Milk, soy and fish: the exemptions in EU allergen law

Published 2026-10-02 · PlateNote

Corrected 2026-10-14: added the mustard exemption of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/2512 (applies from 1 April 2025).

Milk, soybeans and fish are three of the items in Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 that come with exemptions; cereals containing gluten, nuts and (since 1 April 2025) mustard have their own — see our other guides. Knowing them helps you ask the right follow-up question.

Milk (item 7)

Milk and products thereof (including lactose), except: whey used for making alcoholic distillates including ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin; and lactitol.

Soybeans (item 6)

Exempt: fully refined soybean oil and fat; natural mixed tocopherols (E306) and natural D-alpha tocopherol and its acetate and succinate from soybean sources; vegetable oils derived phytosterols and phytosterol esters from soybean sources; and plant stanol ester produced from vegetable oil sterols from soybean sources.

Fish (item 4)

Exempt: fish gelatine used as carrier for vitamin or carotenoid preparations; and fish gelatine or isinglass used as fining agent in beer and wine.

What to do with this

If your doctor has advised you to avoid any of these too, mention the specific product (for example “no soybean oil at all”) — a kitchen following the legal list will not flag it.

Make your own free allergy card. Tick your allergens, add a second language in the official EU wording, and get a printable PDF by email.

Make my free card

A card is a communication aid; it does not guarantee that food is safe.

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