Allergens - All you need to know

Allergen information must always be available to the end consumer.

When creating a FWH listing, make sure you select your collection slot so the link to our allergen page is added automatically at the bottom of the listing.

You may be asked by a requester to provide them with the allergen information of an item you listed. If so, you must do as follows:

• Prepacked items: Send the requester a picture of the ingredients list available on the product. This is the case for most items collected from supermarkets.
• Non-prepacked items:
  • If the business gave you a copy of their menu or allergen chart: Send the requester a picture of that menu or allergen chart for them to match the name labelled on the item with the relevant information. This will often be the case if you collected from a catering site or an event.
  • If you were not given the allergen information at the collection site: confirm with the business that the information is hosted on our allergen page instead, and reject the food if it is not.
• Loose and unlabelled items: Tell the requester to look for the name of the business on the allergen page where they will find a link to the relevant allergen information, and provide them with the name of the business if needed. This will often be the case if you collected from a café or bakery. You must not identify loose bakery items yourself. Check out our specific guidance on How to share loose bakery items for more information.

At your collection location, you must reject items with no allergen information (with the exception of loose bakery items) unless the business can confirm that it is available on the allergen page.

If you have accidentally collected items from a business and no allergen information is available, please report the business on the Volunteer Hub and do not list these items on the app.

To prevent cross-contamination: 

• Make sure the protective packaging is intact (i.e. the food is not exposed)
• Keep raw and ready-to-eat items separate
• Make sure your bags/containers are clean, free of debris/spillage and in good condition before each collection.
• Do not put loose and packaged items in the same bag, and let us know if the business is doing so.  

The 14 common allergens are:

🌿 Celery

🌾 Cereals containing gluten (e.g. wheat, oats)

🦀 Crustaceans

🥚 Eggs

🐟 Fish

🍞 Lupin (a type of cereal)

🥛 Milk

🐚 Molluscs

🌭 Mustard

🥜 Peanuts

🍔 Sesame

🌱 Soybeans

🍷 Sulphur dioxide & sulphites (often found in wine)

🌰 Tree nuts (e.g. almonds, walnuts)