Overview
About Celery
Celery content covers the stalk, celeriac and celery seed, a declarable allergen in the UK and EU that turns up in stocks, spice blends and vegetable juices.
In the data
Where you will find celery
- Celery juice concentrates several stalks into one serving, multiplying the polyol load well past a comfortable amount
- Celery is the other half of celery salt, and it is a declarable allergen in the EU and UK. It is not a FALCPA major allergen in the US, so an American label may only mention it inside the ingredient list with no allergen statement attached
- Multi-ingredient by definition. If a glass sets you off you cannot tell whether it was the tomato, the celery, the beet or the spinach, which makes it the worst possible thing to drink during a strict elimination phase
- Celery is one of the fourteen allergens that must be declared on EU and UK labels, and that includes celery seed, celery salt and celery extract. It is not on the United States major allergen list, so a US label can legally bury it inside "spices" or "natural flavor"
- Celery salt is simply ground celery seed mixed with salt, which is how celery hides in Old Bay, in the rim of a Bloody Mary, in tomato juice, hot dog and coleslaw seasonings, potato salad, brines and dry rubs. This is the single most common way people with celery allergy get an unexpected dose
Examples
A few ingredients either way
Rated high
Grading
How we grade celery
Every ingredient in the database carries one grade for celery, and this page, the checker and the app all read that same grade. It describes the ingredient as it is usually eaten. Portion size and preparation move it.
Practical
Working with celery
- Read stocks, gravies and spice blends, where celery seed is a standard savoury base.
- Treat celeriac and celery seed as the same allergen as the stalk, not as milder relatives.
- Keep a detailed food and symptom diary to track your personal reactions
- Eliminate the suspected trigger completely for 2-4 weeks
- Reintroduce gradually to find your personal tolerance threshold
- Work with a healthcare provider or registered dietitian for guidance
- Remember that food sensitivities can change over time
Method
Test it with a diary
Most people find their own triggers by logging meals and symptoms for a few weeks and reading the result back. Three steps.
- 1Log every meal for a few weeks. Type it, say it out loud, or scan a barcode, and it lands as a list of ingredients.
- 2Rate how you feel through the day on whatever you are tracking, whether that is bloating, headaches, skin or sleep.
- 3Read the pattern back. Every ingredient you logged is scored against the days you felt worse, and the result ranks celery against everything else you eat.
Questions
Questions people ask
Can I eat celeriac if I am allergic to celery?
No. Celeriac is celery: it is a variety of the same species grown for its root, and it shares the same allergens. It is in fact the form most often implicated in serious celery reactions in Europe. Anyone with a diagnosed celery allergy should avoid celeriac, celery salt and celery seed as one group and read labels, since celery must be declared under EU and UK allergen rules.
More about celeriacIs celery seed the same as celery?
Botanically yes, culinarily no. Celery seed comes from wild celery or smallage, a bitter uncultivated form of the same species that was never bred for fat crunchy stalks. It tastes far more intense and slightly bitter, which is why it is used by the pinch. For allergy purposes treat it as celery. For trigger purposes it behaves quite differently from the stalk, since the stalk is graded high on polyols and overall FODMAPs while the seed is not.
More about celery seedDoes Old Bay contain celery, and does that matter for allergies?
It does. The first item on the ingredient statement is celery salt, which is salt combined with ground celery seed. Celery is one of the fourteen allergens that must be declared on EU and UK labels, but it is not one of the US major allergens, so an American jar can carry it with no allergen warning. For anyone with a celery allergy this is exactly the kind of hidden source that gets missed.
More about old bay seasoningIs celery seed an allergen?
Yes. Celery is one of the fourteen allergens that European and UK food law requires to be declared, and celery seed counts because it comes from the same plant, Apium graveolens. Reported reactions run from oral allergy symptoms to anaphylaxis, and there is a recognised food-dependent exercise-induced form where the reaction only appears if exercise follows the meal. The United States takes a different approach: celery is not one of its major allergens, so it can appear on a US label only as part of a generic spice blend.
More about celery seedIs celery low FODMAP?
Only in a small serving. Celery is high in mannitol, a sugar alcohol, so a small piece is low FODMAP but a larger amount tips over the threshold and can cause bloating. It is the polyol, not any allergen, that makes celery a FODMAP food.
More about celeryRead next
Where to go next
Get started
Tracking celery?
Log what you eat and how you feel, and the app finds the pattern for you. Or look an ingredient up here first.