Restaurants and takeaways in the UK will be required by law to tell customers if their food contains ingredients known to trigger allergies.
Staff must provide information on 14 everyday allergens including nuts, milk, celery, gluten, soya and wheat.
The new measures, which come into force on Saturday, cover meals served in bakeries, cafes, care homes and packaged produce sold by supermarkets.
There may be fines for repeat offenders.
Around two million people suffer from allergies in the UK.
Fatal reactions
About five thousand people need treatment in hospital for severe allergic reactions each year, and some cases are fatal - causing an average of 10 deaths annually.
Experts say the majority of these deaths and visits to hospital are avoidable, and some are a result of people being given incorrect information about ingredients.
Under the new legislation (EU FIC Food Information for Consumers Regulation), customers must be told if their food contains any of the following:
celery - including any found in stock cubes and soup
cereals containing gluten - including spelt, wheat, rye, barley
crustaceans - eg crabs, lobster, prawns and shrimp paste
eggs - including food glazed with egg
fish
lupin - can be found in some types of bread, pastries, pasta
milk
molluscs - mussels, land snails, squid, also found in oyster sauce
mustard
nuts - almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, macadamia
peanuts - also found in groundnut oil
sesame seeds - found in some bread, houmous, tahini
soya - found in beancurd, edamame beans, tofu
sulphur dioxide - used as a preservative in dried fruit, meat products, soft drinks, vegetables, alcohol.
Read more:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30395142
