Celery on the menu: the allergen hiding in your stocks

What it covers

Point 9 of Annex II of Regulation (EU) 1169/2011, still in force in the UK, is one of the shortest: “Celery and products thereof”. There are no exceptions.

In practice that covers any part of the plant and any form you buy it in:

• stick celery, with its stalks and leaves;
• celeriac, which is the root;
• celery seed and celery salt;
• dried, powdered or extracted celery inside stocks, soups and seasonings.

Where it appears

Homemade stocks

Celery is part of the classic vegetable base of many stocks: white chicken stock, brown beef or veal stock, vegetable stock and some fish stocks. If your recipe uses it, everything made with that stock contains it too.

Soffritto, mirepoix and stew bases

• The onion, carrot and celery base of bolognese, ragù and many casseroles.
• Cottage pie, shepherd’s pie, braises and pie fillings.
• The Cajun “holy trinity” of onion, celery and green pepper in gumbo and jambalaya.
• Gravy made from the vegetables under a roast.

Dishes that inherit the stock

• Risottos, soups, broths and consommé.
• Gravies and sauces built on a stock that contains celery.

Salads and raw vegetables

• Waldorf salad, some coleslaws, chicken or tuna salad fillings with chopped celery.
• Celery sticks for dipping, including the ones served with buffalo wings.
• Celeriac remoulade.

Bar and drinks

• Bloody Mary, with its celery stick and celery salt.
• Green juices and vegetable smoothies.

Bought-in products

• Stock cubes, stock pots and gravy granules, packet and tinned soups.
• Pasta sauces and ready-made bolognese.
• Spice blends, rubs and seasonings for meat or fish.
• Some sausages, burgers and cooked meats.
• Some pickles and chutneys.

The mother stock: why it gets forgotten so often

In many kitchens, one stock or one soffritto is the base for ten different dishes. That is efficient, but it has a consequence: the stock’s allergens pass into every one of those dishes, even if nobody mentions celery in the description.

The way to control it is to treat base preparations as dishes in their own right:

1. Write a record for each base preparation: stocks, mother sauces, soffritto, marinades, house dressings.
2. Note their allergens, including those in the labels of any bought-in products they use.
3. On each dish record, note which bases it uses. Their allergens add to the dish’s own.
4. If you change the recipe of a base, review every dish that depends on it.

The same system works for the mustard in your vinaigrettes, the fish in your stocks or the gluten in thickened sauces, but celery is where it makes the biggest difference.

How to find it on labels

On packaged food, celery has to be emphasised in the ingredients list, even when it is part of a compound ingredient. You will see it as “celery”, “celeriac”, “celery salt”, “celery seed” or “celery extract”, or inside brackets, as in “dried vegetables (onion, carrot, celery)”.

The trickiest products are the ones you use as a base without thinking: stock, packet soups, seasonings and tomato sauces. Keep the labels or specification sheets with your dish records and check them whenever you change supplier.

Cross-contamination

With celery, the risk of contact is mostly in utensils and containers:

• The ladle and the stockpot that are then used for another preparation.
• The juicer for green juices.
• The vegetable boards, where celery is chopped with everything else.

If you cannot separate them, mark traces of celery on the affected dishes.

What to tell guests

When a guest asks if a dish contains celery, the answer is almost never visible on the plate. Staff have to check the dish record, including its bases, and not rely on the menu description. If you give the information verbally, the Food Information Regulations 2014 require a notice, menu note or label telling customers they can ask staff for it, and the FSA recommends written information backed up by a conversation.

In the US

Celery is not one of the FDA’s nine major food allergens, so US labels do not flag it in a “Contains” statement. Under FDA rules celery seed also counts as a spice, and spices can be declared simply as “spices”. If you use US-made stocks, rubs or sauces and need to know, ask the supplier.

How to mark it on your menu

Celery is number 9 in Annex II. Mark it on every dish that contains it, directly or through a base. Be especially careful with risottos, soups, stews and sauces, and do not forget the bar if you serve Bloody Marys.

If you run daily specials, celery comes and goes with each day’s stews and soups; the guide to allergens on daily specials explains how to keep up without losing time. In MenuDesign you mark the allergen on each dish, choose how it shows (icon, number or name) and download the allergen matrix from the same data. Another allergen that hides in sauces and dressings is mustard.