Food labelling requirements in the UK: a checklist for small brands

Updated 2 November 2026 · DELLI

Food labelling requirements in the UK say prepacked food must show the name of the food, an ingredients list with allergens emphasised, the net quantity, a best before or use by date, any storage conditions, the name and address of the UK food business and a lot or batch mark, plus further details that depend on the product. This guide turns the Food Standards Agency (FSA) rules for Great Britain into a checklist you can hold against your next label proof, with the field of vision and font size rules. Use it to prepare, then check your label with your local trading standards service or the FSA guidance before you print.

1. What are the food labelling requirements in the UK?

The rules in this guide apply to prepacked food sold in Great Britain: food packed before it reaches the shop, such as a jar of chutney, a bottle of sauce or a wrapped brownie. Any prepacked food you sell to shops needs a full label.

Three points before you start:

• Northern Ireland follows some different rules. If you sell there, check the rules that apply before you print.
• Unwrapped food works differently. If you supply food unwrapped, such as a whole cake a café will slice, you must give the café allergen information so it can tell its customers.
• Register first. Food businesses must register with their local council at least 28 days before they start trading. Registration is free.

2. Food label checklist

Hold each label proof against this table and tick every row that applies. The middle column says when each item is needed.

Keep a copy of this checklist with each product's recipe and label file, and run it again every time the recipe or the label changes.

3. Allergen labelling and the ingredients list

Allergen labelling on prepacked food happens inside the ingredients list. You list every ingredient in descending order of weight, and emphasise any of the 14 allergens, for example in bold. The FSA guidance lists the 14 allergens; check every ingredient against it, including the ingredients of ingredients such as a stock, a sauce or a spice blend you buy in.

The 14 allergens that must be emphasised are:

• celery
• cereals containing gluten, such as wheat, rye, barley and oats
• crustaceans, such as prawns and crabs
• eggs
• fish
• lupin
• milk
• molluscs, such as mussels and oysters
• mustard
• tree nuts, such as almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts
• peanuts
• sesame
• soya
• sulphur dioxide and sulphites, above 10mg per kg or per litre

An example label for a chilli sauce

Allergen information for unwrapped food

If you supply food unwrapped, the café or shop that serves it needs your allergen information to tell its customers. Give a one-page sheet for each product, and send a new one in writing whenever a recipe or an ingredient supplier changes. Our guide on how to sell to cafés covers what to send with each delivery.

When a recipe changes

A new supplier for one ingredient can bring a new allergen. Ask suppliers to tell you when their specification changes, check the specification of everything you buy in, and update the label before the new batch goes out.

4. Details that depend on your product

Nutrition declaration

Prepacked food needs a nutrition declaration unless an exemption applies. One exemption covers handcrafted food supplied in small quantities directly by the manufacturer to the final consumer, or to local retailers that supply the final consumer. Whether it covers you depends on your product and who you sell to, so ask your local trading standards service before you leave the panel off. If you plan to sell through a distributor or to shops further away, the exemption may stop applying.

Alcoholic strength

Drinks over 1.2% ABV must show their alcoholic strength, in the same field of vision as the name and the net quantity. That covers beer, cider, wine and spirits, and any other drink above that strength.

Quantity of an ingredient (QUID)

If you name an ingredient in the product name ("Smoked Habanero"), picture it on the label, or emphasise it in words or design, show its percentage. Check your artwork as well as your words: a drawing of strawberries on a jam label counts as picturing them.

Country of origin, instructions and storage

Country of origin or place of provenance is needed where required, instructions for use where needed, and storage conditions or conditions of use where needed. The FSA guidance sets out when each applies. If a customer could store or use the product wrongly without the line on the label, add it.

5. Food labelling regulations UK: field of vision and font size

Same field of vision

The name of the food, the net quantity and, for drinks over 1.2% ABV, the alcoholic strength must appear in the same field of vision, so a shopper can see them together. On a jar or bottle with front and back labels, the simplest way to meet this is to put all three on the front. If you wrap one label around a bottle, check the three can be read together from one side.

Minimum font size

The rule uses x-height: the height of a lowercase "x" in the font you use. It must be at least 1.2mm. If the largest surface of the pack is under 80cm², the minimum is 0.9mm.

Condensed and decorative fonts can look large but measure small. Set the ingredients list in a plain font and measure it before you approve the proof.

6. How to check your label before you print

1. Write the full recipe with every ingredient by weight, including the components of anything you buy in.
2. Order the ingredients list by weight, heaviest first.
3. Mark the allergens against the FSA's list of 14 and emphasise each in the ingredients list.
4. Check the product name and artwork for any ingredient you name, picture or emphasise, and add its percentage.
5. Run the checklist in section 2 against the proof.
6. Measure the text at actual size against the x-height minimum.
7. Check the front shows the name, net quantity and, for drinks over 1.2% ABV, the strength together.
8. Plan your batch code so each unit traces back to a production date and batch.
9. Ask your local trading standards service for advice on the label, or check it against the FSA guidance yourself, before you order a print run.

Shop buyers read labels before they buy. A clear, correct label is part of your pitch, alongside the trade sheet covered in our guide to building a wholesale price list and trade sheet. When you start approaching farm shops and delis, our guide to getting stocked in farm shops and delis covers the next steps.

This guide summarises FSA rules for prepacked food in Great Britain and is not legal advice. Rules change; check the current FSA guidance or ask your local trading standards service.

Questions about food labelling

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