Guide
Do I need to declare celery in stock?
Yes when celery is an ingredient of the stock or finished food — including many stock cubes and gravies. Emphasise celery in the ingredients list every time it appears.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The short answer
Yes when celery is an ingredient of the stock or finished food — including many stock cubes and gravies. Emphasise celery in the ingredients list every time it appears.
Emphasise Annex II allergens inside the ingredients list — bold, capitals, colour or underline — as set out in FSA allergen labelling guidance.
How to apply it
Yes when celery is an ingredient of the stock or finished food — including many stock cubes and gravies. Emphasise celery in the ingredients list every time it appears. Emphasise Annex II allergens inside the ingredients list — bold, capitals, colour or underline — as set out in FSA allergen labelling guidance. Walk the product in front of you against the checklist below before you print. The mistake to refuse is: Many brands include celery extract.
- Read every stock cube and bouillon spec
- Emphasise celery when present
- Watch gravy granules and soups
- Homemade stock still needs an honest list
Worked example
Worked example for “Do I need to declare celery in stock?”: take one real SKU you sell this week. Apply the first check — read every stock cube and bouillon spec. Then contrast it with emphasise celery when present. Write the name of the food and the full ingredients list from today’s recipe and supplier specs, emphasise every Annex II allergen each time it appears, and only then print. If the pack in your hand does not match that list, it is not ready for sale. (Yes when celery is an ingredient of the stock or finished food — including many stock cubes and gravies.)
Checklist before you print
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Read every stock cube and bouillon spec | For “Do I need to declare celery in stock?”, “Read every stock cube and bouillon spec” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Emphasise celery when present | For “Do I need to declare celery in stock?”, “Emphasise celery when present” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Watch gravy granules and soups | For “Do I need to declare celery in stock?”, “Watch gravy granules and soups” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Homemade stock still needs an honest list | For “Do I need to declare celery in stock?”, “Homemade stock still needs an honest list” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
Assuming vegetable stock is celery-free
Many brands include celery extract.
Go deeper
Next: Allergens in stock cubes. Celery and friends. Then paste your ingredients into the free generator and confirm allergens before you print.
Questions
Is celery salt the same?
What if I use celery-free stock?
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
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