Hidden Names for Sesame on UK Food Labels

Sesame hides under tahini, benne, gingelly and til. Here are the aliases to look for and why sesame is one of the 14 UK allergens you must check.

Sesame is easy to underestimate. The seeds are tiny, they scatter across breads and crackers, and the ingredient travels under several names that do not contain the word “sesame” at all. Yet sesame is one of the 14 allergens UK law requires to be declared, and reactions can be serious. This guide covers the aliases to watch for and the foods where sesame likes to hide.

The sesame aliases to know

Sesame appears under a handful of traditional and regional names. The ones to recognise are:

• Tahini. A paste of ground sesame seeds, central to hummus and many dips and dressings.
• Benne and benne seed. An older name for sesame, still used in parts of the world and in some recipes.
• Gingelly and gingelly oil. Common names for sesame and sesame oil, especially in South Asian cooking.
• Til and teel. Names for sesame used across South Asia, often seen on sweets and snack packaging.
• Sesamol and sesamolina. Compounds derived from sesame, sometimes seen on more technical ingredient lists.
• Halvah (also spelt halva). A sweet that is frequently made from a sesame paste base.

If you see any of these, treat the product as containing sesame.

Why sesame is one of the 14

Sesame earned its place on the UK allergen list because it is a recognised cause of allergic reactions, including severe ones, and because it appears so widely across modern food. It is no longer treated as a minor or unusual allergen. That is why, like peanut and the named tree nuts, sesame must be declared in prepacked food and emphasised in the ingredients list, usually in bold, so it stands out from the surrounding text.

This matters because sesame is genuinely hard to spot by eye. The seeds blend into the surface of a loaf, the crust of a bun or the coating of a snack. The label is far more reliable than a visual check.

Where sesame tends to hide

Sesame turns up in more places than most people expect:

• Breads and bakery. Burger buns, bagels, flatbreads, breadsticks and many seeded loaves. Even a bread that looks plain may have sesame in the dough or a light dusting.
• Hummus and dips. Through tahini, which is a standard hummus ingredient.
• Spice and seasoning blends. Za’atar, dukkah, gomashio and some curry and stir-fry mixes contain sesame.
• Sauces and dressings. Some salad dressings, marinades and stir-fry sauces use sesame oil or paste for flavour.
• Snacks and sweets. Crackers, snack bars, sesame snaps and halvah-style confectionery.

Eating out is a particular area for care, since sesame is common in Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and many Asian dishes, and it is not always obvious from a menu description.

How the labelling helps

UK law requires the 14 main allergens, sesame included, to be declared and emphasised in the ingredients list of prepacked food. A “may contain sesame” statement is different. It is voluntary precautionary labelling, used to flag a possible risk of accidental traces from shared equipment or a shared site, rather than a deliberate ingredient. Many people with a sesame allergy still treat it as important.

For food prepacked for direct sale, such as a sandwich or salad made and wrapped on the premises, Natasha’s Law requires a full ingredients list with allergens emphasised. That closed a gap that used to make freshly made bakery and deli items harder to check, which is exactly where sesame often lurks.

The habit that protects you most is recognising that tahini, benne, gingelly and til all mean sesame, then reading every ingredients list carefully, every time. Recipes change, and a loaf that was sesame-free last month may not be today. If you want help spotting a hidden sesame name, use The Food Allergy Lab to check before you buy.

Written and reviewed by the Food Allergy Lab editorial team.