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Allergen-free

Food made without specific allergens. Japan's system mandates disclosure when an allergen is present — not a guarantee of absence.

How Japan's system works

Japanese food labelling law designates a set of ingredients as “specified raw materials” and requires them to be declared on packaged processed food. A 2023 revision added walnut, bringing the mandatory list to eight items: shrimp, crab, walnut, wheat, buckwheat, egg, milk and peanut. The transition period has now passed.

A further twenty ingredients are on a recommended list. Recommended is not mandatory, so the absence of a declaration does not prove the absence of the ingredient.

Reading a “free from” claim

A claim like “free from all 28 specified ingredients” is voluntary. Many are trustworthy; there are still things worth checking.

• Whether cross-contamination on shared production lines is noted
• The presence of a line such as “this facility also handles products containing …”
• Whether the claim covers the 8 mandatory items or all 28
• Recipe changes — long-standing products are reformulated

If your allergy is severe

A label is a starting point, not a conclusion. For a severe allergy, contacting the manufacturer directly about their production process is the reliable step. Most Japanese manufacturers operate an enquiry desk and will answer specifically about line separation.