How to Use AllergenMaps
A step-by-step walkthrough for pharmacists, physicians, and other healthcare professionals using AllergenMaps to review medication excipients for patients with allergies or sensitivities.
Who This Is For
AllergenMaps is designed primarily for healthcare professionals — pharmacists, physicians, nurse practitioners, and clinical pharmacologists — who need to quickly identify potentially problematic excipients when prescribing or dispensing for patients with known allergies or sensitivities.
Self-directed patients and caregivers may also find it useful as a research tool, though all findings should be reviewed with a licensed healthcare provider before making medication decisions.
Pharmacists
Verify excipients before dispensing for patients with documented allergen sensitivities.
Prescribers
Compare manufacturer-specific formulations when switching or initiating therapy.
Care Teams
Research ingredient questions raised by patients and caregivers between visits.
What you'll learn in this guide:
- check_circleSetting up allergen filters that persist across searches
- check_circleSearching by brand name, generic name, or NDC code
- check_circleInterpreting the four safety badge types in search results
- check_circleReading a full medication excipient profile
- check_circleComparing multiple manufacturers side-by-side
Setting Your Allergen Profile
The allergen filter panel — visible in the left sidebar on the search page — is the core of AllergenMaps. Selecting filters before or after a search instantly re-sorts results, putting the safest options first and flagging anything that contains (or may contain) your patient's allergens.
16 dietary and sensitivity groups: Gluten, Alpha-Gal Syndrome, Milk/Lactose, Egg, Soy, Peanut/Tree Nut, Sulfites, Dyes & Colorants, and more. Organized by allergy severity.
Browse by individual excipient: Lactose/Dairy, Corn Starch, Gluten/Wheat, specific FD&C dyes (Blue No. 1, Yellow No. 5, Red No. 40), Gelatin, PEG, Povidone, Parabens, and 25+ more.
The interactive demo below mirrors the real filter panel. Use the tabs to switch between the two filtering methods. Click groups to activate them and see the live filter bar update.
Allergy / High Severity
Filter Mode
Click a group above to activate a filter
Filter modes explained:
Flags only medications with confirmed excipient matches. Cross-contamination risks and source-dependent ingredients show as "Possible match" rather than "To avoid." Good default for most clinical use cases.
Treats all possible matches (including cross-contamination risk) as "to avoid." Use for patients with severe IgE-mediated allergies where trace exposure is unacceptable.
?group=milk_lactose&group=gluten). Bookmark a filtered search URL to instantly apply a patient's allergen profile on future visits — no account required.Searching for a Medication
The search bar accepts three types of input. Each returns results in different ways:
e.g. "Prozac", "Lipitor", "Norvasc"
AllergenMaps automatically resolves brand names to their generic equivalents and shows all matching NDC listings, with an indicator showing what name was searched and what it resolved to.
e.g. "fluoxetine", "atorvastatin", "amlodipine"
Returns every manufacturer's version of the drug. If your patient has an allergy triggered by one manufacturer's excipients, generic-name search lets you compare across all available formulations.
e.g. "0777-3105", "0071-0156"
The most precise lookup. An NDC (National Drug Code) uniquely identifies a specific manufacturer's product and dosage form. Find the NDC on the medication label, outer packaging, or pharmacy receipt.
Example searches — try these on the live site
Understanding Search Results
When allergen filters are active, each result card shows a safety badge indicating whether the medication contains, may contain, or is clear of your selected allergens. Results are automatically sorted — safest options appear first.
No excipients from your allergen profile were detected in this formulation. It appears safe based on available data — but always verify against the current package insert.
Some inactive ingredients could not be fully verified against known allergen sources. Additional review is warranted before recommending this product to a sensitive patient.
An ingredient with potential cross-contamination risk or source-dependent allergen content was identified. Applies in Lenient mode for ingredients like cross-contamination-risk excipients.
A confirmed allergen was found in this medication's inactive ingredient list. The specific triggering excipient is shown below the medication name.
The interactive demo below shows four results for a fluoxetine search with the Milk / Lactose filter active. Click any card to expand the inactive ingredient list:
Click each card to expand ingredients · Demo only — use "Try it live" for real data
Reading a Medication Detail Page
Clicking any result card opens the full medication detail page. This shows the complete list of active and inactive ingredients as submitted to the FDA, along with allergen flags on individual excipients, manufacturer information, and NDC details.
Prozac (Fluoxetine Hydrochloride)
20 mg · Capsule · Eli Lilly and Company
NDC: 0777-3105
Active Ingredient
Inactive Ingredients
Contains Milk / Lactose — Lactose monohydrate is a dairy-derived excipient and a known trigger for lactose intolerance and milk protein reactions in sensitive patients.
Key sections on every detail page:
- medicationActive ingredients with strength and unit
- listFull inactive ingredient list with allergen flags on individual excipients
- businessManufacturer name and labeler code
- compare_arrows"Find Alternatives" button — opens the compare view for this medication
- linkDirect link to the official FDA label (shown where available)
Comparing Manufacturers
The same active ingredient can have very different inactive ingredients depending on the manufacturer. AllergenMaps' compare tool lets you view medications side-by-side — ideal for finding a safer alternative formulation.
How to use compare:
- 1Search for the medication by generic name (e.g., "atorvastatin") with your allergen filters active
- 2Open the detail page for any result to see its full ingredient profile
- 3Click "Find Alternatives" — the compare page opens, pre-loaded with manufacturer alternatives for that drug
- 4The compare page shows other manufacturers' versions ranked by your allergen profile — safe options first
Compare view — atorvastatin by two manufacturers
Lipitor (Atorvastatin Calcium)
Pfizer Inc.
NDC: 0071-0156
No matches foundInactive Ingredients
Atorvastatin Calcium
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Inc.
NDC: 43598-099
Contains your allergensInactive Ingredients
Takeaway: Same active ingredient, different inactive ingredient lists. Pfizer's Lipitor is clear of Milk/Lactose; Mylan's generic contains Lactose monohydrate.
You're Ready
You now know how to use AllergenMaps to look up medication excipients, configure allergen filters, and compare manufacturers. A few important reminders before you start:
Clinical Disclaimer
- infoAllergenMaps provides informational reference only — it does not constitute medical advice, diagnose conditions, or recommend treatments.
- infoHealthcare providers must independently verify information and exercise professional clinical judgment.
- infoData reflects FDA-submitted labels; formulations change and ingredient sourcing varies by lot.
- infoThe service is not intended to function as an autonomous clinical decision support system.
- infoIndividual patient responses may vary regardless of ingredient classifications shown.
Start Searching
Search hundreds of thousands of medications by brand, generic, or NDC.
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Questions or issues? Contact us at support@allergenmaps.com or use the contact form.