Reference
The Top 9 Allergens
**The Top 9 Allergens** are the nine foods — milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy, and sesame — that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires to be declared on packaged-food labels because they account for roughly 90% of all allergic reactions in the United States.
What the list includes
The original “Big 8” was set by the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA). Sesame became the ninth declarable allergen in 2023, producing the current Top 9: milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy, and sesame. Any protein derived from one of these “major food allergens” must be named in plain language on the label.
The European Union regulates a broader set of 14 allergens, adding celery, mustard, lupin, molluscs, and sulphites to the U.S. list. Across both frameworks, the same staple proteins recur — which is why the majority of commercial protein powders carry at least one allergen advisory. Food allergy rates in the United States have risen 50% since the 1990s, according to Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE).
Why the threshold matters
These nine foods are flagged not because they are uniquely dangerous, but because they are statistically responsible for most serious reactions. The list is a labeling rule, not a ranking of severity — an individual can react to a food outside the Top 9. Cross-reactivity complicates this further: people with peanut allergy may also react to pea protein, which is why allergen assessment for plant-based powders is not as simple as reading a single line.
Where potato protein stands
Potato is not among the Top 9 allergens, and it is not on the EU’s list of 14 either. Because potato is not a “major food allergen” under FALCPA, the FDA does not require it to be declared, and a single-ingredient potato protein isolate is free of milk, egg, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy, and sesame.
This is not the same as “no one can react to it.” Potato has identified allergenic proteins — primarily patatin (Sol t 1) and several protease inhibitors — and the Center for Research on Ingredient Safety at Michigan State University notes that someone with a diagnosed potato allergy should avoid potato protein, since the allergen is still present. For the far larger group avoiding the nine declarable allergens, however, potato protein sidesteps all of them. For the full picture, see our allergen-free protein guide.
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