PEAL allergen labelling: a checklist for manufacturers
The required names, the bold declarations, the summary statement, and the checks to run before a label goes to print.
PEAL (plain English allergen labelling, Standard 1.2.3) has applied since 25 February 2024, and the window for selling stock labelled under the old rules closed on 25 February 2026. Every label now needs allergens declared by their required names, shown in bold in the ingredients list, and a separate bold summary statement starting with “Contains” next to the ingredients list. Check each label against the Code before it goes to print.
The required names
| Allergen | Declare as |
|---|---|
| Cereals | wheat (always); barley, oats, rye only if they contain gluten; plus “gluten” in the summary where it applies |
| Crustacea | crustacean |
| Molluscs | mollusc, declared separately |
| Egg | egg |
| Fish | fish |
| Milk | milk |
| Lupin | lupin |
| Peanut | peanut |
| Soy | soy |
| Sesame | sesame |
| Tree nuts | each by name: almond, Brazil nut, cashew, hazelnut, macadamia, pecan, pine nut, pistachio, walnut |
| Sulphites | sulphites, when added at 10 mg/kg or more |
From FSANZ guidance on Standard 1.2.3. Check the Code itself for the full wording before you print.
The label checklist
Ingredients list
- Each allergen declared by its required name
- In bold, at a font size no smaller than other ingredients
- Inside compound ingredients and additives too, such as maltodextrin (wheat)
Summary statement
- Separate from the ingredients list
- Bold, in the same field of view and next to it
- Starts with “Contains”, e.g. Contains milk
Everything else
- Every allergen in the summary also appears in the list
- No ingredients list? Declarations still go on the label
- “May contain” statements are voluntary, not PEAL
Where labels usually go wrong
- A supplier changes a recipe. The new ingredient brings an allergen, but the label is reprinted from the old artwork.
- Generic names. “Nuts” or “shellfish” instead of the required names.
- Missing the summary line, or putting it somewhere other than next to the ingredients list.
- Old stock. Anything still labelled under the pre-2024 rules can no longer be sold.
Labels go wrong mostly at handover points between suppliers, recipes and artwork. A label check signed off at each change is the simplest control.
Labels are the end of the chain
A correct label depends on knowing what’s in every raw material. Undeclared allergens are a leading cause of food recalls in Australia, and most start upstream: a supplier specification that changed, or cross-contact on a shared line. Your allergen management plan controls those risks; the label tells the customer the result. If something goes wrong, see food recall obligations.
Supplier allergen declarations, kept current
In EthicalHub, supplier management keeps allergen declarations and specifications with each approved supplier, with expiry alerts, and goods-in logs record what arrived. When a supplier changes something, you see it before the label is wrong.
See supplier management in action
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PEAL labelling: common questions
What is PEAL?
When did PEAL become mandatory?
Do I have to name each tree nut separately?
Are “may contain” statements covered by PEAL?
Right label, every run.
Supplier allergen declarations and specifications, kept current.