Guide
Allergens in stock cubes
Stock cubes and stock pots very often contain celery. Many also contain wheat and soya. A vegetable stock is not a free pass — celery is a vegetable, and it is one of the 14 allergens.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The usual pattern
The flavour comes from salt, fat, yeast extract and powdered vegetables. Celery seed or celery extract is a standard part of that savoury profile in UK brands. Wheat flour or barley malt extract appears in many recipes, and soya is common in the fat or protein.
What to check in stock cubes
| What you see | What it means on a PPDS label |
|---|---|
| Celery extract or celery seed | Celery |
| Wheat flour | Cereals containing gluten |
| Soya | Soya |
| Some chicken stocks | Also milk |
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
Salt, vegetable fat, yeast extract, celery, wheat flour, onion, soya.
Where it shows up
Soups, gravies, risottos, pie fillings, stews and rice pots.
Changing from a pot to a cube
Two stocks from the same brand can differ. One may have milk or wheat and the other may not. Tie the label to the SKU, not the word stock.
Homemade stock follows whatever you put in the pan. A mirepoix with celery is still celery.
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
Do I declare celery in a stock cube?
Is a low-salt stock safer for allergens?
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