as well as maize, potato, tapioca or rice. Annex II's wheat exceptions do not include modified starches.
- Hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate E1442
Modified starch may be made from wheat as well as maize, potato, tapioca or rice. Annex II's wheat exceptions do not include modified starches.
- Hydroxypropyl starch E1440
Modified starch may be made from wheat as well as maize, potato, tapioca or rice. Annex II's wheat exceptions do not include modified starches.
- Monostarch phosphate E1410
Modified starch may be made from wheat as well as maize, potato, tapioca or rice. Annex II's wheat exceptions do not include modified starches.
- Oxidized starch E1404
Modified starch may be made from wheat as well as maize, potato, tapioca or rice. Annex II's wheat exceptions do not include modified starches.
- Phosphated distarch phosphate E1413
Modified starch may be made from wheat as well as maize, potato, tapioca or rice. Annex II's wheat exceptions do not include modified starches.
- Starch acetate E1420
Modified starch may be made from wheat as well as maize, potato, tapioca or rice. Annex II's wheat exceptions do not include modified starches.
- Starch sodium octenyl succinate E1450
Modified starch may be made from wheat as well as maize, potato, tapioca or rice. Annex II's wheat exceptions do not include modified starches.
- Starches, enzyme treated
Modified starch may be made from wheat as well as maize, potato, tapioca or rice. Annex II's wheat exceptions do not include modified starches.
Named in Annex II as an exception
- Maltodextrin
Usually made from maize starch, sometimes from wheat. Annex II item 1(b) names wheat-based maltodextrins as an exception.
2. Crustaceans
Made from it
- Antarctic krill meal
Dried and milled Antarctic krill, a crustacean.
3. Eggs
Made from it
- Lysozyme E1105
Extracted from hen egg white.
May be made from it
- Lecithin E322
Can be extracted from egg yolk, though soybean, sunflower and rapeseed are the usual sources.
- Microparticulated protein product
Made from egg white protein, whey protein, or both.
4. Fish
Made from it
- Fish protein isolate
Protein extracted from fish.
- Menhaden oil
Pressed and refined from menhaden, a fish. Annex II's fish exceptions cover only fish gelatine and isinglass.
- Whole fish protein concentrate
Protein concentrated from whole fish.
6. Soybeans
Made from it
- Epoxidized soybean oil
Made by chemically modifying soybean oil. Annex II item 6(a) excepts fully refined soybean oil and fat, not substances made from them.
- Soybean hemicellulose E426
Extracted from soybean fibre.
- Thermally oxidized soya bean oil interacted with mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids E479b
Made from soybean oil. Annex II item 6(a) excepts fully refined soybean oil and fat, not substances made from them.
May be made from it
- Enzyme-modified lecithin
Made from lecithin, which is most often from soybean.
- Hydroxylated lecithin
Made from lecithin, which is most often from soybean.
- Lecithin E322
Most often extracted from soybean oil; also from sunflower, rapeseed or egg yolk.
- Lecithin, partially hydrolysed
Made from lecithin, which is most often from soybean.
Named in Annex II as an exception
- Alpha-tocopherol E307
Natural d-alpha-tocopherol is often from soybean oil. Annex II item 6(b) names natural d-alpha-tocopherol, its acetate and its succinate from soybean sources as exceptions; synthetic forms are not made from soy.
- Stigmasterol-rich plant sterols E499
Concentrated from soya oil refining. Annex II item 6(c) names phytosterols and phytosterol esters derived from vegetable oils from soybean sources as exceptions.
- Tocopherol-rich extract E306
Often extracted from soybean oil. Annex II item 6(b) names natural mixed tocopherols (E 306) from soybean sources as an exception.
7. Milk
Made from it
- Calcium lactobionate
Made by oxidising lactose, which Annex II item 7 names among milk products; the only lactose derivative it excepts is lactitol.
- Reduced lactose whey
Whey with part of its lactose removed.
- Reduced minerals whey
Whey with part of its minerals removed.
- Sodium caseinate
Made from casein, the main protein of milk.
- Whey
A by-product of cheese and casein making. Annex II item 7(a) excepts only whey used for making alcoholic distillates.
- Whey protein concentrate
Concentrated from whey.
May be made from it
- Microparticulated protein product
Made from whey protein, egg white protein, or both.
Named in Annex II as an exception
- Lactitol E966
Made from lactose, a milk sugar. Annex II item 7(b) names lactitol as an exception to the milk declaration.
10. Mustard
Named in Annex II as an exception
- Mono- and di-glycerides of fatty acids E471
The fatty acids may include behenic acid, which can come from mustard seed oil. Annex II item 10 names behenic acid of at least 85% purity, obtained after two distillation steps and used to make E 471, as an exception.
- Propylene glycol esters of fatty acids E477
The fatty acids may include behenic acid, which can come from mustard seed oil. Annex II item 10 names behenic acid of at least 85% purity, obtained after two distillation steps and used to make E 477, as an exception.
- Sodium, potassium and calcium salts of fatty acids E470a
The fatty acids may include behenic acid, which can come from mustard seed oil. Annex II item 10 names behenic acid of at least 85% purity, obtained after two distillation steps and used to make E 470a, as an exception.
12. Sulphur dioxide and sulphites
Named in Annex II
- Calcium hydrogen sulphite E227
A sulphite. Annex II item 12 requires sulphites to be declared where the food as consumed contains more than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre, counted as total sulphur dioxide.
- Calcium sulphite E226
A sulphite. Annex II item 12 requires sulphites to be declared where the food as consumed contains more than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre, counted as total sulphur dioxide.
- Potassium bisulfite E228
A sulphite. Annex II item 12 requires sulphites to be declared where the food as consumed contains more than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre, counted as total sulphur dioxide.
- Potassium metabisulfite E224
A sulphite. Annex II item 12 requires sulphites to be declared where the food as consumed contains more than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre, counted as total sulphur dioxide.
- Potassium sulfite
A sulphite. Annex II item 12 requires sulphites to be declared where the food as consumed contains more than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre, counted as total sulphur dioxide.
- Sodium bisulfite E222
A sulphite. Annex II item 12 requires sulphites to be declared where the food as consumed contains more than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre, counted as total sulphur dioxide.
- Sodium metabisulfite E223
A sulphite. Annex II item 12 requires sulphites to be declared where the food as consumed contains more than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre, counted as total sulphur dioxide.
- Sodium sulfite E221
A sulphite. Annex II item 12 requires sulphites to be declared where the food as consumed contains more than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre, counted as total sulphur dioxide.
- Sulfur dioxide E220
Annex II item 12 names sulphur dioxide and sulphites, to be declared where the food as consumed contains more than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre, counted as total sulphur dioxide.
No additive page on this site is recorded as made from peanuts, nuts, celery, sesame seeds, lupin, molluscs. The text is from Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II (consolidated text of 1 April 2025).