Allergen scanner
Scan or search a product and see which of the regulated allergens it lists — peanut, tree nut, milk, egg, soy and the rest — with the exact label wording behind each match.
What an allergen scanner checks
In the EU and UK, 14 allergens are regulated and must be emphasised — usually in bold — within the ingredient list whenever they’re present: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, tree nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphites, lupin and molluscs. FoodBuddy’s scanner checks the full list against the ones in your profile and shows exactly which wording triggered the match. Our food allergies guide covers each one in detail, including peanut, tree nut, milk, egg and soy specifically.
Who uses an allergen scanner
Anyone managing a food allergy for themselves or someone in their household — checking a product before it goes in the trolley, not after a reaction. FoodBuddy does not assess allergy severity, does not replace an allergy action plan, and “may contain” advisory statements are shown as what they are: voluntary trace warnings from the manufacturer, not a regulated declaration.
Set your profile once — switch on the allergens that apply to you or your household.
Check a product — scan the label, search the database, or look it up by barcode.
Read the breakdown — every matched allergen shows the label term, the match type, and why it was flagged.
Why the small print still matters
Regulated allergens must be emphasised in the list, but the wording itself can still be unfamiliar — “lecithin” for soy, “casein” or “whey” for milk, “albumin” for egg. A scan that checks the full text, not just the bold words, catches allergen sources that are present but not flagged as strongly on the pack design. Always verify against the physical label — formulations change between batches and regions.
Match confidence, shown honestly
Each result is labelled by certainty: a direct match is a known name for a regulated allergen; a keyword match resembles one closely enough to flag but not confirm; an unverified result means the scanner couldn’t identify the term confidently. See our methodology for the full explanation.
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Related: Food allergies guide · Food intolerance scanner · Ingredient checker