Baby Food & Allergy TrackerReference
The nine major food allergens
What the nine are, and the everyday baby foods each one tends to hide in — so you can tell what you have actually introduced.
This page is a reference list, not guidance. It does not say when, whether, or in what order to introduce any food to your baby. That conversation belongs with your pediatrician, who knows your family history.
United States labelling law names nine major food allergens. Eight were set by the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004; sesame was added by the FASTER Act and became the ninth in January 2023. Between them they account for the large majority of food allergic reactions, which is why packaged food in the US must declare them plainly.
For a parent starting solids, the practical problem is not the list itself — it is that allergens arrive inside ordinary foods under ordinary names. Nobody serves a baby "wheat". They serve pasta, or a pancake, or a piece of toast. This table maps the nine onto the things you are actually spooning out.
The nine, and where a baby meets them
| Allergen | Common baby foods it appears in |
|---|---|
| Milk | Yogurt (regular and Greek), cottage cheese, ricotta, fresh mozzarella, mascarpone, butter, anything creamed |
| Eggs | Egg in any form, pancakes, French toast, many baked goods, some pasta |
| Peanuts | Peanut butter, thinned peanut butter, some snack puffs |
| Tree nuts | Almond, cashew, walnut and hazelnut butters, ground nuts stirred into porridge |
| Soybeans | Tofu, edamame, soy yogurt, soy sauce in family cooking |
| Wheat | Soft bread, pasta, pancakes, whole wheat cereal, most rusks and teething biscuits |
| Fish | Salmon, cod, tilapia and other finned fish |
| Crustacean shellfish | Shrimp, crab, lobster |
| Sesame | Tahini, hummus, sesame seeds on bread, some spice blends |
Two details that trip people up
Shellfish is not one thing. The law covers crustacean shellfish — shrimp, crab, lobster. Molluscs such as scallops, clams and mussels are a separate group and are not among the nine, even though people often say "shellfish" meaning both.
Sesame hides. It is the newest addition and the easiest to introduce by accident, because it turns up in hummus, in bread toppings and in spice mixes rather than as an obvious ingredient. If you are keeping a record, tahini is usually the cleanest way to know you have deliberately offered it.
Why people keep a record of these nine
Allergens are the part of starting solids that parents most often want written down, for a simple reason: there are nine of them, they arrive over a period of weeks or months, and memory is unreliable in exactly the period of life when you are getting the least sleep.
The useful question is rarely "did we ever try egg?" It is "when did we last have it, and how many times now?" A tick-box loses that; a dated log keeps it. What you do with that information is between you and your pediatrician — the record just means you can answer them precisely instead of guessing.
Keep the record without the spreadsheet
Baby Food & Allergy Tracker covers all nine allergens across 104 first foods, and you can add your own. Log each try with its own date, reaction and note, and see at a glance which allergens you have introduced and when. One-time $1.99, no account, everything stays on your phone.
Download on the App StoreOr start with the free printable checklist.
Serious reactions need immediate medical help — trouble breathing, swelling of the face or lips, sudden widespread hives, floppiness or repeated vomiting. Call emergency services. Written records are for afterwards, and for routine appointments; they are never a reason to wait.