Names of common allergens in Korean

Here is a compilation of sources of food allergens, which provides their Korean names as well as their most common spelling on Korean food labels. It is sorted by type of allergen and its origin in food – rather than being in alphabetical order. In addition to that, it distinguishes between animal-based and 🌱plant-based foods, so that vegetarians and 🌱vegans can use this page for reference more easily. [Btw, if you don’t know how to read Korean yet, here’s a free and easy guide to learning the alphabet!]

Please note, that there exists NO globally accepted, standardized group of food allergens. For each country, there are varying foods which are considered to contain “critical” substances. In the US🇺🇸, for example, only 8 foods are officially declared as allergens, while Canada🇨🇦 lists 10 foods. As opposed to that, the EU🇪🇺 acknowledges 14 foods to cause allergies or food intolerance and requires those to be specifically marked on food labels. [see EU Food Information for Consumers Regulation (EU FIC), page L 304/43.]

Regarding South Korea🇰🇷, a new legislation requires substances which may incite allergic reactions to be mentioned separately on the packaging of foods. Correspondingly, Korean food producers are required to declare at least the following substances:

pork 돼지고기
beef 쇠고기
chicken 닭고기
mackerel 고등어
squid 오징어
clams 조개류
crab 게
shrimp 새우
eggs 난류
milk 우유
peanuts 땅콩
soy 대두
wheat 밀
buckwheat 메밀
walnuts 호두
tomato 토마토
peach 복숭아
sulfites 아황산류 (if SO₂ content in the final product is higher than 10mg/kg)

On the lists below, those substances, which are officially declared on Korean food labels are highlighted in bold letters. You can find tips on how to easily understand such food labels (even though they are written in Korean) in a previous post.

Old food label without clear declaration of allergens. Note the warning in white letters: “People sensitive to allergies are advised not to consume this product.”

New food label mentioning allergens from milk, soy, shellfish (oyster) and pork.

Aiming to share more comprehensive information, this page features foods that may not be standard allergens in Korea but in various other countries. Hence, there are foods which are not explicitly declared in the allergen section of Korean food labels. For people with a high sensitivity to allergens: Potential allergens, which are not distinctly marked, are listed with an exclamation mark in front of the respective food source. After all, consulting the entire list of ingredients (and possessing adequate language skills) may remain the safest way to confirm the contents of a given food item.

First an foremost, let’s learn what’s “allergy” in Korean! There are three words with a similar pronunciation:

알러지 – alleoji

알레르기 – allereugi

앨러지 – aelleoji

🐷 Meat and flesh-derived products 🍗🥩

🐖 돼지고기 dwaeji-gogi – pork (pig)
🐄 쇠고기 / 소고기 so-gogi – beef (cow)
🐑 양고기 yang-gogi – mutton (sheep)
🐕 개고기 gae-gogi – dog meat
🐓 닭고기 dak-gogi – chicken (poultry)
🦆 오리고기 ori-gogi – duck meat (waterfowl)

🐟 Fish from fresh water and sea water🐠🐡

🌱Attention for vegans and vegetarians: Not all types of fish are declared as allergens on the packaging!!!

🐟 생선 saengseon – fish, fin fish
🐟 고등어 godeung-eo – mackerel
! 멸치 myeolchi – anchovy (not explicitly marked)
! 참치 chamchi / 다랑어 darang-eo / 가다랑어 gadarang-eo etc. – tuna (not explicitly marked)
! 꽁치 gong-chi – mackerel pike (not explicitly marked)
정어 jeong-eo – sardine
… The amount of edible fish in Korea and their corresponding names is too diverse to list all here… [more fish can be found in this list of common animal-based ingredients.]

🐚 Seafood – shellfish and cuttlefish 🦀🐙

🐚 조개류 jogae-ryu – mussels, clams (mollusks) ➡️ the respective specie may be additionally listed in brackets
🦪 굴 gul – oyster
🦪 전복 jeonbok – abalone
🦪 홍합 honghap – blue mussel, common mussel
!🐚 가리비 garibi – scallops
!🐚 소라 sora / 고둥 godung – sea snail (mollusks) (not explicitly marked)
🦀 갑각류 gapgangnyu – crustaceans
🦐 새우 sae-u – shrimp (crustacean)
🦞 랍스터 rabseu-teo – lobster (crustacean)
🦀 게 ge – crab (crustacean)
🦑 오징어 ojing-eo – squid, sepia (cuttlefish)
🐙 문어 muneo – octopus (cuttlefish)
🐙 낙지 nakji – small octopus (cuttlefish)
… The amount of edible seafood in Korea and their corresponding names is too diverse to list all here… [more seafood can be found in this list of common animal-based ingredients.]

! 🍯 꿀 kkul / 벌꿀 beol-kkul – honey (not explicitly marked) ➡️ 사양꿀 sayang-kkul – industrially produced honey (bees fed with sugar water) / 천연꿀 cheonyeon-kkul – naturally produced honey (bees fed on flowers)
🐛 번데기 beondegi – silk worm pupa
! 🐝 밀랍 millap – bee’s wax (not explicitly marked)
! 🐞 쉘락 swellak – shellac (not explicitly marked) ➡️ food glaze based on secretion of lac bug ➡️ used in e.g. jelly beans, confectionary sprinkles or chocolate-coated snacks
! 🐞 카민 kamin [old: 카르민 kareumin] – carmine, cochineal, 🇺🇸natural red 4, 🇪🇺E120 (food coloring) (not explicitly marked) ➡️ red food colorant made from cochineals (scale insects) ➡️ used in e.g. cosmetics, red syrups, alcoholic beverages with red color

🐔 Eggs and albumen 🥚🍳

🥚 난류 nallyu – eggs (from various birds)
🥚 알류 allyu – eggs (from various birds)
🥚 계란 gyeran / 달걀 dalgyal – chicken egg
🥚 메추리알 mechuri-al – quail eggs
🥚 오리알 ori-al – duck eggs
🟡 난황 nanhwang / 계란난자 gyeran nanja – egg yellow
⚪️ 난백 nanbaek / 계란흰자 gyeran hwinja – egg white

🐮 Dairy, milk protein and milk sugar (lactose) 🥛🧀

🥛 우유 uyu – milk
유당 yudang – milk sugar, lactose
유청 yucheong – whey

🌱 Legumes, peanuts and soy 🥜

대두 daedu – soy
🥜 땅콩 ttangkong – peanut
콩 kong – beans
완두콩 wandu kong – green pea
병아리콩 byeongari kong – chick peas
루핀 rupin – lupin
[more legumes can be found in this list of beans in Korean]

🌱 Tree nuts and seeds 🌰

🌰 견과류 gyeon-gwaryu – nuts
헤이즐넛 heijeulneot – hazelnut
! 아몬드 amondeu – almond (not explicitly marked)
호두 hodu – walnut
피칸 pikan – pecan nut
잣 jat – pine nut
! 캐슈넛 / 캐슈너트 kaesyu-neot / kaesyu-neoteu – cashew nut (not explicitly marked)
브라질너트 brajil neoteu – Brazil nut
피스타치오 piseutachi-o – pistachio
! 마카다미아 makadami-a – macadamia nuts (not explicitly marked)
🌰 밤 bam – chestnut
! 참깨 chamkkae / 흑임자 heuk-imja – sesame / black sesame (not explicitly marked)
! 겨자 gyeoja – mustard (not explicitly marked)
[more nuts and other seeds can be found in this list of nuts in Korean]

🌱 Gluten-containing cereals and other grains 🥨🍺

🌾 밀 mil / 소맥 somaek – wheat
🌾 호밀 homil – rye
🌾 귀리 gwiri – oat
🌾 보리 bori – barley
… Other gluten-containing cereals, namely spelt, kamut or their hybridised strains are not common in Korea.
! 🌽 옥수수 oksusu – corn, maize (not explicitly marked)
! 🍚 쌀 ssal – rice (not explicitly marked) ➡️ 백미 baengmi – white rice / 흑미 heungmi – black rice / 현미 hyeonmi – brown rice)
메밀 memil – buckwheat
조 jo – millet
수수 susu – sorghum
[more grains can be found in this list of cereals and other grains in Korean]

🌱 Fruit and vegetables 🍍🍎

🍅 토마토 tomato – tomato
🍑 복숭아 boksung-a – peach
🍑 살구 salgu – apricot
🍑 자두 jadu – plum
! 🍑 매실 maesil – Chinese plum, Japanese apricot, ume (not explicitly marked)
🍌 바나나 banana – banana
🍒 체리 cheri – cherry
🍓 딸기 ttalgi – strawberry
!🍏 사과 sagwa – apple (not explicitly marked)
🍐 배 bae – pear
🥝 키위 kiwi – kiwi
🍈 멜론 mellon – melon
🍍 파인애플 painaepeul – pineapple
🥑 아보카도 abokado – avocado
🍆 가지 gaji – eggplant
🥦 셀러리 selleori – celery
🎃 (단)호박 (dan)-hobak – (sweet) pumpkin
[more fruits can be found in this list of fruits in Korean]
[more vegetables can be found in this list of vegetables in Korean]

🍄 Others 🧪💊

타트라진 tateurajin – tartrazine, 🇪🇺E102 (food coloring)
아황산염 ahwang sanyeom / 아황산류 ahwang sanryu / 이산화항 isan hwahang – various types of sulfites (food preservative)

✍️ Work is still in progress! This list will be expanded gradually! ✍️

📝 Any questions, comments, vocabulary suggestions and language feedback are welcome! 🤗