Allergen guidance and food labelling

Allergen and food labelling guidance for food business operators, including prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) labelling.

Food businesses operating in the retail and catering sector are required by law to:

  • provide allergen information to the consumer for both prepacked and non-prepacked food and drink
  • handle and manage food allergens effectively in food preparation

You must make sure that staff receive training on allergens. Consider changing 'Food businesses' to 'You' to make it less third person, so more like we're talking directly to them.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) provides information on training and has checklists to help you comply with the law. See FSA allergen guidance for food businesses.

Prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) allergen labelling

The requirements for labelling PPDS (also known as 'Natasha's Law') changed in 2021.

Any business that produces PPDS food must label it with the name of the food and a full ingredients list, with allergenic ingredients emphasised within the list.

This labelling helps protect your consumers by providing potentially life-saving allergen information on the packaging.

Read more: labelling guidance for PPDS food products