Guide
Allergens in barley malt extract
Barley malt extract is barley, a cereal containing gluten. It is not covered by the exemption for barley glucose syrups. If it is an ingredient of a bun, cereal bar or malt loaf, emphasise barley.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The usual pattern
Malt extract is a flavour and a sugar source. It appears in bagels, malt loaf, some breads, breakfast-style bars and yeast extracts. The amount can be small. Small does not mean undeclared.
What to check in barley malt extract
| What you see | What it means on a PPDS label |
|---|---|
| Barley malt extract | Cereals containing gluten — name barley |
| Barley glucose syrup | Different ingredient — there is a specific exemption to check in the technical guidance |
| Malt vinegar | Also barley |
| Rice malt | Not barley, if it is only rice |
How to write it on the label
PPDS food needs the name of the food and a full ingredients list, with the 14 allergens emphasised every time they appear. The Food Standards Agency’s PPDS guidance is the practical reference. A typical ingredients fragment looks like this — yours must follow the specification of the product you actually use.
Example fragment
Wheat flour, water, barley malt extract, yeast, salt.
Where it shows up
Malt loaf, bagels, hot cross buns, some granolas and yeast extracts.
A gluten-free claim on a malt loaf
Barley malt extract keeps the product in the gluten cereals. Do not claim gluten-free.
The FSA technical guidance explains limited exemptions for certain cereal-derived syrups used in specific ways. Barley malt extract used as a normal ingredient is declared.
Specification first
Brands differ. Treat this page as the usual pattern, then match the label to the tub, bag or recipe in front of you.
Questions
Is malt extract gluten-free?
Do I write malt or barley?
Official sources
Everything on this page traces back to these. Where they and we disagree, they are right — tell us and we'll fix it.
- Introduction to allergen labelling for PPDS foodFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK
- Labelling guidance for prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food productsFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK
- Food allergen labelling and information requirements technical guidanceFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK