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What are the 14 allergens called in French, German, Spanish and Italian?

Milk is lait, Milch, leche and latte. The 14 allergens in French, German, Spanish and Italian, and the label words that look like one but are not.

By Bravoora teamPublished 22 October 2026Updated 4 November 2026Sources checked 13 October 20269 min read

Senf, orzo, arachide, sedano and altramuz name an allergen; beurre de cacao, noix de coco, noce moscata, lait de coco and Buchweizen do not, whatever their names suggest. Data: Open Food Facts (ODbL) and Bravoora’s dictionary, read 13 October 2026.

Key takeaways

The EU’s 14 allergens are the same on every label sold there, and each must be emphasised in the ingredient list, for example in bold, whatever the language^[1].
Milk is “lait”, “Milch”, “leche” and “latte”; the tree nuts are “fruits à coque”, “Schalenfrüchte”, “frutos de cáscara” and “frutta a guscio”, in Open Food Facts’ list of allergen names^[2].
Some look nothing like the English: “arachide” is peanut, “Senf” mustard, “sedano” celery, “altramuz” lupin and “orzo”, in Italian, barley.
Some look like an allergen and are not: “Buchweizen” is buckwheat, “lait de coco” coconut milk and “beurre de cacao” cocoa butter, none with an allergen in Bravoora’s dictionary^[3].
Open Food Facts records the allergen on 192,782 products for milk and 1,196 for lupin, whatever the language of the label^[4].

The short answer

Milk is “lait” in French, “Milch” in German, “leche” in Spanish and “latte” in Italian; eggs are “œufs”, “Eier”, “huevos” and “uova”; peanuts are “arachides”, “Erdnüsse”, “cacahuetes” and “arachidi”. EU labels must name the same 14 allergens in every language and emphasise them in the ingredient list. Open Food Facts records milk on 192,782 products.

What are the 14 allergens called in each language?

From milk, “lait”, “Milch”, “leche” and “latte”, to lupin, “lupin”, “Lupine”, “altramuces” and “lupini”: The table gives the main word Open Food Facts uses for each of the 14 in French, German, Spanish and Italian^[2]. The last column counts the products where it records the allergen, read from labels in any language^[4]: Milk, gluten and soy lead, and lupin is on the fewest, 1,196.

The 14 allergens: the main word Open Food Facts gives each in four languages, and the products where it records the allergen (read 13 October 2026)
Allergen	French	German	Spanish	Italian	Products
Milk	lait	Milch	leche	latte	192,782
Gluten	gluten	Gluten	gluten	glutine	145,306
Soy	soja	Soja	soja	soia	73,418
Eggs	œufs	Eier	huevos	uova	54,783
Tree nuts	fruits à coque	Schalenfrüchte	frutos de cáscara	frutta a guscio	41,106
Fish	poisson	Fisch	pescado	pesce	19,614
Sulphites	anhydride sulfureux et sulfites	Schwefeldioxid und Sulfite	dióxido de azufre y sulfitos	anidride solforosa e solfiti	18,442
Mustard	moutarde	Senf	mostaza	senape	16,806
Celery	céleri	Sellerie	apio	sedano	15,592
Peanuts	arachides	Erdnüsse	cacahuetes	arachidi	14,151
Sesame	graines de sésame	Sesam	granos de sésamo	semi di sesamo	11,789
Crustaceans	crustacés	Krebstiere	crustáceos	crostacei	6,588
Molluscs	mollusques	Weichtiere	moluscos	molluschi	3,801
Lupin	lupin	Lupine	altramuces	lupini	1,196

How do you find the allergens on a label in a language you do not read?

Look for the emphasised words. In the EU an allergen used as an ingredient must be named in the ingredient list and set apart from the rest, for example in bold, whatever the language of the label^[1]. The UK keeps the same 14 allergens and the same rule^[5].

Then match each word to the table. Many are close to the English, such as “crustacés”, “Sesam” or “soja”. These are not, and are the ones to learn first: “arachides” and “Erdnüsse” (peanuts), “Senf” and “senape” (mustard), “apio” and “sedano” (celery), “altramuces” (lupin), and the German “Krebstiere” and “Weichtiere”^[2].

How are the gluten cereals and the tree nuts named?

By the cereal and the nut, so learn those names too. After “gluten”, Open Food Facts’ French names for gluten list the cereals: “blé”, “seigle”, “orge” and “épeautre”^[2]. Bravoora’s dictionary gives each cereal and each of the EU’s eight tree nuts in up to 16 languages; the table shows four, with the products that list each^[3].

In French, “noix” on its own is walnut, and four more nuts on the list start with it: “noix de cajou” (cashew nuts), “noix de pécan” (pecan nut), “noix du Brésil” (Brazil nut) and “noix de macadamia” (macadamia nut). So does “noix de coco”, coconut, which the EU, UK and US lists do not count as a tree nut^[6].

The gluten cereals and the EU’s eight tree nuts as Bravoora’s dictionary names them, with the products in Open Food Facts that list each
Name	French	German	Spanish	Italian	Products
Wheat	blé	Weizen	trigo	frumento	258,709
Barley	orge	Gerste	cebada	orzo	34,602
Rye	seigle	Roggen	centeno	segale	6,685
Oats	avoine	Hafer	avena	avena	46,027
Almond	amande	Mandel	almendra	mandorla	43,612
Hazelnut	noisette	Haselnuss	avellana	nocciola	26,097
Walnut	noix	Walnuss	nuez	noce	9,196
Cashew nuts	noix de cajou	Cashewkerne	anacardos	noci di acagiù	14,546
Pecan nut	noix de pécan	Pekannuss	nueces de pecán	noci del pekan	6,862
Brazil nut	noix du Brésil	Paranuss	nueces de Brasil	noci del Brasile	1,791
Pistachio nuts	pistache	Pistazien	pistachos	pistacchio	6,007
Macadamia nut	noix de macadamia	Makadamianuss	nueces macadamia	macadamia	1,796

Which label words look like an allergen but are not?

Several, in all four languages: the words for buckwheat, coconut milk, cocoa butter, coconut and nutmeg. “Buchweizen” in German holds “Weizen”, wheat, and “trigo sarraceno” in Spanish and “grano saraceno” in Italian hold “trigo” and “grano”, but buckwheat is not a gluten cereal, and Bravoora’s dictionary lists it with no allergen^[3]. It is on 5,667 products in Open Food Facts^[4]; read their “may contain” line all the same.

Milk words mislead as well: “lait de coco” is coconut milk and “beurre de cacao” is cocoa butter, both vegan, with no milk in the dictionary. And the reverse: “beurre d’arachide”, “Erdnussbutter” and “burro di arachidi” are peanut butter, filed under peanuts alone.

Nut words too: “noix de coco” and “noce di cocco” are coconut, and “noce moscata” is nutmeg, with no allergen in the dictionary.

What else do the words and the counts show?

Open Food Facts reads cheese names as milk: Its German names for milk include “Blauschimmelkäse”, which is blue cheese, and its Italian ones parmigiano reggiano and grana padano^[2]^[3].
Of the 712 ingredients in Bravoora’s dictionary that contain an allergen, 602 have a French name, 550 a German one, 411 a Spanish one and 623 an Italian one^[3].
Of the 186,302 products whose ingredient list names milk, Open Food Facts records 77,726 as sold in the US, 48,171 in France and 12,783 in Germany^[4].
Tree nuts are recorded as an allergen on 41,106 products and in a “may contain” line on 117,647; the article on “may contain” lines counts all 14^[4].

Method: the allergen words are the first names Open Food Facts gives each allergen in French, German, Spanish and Italian in its allergens taxonomy, read on 13 October 2026^[2]; the cereal, nut and look-alike names are the first ones Bravoora’s dictionary shows^[3]; product counts from the Open Food Facts export, read the same day^[4]. An allergen counts on a product when Open Food Facts records it there; an ingredient, when the product’s list names it or a more specific kind of it, in any language. Contains information from Open Food Facts, which is made available here under the Open Database License (ODbL)^[7].

Which words on a European label stand for a whole group?

Tree nuts: “fruits à coque”, “Schalenfrüchte”, “frutos de cáscara” and “frutta a guscio”. The ingredient list names the nut itself, such as “amande” or “Haselnuss”.
Gluten: “gluten” in French and Spanish, “Gluten” in German, “glutine” in Italian, with the cereal named beside it, such as “Weizen” or “grano” for wheat.
Crustaceans: “crustacés”, “Krebstiere”, “crustáceos” and “crostacei”. Open Food Facts reads kinds such as “crabe” (French) and “langosta” (Spanish) as crustaceans too.
Molluscs: “mollusques”, “Weichtiere”, “moluscos” and “molluschi”. Open Food Facts reads kinds such as “calamar” (French) and “Tintenfisch” (German) as molluscs too.
Sulphur dioxide and sulphites: “anhydride sulfureux et sulfites”, “Schwefeldioxid und Sulfite”, “dióxido de azufre y sulfitos” and “anidride solforosa e solfiti”. The additive codes E220 to E228 are sulphites too, and read the same in every language^[8].

How do you check a label in another language in 30 seconds?

Find the ingredient list and read the emphasised words first: On an EU or UK label, every allergen in it is set apart.
Match each word to the table above; for gluten and tree nuts, read the cereal or the nut by name.
Read the “may contain” line too: It names allergens with the same words.
Watch the look-alikes: “Buchweizen” is not wheat, “lait de coco” is not milk.
Look up any word you cannot place in Bravoora’s dictionary, which lists each ingredient’s names in other languages.

How does Bravoora read a label in another language?

Bravoora reads ingredient lists in any language, including packs that carry two, and answers in plain English with the printed word beside it. For Maya, whose profile avoids peanuts, a German pack that lists Erdnüsse gives “Not for Maya”, with “Erdnüsse” shown, and a pack that names peanuts only in its “may contain” line gives “Heads up for Maya”. For Leo, who tracks protein, the same scan logs the pack’s calories and protein. The methodology shows how it is tested.

Let Bravoora read the label with you.

Tell it once what matters: your allergens, your diet, the ingredients you watch. Every answer then shows the words it is based on.

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Scope and limits

This article gives the main word for each allergen in four languages. A label can print another form, a plural or a kind of the food, such as “lait écrémé” or “Vollmilch”, so read every word of the list.

Rules covered: the EU’s 14 allergens and its emphasis rule, which the UK keeps. Sources were checked on the dates listed below.

This is general label information, not medical advice. With a diagnosed allergy, ask your clinician which words to watch for.

Frequently asked questions

What is peanut in French?

Arachide, often in the plural, arachides; cacahuète is used too. In German it is Erdnuss, in Spanish cacahuete and in Italian arachidi.

What is milk called on a German label?

Milch. Open Food Facts reads Butter, Buttermilch and cheese names such as Blauschimmelkäse as milk too.

Is Buchweizen wheat?

No. Buchweizen is German for buckwheat, which Bravoora’s dictionary lists with no allergen, though the word holds Weizen, wheat. Read the “may contain” line all the same.