Label check

Checking food labels for peanut: a fast guide

How to spot peanut on an ingredients list, the names it hides under, and how to check a product quickly before you buy.

Peanut is one of the 14 allergens UK law requires to be emphasised on labels, so as a deliberate ingredient it should be easy to spot. The complications are the aliases and cross-contamination.

The names peanut hides under

Arachis, arachis oil, groundnut, groundnut oil, mandelona, mixed nuts. Refined peanut oil is sometimes treated differently, but if you are peanut-allergic, treat any of these as a stop.

Where peanut turns up unexpectedly

Sauces and satays, baked goods, cereal bars, chocolate, some “vegetarian” and “vegan” products that use peanut as a protein, and ethnic cuisine ingredients.

A fast check before you buy

  1. Scan the ingredients for bold emphasis.
  2. Read for arachis or groundnut.
  3. Read the “may contain” line and decide on your own risk.
  4. Re-check on every purchase, recipes change.

Doing this on every product gets old

If you would rather not run this check by hand on every package, that is exactly what ClearaScan is for: save peanut to your avoid list once and let it flag products for you.

More label checks

Checking a food when you are avoiding several allergens at once

When you manage more than one allergen, every label is a multi-step check. Here is how to do it without missing one.

Checking food labels for milk: a fast guide

How to spot milk on an ingredients list, the eight names it hides under, and a quick way to check a product before you buy.

Checking food labels for peanut: a fast guide

How to spot peanut on an ingredients list, the names it hides under, and how to check a product quickly before you buy.

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Common questions

Does peanut always say peanut on the label?

As a deliberate ingredient in the UK it must be emphasised, usually in bold. But it can appear as arachis or groundnut, and cross-contamination shows up separately as a 'may contain' line.

Written and reviewed by the Food Allergy Lab editorial team.

A note on this content. The Food Allergy Lab publishes general educational information, not medical advice. If you have or suspect a food allergy, speak to a GP, allergist or dietitian. Recipes and labels change without notice, so always check the ingredients on the product itself.