Database690 Japanese foods · labels checked up to 2026-11-02

Pork, Fish, Dairy, Alcohol: Words on Japanese Food Labels

If you avoid pork, eat vegetarian or vegan, keep halal, or have a food allergy, the hardest part of shopping in Japan is reading the 原材料名 (ingredient list). We went through the labels of 690 Japanese foods in our database and marked every word that points to pork, beef, chicken, fish or seafood (including dashi), milk, egg, gelatin, honey, insect-derived color or alcohol — and the words whose source the label does not reveal.

161contain a fish or seafood word — often bonito dashi
96contain a pork word (豚・ポーク・ラード)
79contain alcohol or mirin
295show no animal word at all — 228 of them also have no unclear group name

This is not a halal or vegan verdict. It only shows which words are printed on the label, as transcribed by us on the date shown on each product page. Recipes change, group names such as 乳化剤 (emulsifier) and 香料 (flavoring) need not name their source, and shared factory lines are not part of the ingredient list. Always check the package in your hand, and ask the manufacturer if it matters to you.

Find foods without the words you avoid

Hide foods whose label mentions:
Quick set:

690 of 690 foods shown

The words to look for (cheat sheet)

Japanese ingredient lists put food ingredients first, then a slash “／”, then food additives, each in order of weight. Allergens are often repeated at the end as （一部に〇〇・〇〇を含む） — “contains in part: …”. These are the words we matched. For the difference between 本みりん, みりん風調味料 and 発酵調味料, see our guide to mirin and mirin-style seasonings.

GroupWords on the labelNotesFoods
Pork豚肉・豚脂・ポークエキス・ラード・ベーコンPork meat, pork fat (lard) and pork extract. ハム (ham) is usually pork but is not matched unless 豚 or ポーク also appears.96
Beef牛肉・牛脂・ビーフエキス・ヘットBeef, beef fat (牛脂 / ヘット) and beef extract. 牛乳 (cow’s milk) is counted under Milk instead.30
Chicken鶏肉・チキンエキス・鶏ガラ・鶏油Chicken meat, bones (鶏ガラ), fat and extract. 鶏卵 (hen’s egg) is counted under Egg.111
Fish & seafood (incl. dashi)かつおぶし・かつおエキス・煮干・魚醤・えび・ほたてエキス・オイスターソースFish, shellfish and their extracts. In Japan, dashi (soup stock) is very often made from bonito flakes (かつおぶし) or dried sardines (煮干), so many seasonings that look vegetarian contain fish.161
Milk & dairy乳成分・牛乳・脱脂粉乳・バター・チーズ・ホエイMilk and dairy ingredients, including the allergen line “乳成分”. 乳化剤 (emulsifier), 乳酸 (lactic acid), 豆乳 (soy milk) and ココアバター (cocoa butter) are not dairy and are not matched.215
Egg卵・卵黄・卵白・鶏卵・全卵Egg, egg yolk and egg white.77
Gelatin & collagenゼラチン・コラーゲンペプチドUsually made from pork or beef skin and bones, or from fish. The label does not say which.51
Honeyはちみつ・蜂蜜Honey. Many vegans avoid it.11
Insect-derived colorコチニール色素・カルミン酸・ラック色素・シェラックRed colors and glazes made from insects (cochineal, lac).2
Alcohol & alcoholic seasonings酒精・アルコール・本みりん・料理酒・清酒・酒かす・ワインEthanol (酒精 / アルコール) and seasonings that contain alcohol such as mirin, cooking sake and wine. みりん風調味料 (mirin-style seasoning) usually contains far less alcohol than real mirin but is still matched by the word みりん. The label does not say how much alcohol remains. 酒石酸 (tartaric acid) and wine vinegar are not matched.79
Source not stated on the label乳化剤・香料・調味料（アミノ酸等）・ショートニング・たん白加水分解物・肉エキス・動植物油脂・発酵調味料Group names such as 乳化剤 (emulsifier) and 香料 (flavoring) may be declared without naming the substance, so the label does not tell you whether the source is plant or animal. 肉エキス (meat extract) does not say which animal, and たん白加水分解物 (hydrolyzed protein) does not say whether the protein is soy, wheat, milk or gelatin. 乳化剤 and 香料 marked with a source in brackets, such as 乳化剤（大豆由来）, are not counted here. Ask the manufacturer if it matters to you.355

Allergens on Japanese labels

  • Required (特定原材料): shrimp, crab, walnut, wheat, buckwheat, egg, milk, peanut, and cashew (added in April 2026).
  • Recommended (特定原材料に準ずるもの): about 20 more, including soybean, sesame, pork, beef, chicken, salmon, mackerel and gelatin. Because these are only recommended, a product may contain pork or gelatin without repeating it in the allergen line — read the whole ingredient list.
  • To translate any label yourself, paste it into our Ingredient Checker; it marks the same words and translates the allergen line.

Sources: Food Labeling Standards (Cabinet Office Ordinance No. 10 of 2015); Consumer Affairs Agency, allergen labeling. Product labels were transcribed from packages or the manufacturers’ official pages; see each product page for its source and date.

How we built this list

  • Every food in our product database (household goods excluded) was matched against the word groups above, using the full ingredient list and the allergen line as printed.
  • Words that only look similar are excluded: 乳化剤 (emulsifier), 乳酸 (lactic acid) and 豆乳 (soy milk) and ココアバター (cocoa butter) are not dairy; 酒石酸 (tartaric acid) and wine vinegar are not alcohol; 鶏卵 counts as egg, not chicken.
  • Notes about shared factory lines (本品製造工場では…) are not counted, because they are not ingredients.
  • “Source unclear” means the label uses a group name or a word such as 肉エキス (meat extract) whose origin it does not state.

Frequently asked questions

How can I tell if a Japanese food contains pork?
Look for 豚 (pork), 豚肉, 豚脂 (pork fat), ラード (lard), ポークエキス (pork extract) or ベーコン in the 原材料名 (ingredient list), and for 豚肉 or ゼラチン in the allergen line “（一部に…を含む）”. Pork is one of the allergens that Japan recommends (but does not require) manufacturers to label, so it usually appears there as well. Gelatin, 乳化剤 (emulsifier) and some extracts may also come from pork without saying so.
Why do so many Japanese seasonings contain fish?
Japanese soup stock (dashi) is traditionally made from dried bonito flakes (かつおぶし) or dried sardines (煮干), so soy-sauce-based seasonings, noodle soups and even some “vegetable” products list かつおエキス, 魚介エキス or 煮干. In our list, 161 of 690 foods contain a fish or seafood word.
Is mirin alcoholic? What do 酒精 and みりん風調味料 mean?
本みりん (true mirin) is a sweet rice seasoning that contains about 14% alcohol. 酒精 means ethanol, often added in small amounts as a preservative. みりん風調味料 (mirin-style seasoning) is made to taste like mirin and usually contains less than 1% alcohol. 発酵調味料 (fermented seasoning, mirin type) is made undrinkable with salt and can contain around 10% alcohol; we list it under “source unclear”. The label does not say how much alcohol remains after cooking.
Does this list tell me whether a product is halal or vegan?
No. It only shows whether certain words appear on the label. Halal status depends on certification and on how animals were slaughtered and food was processed, and group names such as 乳化剤 (emulsifier) or 香料 (flavoring) do not have to name their source. Ask the manufacturer, or look for halal or vegan certification marks.