Flax seeds: allergens and what’s inside

Which allergens are in flax seeds?

Of 248 packs of flax seeds whose ingredient list Open Food Facts reads in full, 4% list gluten, 4% list sesame, 4% list tree nuts and 1% list mustard. Another 26% carry a “may contain” line for sesame, 25% for tree nuts and 24% for gluten. Recipes differ from pack to pack, so the label in your hand is the one that counts.

Not for you when most of these packs list the allergen, Heads up when fewer do or only a “may contain” line names it. In the app, a profile gets Not for you on a pack that lists the allergen and Heads up on one whose “may contain” line names it: it reads the pack in your hand, not these counts.

What are flax seeds usually made of?

The ingredients most packs of flax seeds list, with the share of packs that list each: flax seed (98%) and brown flax seeds (20%).

• Flax seed98%
• Brown flax seeds20%

Packs in Open Food Facts, by country of sale: France 181 · Germany 161 · Spain 67 · United States 66.

Counted on 13 October 2026 from the Open Food Facts product database, which volunteers fill from real packs: it shows what these packs list, not every recipe for flax seeds.

Calories and nutrients

Not shown here. Open Food Facts records calories and nutrients per 100 g or per 100 ml without saying which, so a figure for all these packs together could mislead. The pack you buy prints its own, and that is the figure to log.

What kind of food are flax seeds?

In the Open Food Facts categories, flax seeds are one of the seeds.

What else are flax seeds called?

French

Lins, Lin cultivé

German

Leinsamen, Leinsaaten

Spanish

Lino, Linaza

Italian

Lino, Semi di lino

Dutch

Lijnzaad, Zaad van vlas

Portuguese

Linhaça

Polish

Siemię lniane, Nasiona lnu

Sources

Every share is counted over the packs whose ingredient list Open Food Facts reads in full. A pack lists an allergen when Open Food Facts’ allergen field names it, or when one of its ingredients stands for it by the same two-of-three checks as the ingredient dictionary (tahini is sesame, a cheese is milk). A “may contain” line counts only for an allergen the pack does not list.

1. Open Food Facts: product database, 4,535,553 products, read 13 October 2026, ODbL
2. Open Food Facts: categories and ingredients taxonomies (names, kinds, allergens), ODbL
3. Open Food Facts: Flax seeds

Contains information from Open Food Facts, which is made available here under the Open Database License (ODbL). Read the licence · Download this guide’s data · How we check