How to write an allergen “Contains” statement

The nine major food allergens

The law’s definition of “major food allergen” (21 U.S.C. 321(qq)(1)) lists:

Milk, egg, fish (e.g., bass, flounder, or cod), Crustacean shellfish (e.g., crab, lobster, or shrimp), tree nuts (e.g., almonds, pecans, or walnuts), wheat, peanuts, soybeans, and sesame.

The first eight come from the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA). Sesame was added by the FASTER Act, signed on April 23, 2021; FDA says the change took effect on January 1, 2023 (FDA: Food Allergies).

The definition also covers any ingredient that contains protein from one of these foods. It excludes highly refined oils made from them, and ingredients made from such oils (21 U.S.C. 321(qq)(2)(A)).

Two ways to declare allergens

21 U.S.C. 343(w)(1) gives two options. Use either one, or both.

1. A “Contains” statement

the word “Contains”, followed by the name of the food source from which the major food allergen is derived, is printed immediately after or is adjacent to the list of ingredients (in a type size no smaller than the type size used in the list of ingredients)

21 U.S.C. 343(w)(1)(A)

2. In the ingredient list, in parentheses

Put the food source in parentheses after the ingredient’s name (343(w)(1)(B)). FDA’s examples: “lecithin (soy),” “flour (wheat),” and “whey (milk)”.

You don’t need the parentheses when the ingredient’s name already names the source, such as “buttermilk” (FDA’s example), or when the source is already named elsewhere in the ingredient list, unless that other mention is only part of the name of an ingredient that is not a major food allergen, such as a highly refined oil (343(w)(1)(B)(i) and (ii); 321(qq)(2)). Example: if “nonfat dry milk” is in the list, “sodium caseinate” does not also need “(milk)” (FDA Q&A guidance, Edition 5, D.5).

Rules for the “Contains” line

From FDA’s food allergen Q&A guidance (Edition 5, January 2025):

• List every major allergen, even ones already in the ingredient list. If you use a “Contains” line, it must name the food sources of all major allergens in the food, not just the ones the list doesn’t show (D.1, D.6).
• Start with “Contains”, capital C. “The word “Contains” with a capital “C” is the first word used to begin a “Contains” statement. (The use of bolded text and punctuation within a “Contains” statement is optional.)” (D.7)
• Use the names from the law. Singular is fine (“peanut”, “walnut”), and “soy” or “soya” may be used for soybeans (C.10, C.11, D.7).
• Only major allergens. FDA says the “Contains” line is reserved for major food allergens. Other allergy information can go in a separate, truthful statement (D.10).
• Same type size as the ingredient list or larger (343(w)(1)(A)).

Name the specific nut, fish or shellfish

For tree nuts, fish and Crustacean shellfish, the law asks for “the name of the specific type of nut or species of fish or Crustacean shellfish” (343(w)(2)). FDA: “the ingredient list or the “Contains” statement cannot broadly declare “tree nuts,” “fish,” or “Crustacean shellfish”” (Q&A C.5). Write “Contains: Pecans”, not “Contains: Tree nuts”.

Which tree nuts count. Table 1 of the Edition 5 guidance lists the tree nuts FDA considers major food allergens: almond, black walnut, Brazil nut, California walnut, cashew, filbert/hazelnut, heartnut/Japanese walnut, macadamia nut/bush nut, pecan, pine nut/pinon nut, pistachio, and walnut (English, Persian).

Coconut is no longer on the list. FDA lists coconut, beech nut, butternut, chestnut, chinquapin, cola/kola nut, ginkgo nut, hickory nut, palm nut, pili nut, shea nut, and lichee nut as no longer considered major food allergens. They should not go in the “Contains” line, but they still go in the ingredient list by their common name (FDA FAQ on the guidance; Q&A C.8).

Molluscan shellfish (oysters, clams, mussels, scallops) are not major food allergens; Crustacean shellfish (crab, lobster, shrimp) are (Q&A B.9).

Milk and eggs from other animals

FDA considers “milk” to be milk from domesticated cows, goats, sheep or other ruminants, and “eggs” to be eggs from domesticated chickens, ducks, geese, quail and other fowl (Q&A C.1, C.3). For milk not from cows, or eggs not from chickens, include the animal: for example “goat milk” or “Contains goat milk”, and “duck egg” or “Contains duck egg” (C.2, C.4).

Allergens hiding in spices, flavors and oils

• Spices and flavorings count. “a flavoring, coloring, or incidental additive that is, or that bears or contains, a major food allergen shall be subject to the labeling requirements of this subsection” (343(w)(4)). If sesame is in a spice blend you list as “spices”, FDA’s example is “Contains sesame” or “spices (sesame)” (Q&A B.5).
• Store-bought ingredients. Check the label of everything you buy, such as chocolate chips with soy lecithin or butter (milk). Our ingredient list guide shows how to list their sub-ingredients.
• Highly refined oils made from a major allergen are exempt from allergen labeling, but the oil’s source still goes in its name in the ingredient list, such as “soybean oil” (Q&A D.9; 21 CFR 101.4(b)(14)).

“May contain” statements

FDA: advisory statements such as “may contain [allergen]” “are not required by law”. They may be used for unavoidable cross-contact only when good manufacturing practices are followed, they should not replace those practices, and they must be truthful and not misleading (FDA: Food Allergies). Allergens present only through cross-contact are not declared in the ingredient list or the “Contains” line (Q&A D.8).

Cottage food: your state may add rules

The rules above are federal. If you sell from a home kitchen, your state’s cottage food law decides what your label must show, and it can add its own requirements or set them differently. Our state pages for California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon and Texas each list allergens among the required label elements, with the state’s own rule. Some state statements also mention allergens, such as Georgia’s.

Always check your state page and your state agency before you print. Our state guides: Arizona · California · Florida · Georgia · Michigan · Ohio · Oregon · Texas. Another state? See cottage food labels.

Make the label

Our label maker drafts the “Contains” line from your ingredients and sub-ingredients, and you can edit it. Detection is keyword-based and can miss things, so check every ingredient yourself. The example opens the fictional chocolate chip cookies shown above.

Open an example label in the toolStart a blank label

The label maker is free: clean PNG and PDF, no account, no watermark. No AI: it formats exactly what you enter, and you check the result. See more example labels, or let us do it: done-for-you labels, $39 →

Related guides

• Net weight on a food labelWhere it goes, which units, and how tall the letters must be.
• Ingredient list orderHeaviest first, sub-ingredients in parentheses, and the names to use.
• Minimum type sizeFDA’s 1/16 inch rule and how to check your printed label.
• Printing labels at homeAvery 5163 and 5160 sheets, printing at 100% and a test print.
• Nutrition Facts for cottage foodsFDA’s small business exemptions and when claims change things.
• Printable label checklistOne-page PDF checklists for 12 states and a general one.
• What goes on a food labelThe federal basics in one checklist.
• All guidesState rules, label basics and examples.

Sources

Last checked October 21, 2026. We read each of these official sources; quotes on this page are copied from them. Regulation text is from the eCFR (up to date as of October 19, 2026); U.S. Code text is the 2023 edition on govinfo.

• 21 U.S.C. 343(w): major food allergen labeling requirements (FD&C Act 403(w))
• 21 U.S.C. 321(qq): definition of “major food allergen”
• FDA: Food Allergies (FALCPA, FASTER Act, label examples, advisory statements)
• FDA guidance: Questions and Answers Regarding Food Allergens, Edition 5 (January 2025)
• FDA: Frequently Asked Questions, Food Allergen Labeling Guidance for Industry
• 21 CFR 101.4: designation of ingredients

This page explains federal rules in plain English. It is not legal advice, and FDA does not approve labels. Found something wrong? Contact us · How we verify