Allergen and Gluten Label Checker
Paste an ingredient list and see which allergens and diets it conflicts with.
Updated October 2026
Always check the packaging. This tool matches words in the text you paste against an ingredient dictionary. It cannot see cross-contact, recipe changes or anything that is not in the text, so no matches does not mean a product is safe. It is not medical or allergy advice. Always read the packaging, and ask your doctor or allergist about your own allergy.
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Try Mealyno FreeReading a long ingredient list for one word is slow, and it is easy to miss a hidden source. This checker takes the text you paste, looks at each ingredient against an ingredient dictionary in English and Ukrainian, and highlights what matches the allergens or diets you choose. Choose nothing and it checks all 14 allergens that EU law requires to be declared. It is a reading aid, and it is not a safety verdict: you must always check the packaging.
The 14 allergens come from Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, tree nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphur dioxide and sulphites, lupin and molluscs. In the EU, pre-packed food must emphasise these in the ingredient list, for example in bold. US labelling law names nine major allergens, including sesame since 2023. The checker uses the EU list because it is the longer one and because Mealyno's own diet profiles use it.
The matching reads ingredient by ingredient. It knows hidden sources, such as soy sauce containing wheat, whey and casein being milk, and malt being made from barley. It knows words that depend on the product, such as oats, which are flagged as a check because they are often contaminated with wheat. And it removes look-alikes before matching, so buckwheat is not treated as wheat, coconut milk is not treated as dairy, nutmeg is not a tree nut and eggplant is not egg. A statement such as may contain traces of nuts marks everything after it, up to the end of the sentence, as a trace statement rather than a listed ingredient.
What it cannot do matters just as much. It cannot see cross-contact in a factory, recipe changes between batches, or anything that is not in the text you paste, and a missing may contain line does not mean the risk is absent, because precautionary labelling is voluntary in the EU and the US. For gluten, food labelled gluten-free in both must contain less than 20 mg of gluten per kilogram, and that label is the thing to look for, not an absence of highlights.
The check runs in your browser and nothing you paste is uploaded. The share link carries the text only when it is short, and the result card shows counts, not your list. You can also embed the checker on your own site with the snippet further down this page.
How the matching works
- Your text is split at commas, semicolons and line breaks, never inside brackets, so wheat flour (wheat, calcium carbonate) stays one piece with its sub-ingredients.
- Each piece is matched against the shared dictionary: direct ingredients (wheat), hidden sources (soy sauce, malt), words that depend on the product (oats, sausage) and look-alikes that are removed first (coconut milk, buckwheat).
- A may contain or traces of statement marks everything after it, up to the end of the sentence, as a trace statement. Nothing selected means all 14 EU allergens are checked.
Allergen checker worked example
Paste the example list: wheat flour (wheat, calcium carbonate, iron), sugar, skimmed milk powder, whey, soy lecithin, palm oil, salt. May contain traces of nuts and sesame. With nothing selected, the checker scans all 14 EU allergens and reports gluten (wheat, a listed ingredient), soy (soy lecithin) and milk (milk powder and whey) as listed ingredients, and peanuts, tree nuts and sesame as trace statements, because they come after may contain.
Now choose only gluten. The same text reports one match, wheat, and the milk, soy and trace words are no longer scanned. A second example, an oat drink, lists oats, rapeseed oil, calcium carbonate and salt. For a gluten-free diet the checker marks oats as a check, not a conflict, because oats are often contaminated with wheat unless the label says gluten-free. For a vegan diet it reports nothing.
A third example shows the look-alikes. Buckwheat flour, coconut milk, nutmeg, eggplant, peanut butter and cocoa butter produce no match for gluten, milk, tree nuts or eggs, because buckwheat is not wheat, coconut milk is not dairy, nutmeg is not a tree nut, eggplant is not egg and peanut butter and cocoa butter contain no milk. A tool that matched on spelling alone would flag all six.
What to do with the result
Treat every highlight as a prompt to read that part of the packaging, and treat no matches as the start of the check, not the end. Read the allergen statement and any may contain line on the pack, and ask the manufacturer when the text is unclear. If you have an allergy or coeliac disease, your doctor or allergist decides what is safe for you.
For gluten, look for a gluten-free label, which in the EU and the US means less than 20 mg of gluten per kilogram. Recipes and suppliers change, so check the packaging each time you buy, even for products you know.
If you plan meals around an allergen or a diet, Mealyno's diet profile keeps plans and shopping lists away from the ingredients you choose. The gluten-free meal plan and the diets hub show what that looks like.
Allergen checker questions
Can this tool tell me a product is safe?
No. It matches words in the text you paste. It cannot see cross-contact, recipe changes or anything not in the text, so no matches never means safe. Always check the packaging.
Which allergens does it check?
All 14 named in Annex II of EU Regulation 1169/2011: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, tree nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphites, lupin and molluscs. You can also check diets such as vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, halal, dairy-free, lactose-free, gluten-free and low-FODMAP.
Why are oats marked as a check and not a conflict?
Oats do not contain wheat gluten themselves, but they are often contaminated with it in the field or the mill. Unless the label says gluten-free, the checker flags oats as something to verify on the packaging.
What does a may contain line mean?
It is a precautionary statement that traces could be present because of shared equipment or premises. It is voluntary in the EU and the US, so its absence does not prove the product is free of the allergen. The checker marks everything after it as a trace statement.
Does it work with Ukrainian ingredient lists?
Yes. The dictionary covers English and Ukrainian, and the page works in both languages. You can paste a list in either one, or a list that mixes the two.
Is the text I paste stored or sent anywhere?
No. The check runs in your browser. The share link includes your text only when it is short, and the result card shows counts, not your list.
What does gluten-free on a label mean?
In the EU and the US a food labelled gluten-free must contain less than 20 mg of gluten per kilogram. That label is a legal claim about the finished product, which is why it is more reliable than the absence of highlights in this tool.
Does the checker replace advice from an allergist?
No. It is a reading aid. Your allergist or doctor decides what is safe for you, and the packaging is the authority on the product you are holding.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, Annex II (substances causing allergies or intolerances).
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 on information to consumers on the absence or reduced presence of gluten in food.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Food Allergies: what you need to know (major food allergens and labelling).
Embed this calculator on your site
Free to use on blogs, clinic and coaching sites, and in newsletters that allow iframes. Paste the code below. It adds the calculator and a plain "Powered by Mealyno" link under it.
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Embed terms
- Free, no account and no API key. Please keep the "Powered by Mealyno" credit link under the frame visible. Do not hide it or shrink it to nothing. You may add rel="nofollow" to it if you prefer.
- Do not edit the numbers, the sources or the disclaimers shown inside the widget, and do not present the result as your own medical or dietetic advice.
- The widget collects no personal data of your visitors. It sends anonymous usage counts to our analytics (cookieless) and nothing to any other third party.
- We may change the widget design, or pause it for abuse, at any time. The tool stays general nutrition information, not medical advice.
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