UK Food Business Legal Requirements: A Checklist for New Sellers
Starting a food business in the UK involves multiple legal requirements. Here is a checklist for new food sellers covering registration, labelling, safety, and trading law.
Every new food business in the UK must navigate a set of legal requirements before selling. Missing any of these can result in enforcement action, fines, or reputational damage. Here is a new seller compliance checklist.
Business Registration and Structure
- Register business with HMRC (sole trader, limited company, or partnership)
- Register for VAT if turnover exceeds the VAT threshold (or voluntarily if beneficial)
Food Business Registration
- Register as a food business with your local authority (free, required at least 28 days before trading)
- Prepare and implement a written food safety management system (HACCP-based)
- Ensure food preparation premises meet food hygiene standards
Labelling Compliance
- Ensure all pre-packaged products carry mandatory label information
- Verify allergen labelling is compliant (all 14 allergens emphasised in ingredient list)
- Check nutrition labelling is included where required
Online Selling Requirements
- Display business name and address on your website
- Publish privacy policy and cookie policy
- Ensure online product descriptions are accurate and not misleading
- Display allergen information on product pages before purchase
Food Hygiene Rating
- Receive food hygiene inspection and achieve a rating
- Display rating on website if operating in Wales or Northern Ireland (mandatory); display voluntarily in England
Understanding Natasha's Law and Prepacked for Direct Sale
Natasha's Law came into force in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland on 1 October 2021, and it fundamentally changed how food businesses must label prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) products. PPDS food is food that is packaged on the same premises from which it is sold directly to the customer — think a wrapped sandwich made in your café, or a labelled cake sold at your market stall. Before the law changed, allergen information for these products could be provided verbally or via a nearby sign, which left significant room for error and miscommunication.
Under Natasha's Law, every PPDS product must carry a full ingredient list with all 14 major allergens clearly emphasised — typically in bold, italics, or a contrasting colour — directly on the packaging. The name of the food must also appear on the label. This is not simply a best-practice recommendation; it is a legal requirement, and enforcement officers from your local authority can issue improvement notices or bring prosecutions if products are found to be non-compliant. For small producers managing multiple product lines, keeping labels accurate and up to date is one of the most operationally demanding aspects of compliance.
For online food businesses selling PPDS or pre-packaged goods, the obligation extends to your digital storefront. Customers must be able to view full allergen information before they complete a purchase, not simply at the point of delivery. This means your product pages need to carry accurate, formatted allergen data in a way that is easy to read and unambiguous. Tools like Allergen Matrix are specifically designed to help Shopify food sellers display this information correctly and consistently across their entire product catalogue.
Product Traceability and Supplier Documentation
Traceability is a legal requirement under UK food law, and it applies to every business in the food supply chain regardless of size. Under the retained EU regulation known as General Food Law (Regulation EC 178/2002, now incorporated into UK law), food businesses must be able to identify where their ingredients came from and where their finished products have been supplied. In practice, this means keeping records of your ingredient suppliers, batch numbers, and delivery dates in a format that can be retrieved quickly in the event of a food safety incident or recall.
New sellers often underestimate how much documentation is involved in maintaining adequate traceability. At a minimum, you should retain supplier invoices and delivery notes, maintain a product specification sheet for each item you produce, and record the lot or batch codes of raw materials used in each production run. If you are a small home baker or cottage food producer, a simple spreadsheet can be sufficient, but it must be kept consistently and updated with every production batch. Local authority inspectors will ask to see these records during a routine inspection.
Your supplier relationships are also part of your traceability obligation. You should have written confirmation from every ingredient supplier of the allergen status of their products, including information about cross-contamination risks from shared production lines. Never rely solely on a product's retail label for allergen information when using it as an ingredient in a food you sell commercially — always request a formal allergen declaration or technical data sheet. This documentation forms a critical part of your HACCP food safety system and protects both your customers and your business.
Consumer Contracts and Distance Selling Regulations
When you sell food online, you are operating under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, which govern distance selling in the UK. These regulations require you to provide specific pre-contract information to customers before they place an order, including the total price of goods, delivery costs, your business address, and details of any complaints procedure. For food businesses, these requirements sit alongside food-specific labelling and allergen information obligations, creating a layered compliance picture that new sellers must understand in full.
One area that catches many food sellers off guard is the right to cancel. Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations, customers generally have a 14-day cancellation right for goods purchased online. However, there is an exemption for goods that are liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly, which covers most perishable food products. You should clearly state in your terms and conditions that perishable food orders cannot be cancelled once dispatched, and explain this at the checkout stage. Failing to communicate this correctly can lead to disputes and chargebacks that are difficult and time-consuming to resolve.
Your terms and conditions, refund policy, and delivery information must all be accessible on your website before a purchase is made — not just in a confirmation email sent afterwards. Many new Shopify food sellers publish these pages but fail to link to them from the checkout or product pages where customers actually need them. Review every step of your customer journey to ensure that legally required information is visible and accessible at each relevant touchpoint. This is good practice both for compliance and for building customer trust from the very first order.
Insurance Requirements for Food Businesses
Public liability insurance is not a legal requirement for all food businesses, but it is strongly advisable and in many cases a practical necessity. If you sell at markets, pop-up events, or through third-party platforms, most venue operators and platform agreements will require you to hold a minimum level of public liability cover — often £2 million or £5 million — before they allow you to trade. Without it, you may find yourself unable to participate in events or partnerships that are important to your growth as a new seller.
Product liability insurance is a separate but equally important consideration. If a customer suffers an allergic reaction or illness as a result of consuming your product, a product liability claim could be brought against your business regardless of whether you believe you followed every correct procedure. The cost of defending such a claim, or settling it, can easily exceed the annual premium of a specialist food business insurance policy. Many insurers offer combined public and product liability policies tailored specifically to small food producers, and the cost is typically modest relative to the protection it provides.
If you employ staff — even part-time or casual workers — employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement, not optional. You must hold a minimum of £5 million cover and display your certificate of insurance where employees can see it, or keep it readily accessible. Beyond these core policies, you may also want to consider stock and equipment cover, particularly if you invest heavily in specialist food production equipment or hold significant levels of perishable ingredients. Speaking with a broker who specialises in food business insurance will help you identify the right level of cover for your specific operation.
Intellectual Property and Brand Protection
When you launch a food brand, the name, logo, and packaging design you create can be valuable commercial assets worth protecting from the outset. In the UK, you can register a trademark with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to gain exclusive rights to use a name or logo in connection with your goods and services. Without a registered trademark, you are relying on the common law right of passing off to protect your brand, which is harder to enforce and requires you to demonstrate an established reputation — something a new business by definition does not yet have.
Before you invest in packaging, labelling, or brand development, it is worth conducting a trademark search to confirm that your chosen business name or product name is not already in use in your product category. Trading under a name that infringes an existing registered trademark can result in a legal challenge that forces you to rebrand entirely, which is both costly and disruptive. The IPO's online search tool is freely available, and a preliminary search can be completed without professional help, though a trademark attorney can provide a more thorough clearance opinion before you file an application.
Copyright in original artwork, photography, and written content is automatic in the UK and does not need to be registered. However, you should ensure that any images, fonts, or design elements you use on your website, social media, and product packaging are either your own original work or properly licensed for commercial use. Using unlicensed stock photography or third-party fonts on commercial food packaging is a common and avoidable mistake that can expose you to unexpected legal claims. Build good intellectual property habits early, and they will support the long-term value and defensibility of your food brand.
Ensure your online food store is fully compliant with Allergen Matrix for allergen labelling — free to get started at saltai.app.
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SaltAI Team
SaltAI builds focused Shopify apps for food merchants and general merchants. Every app is tested in production at a real food store — including Vanda's Kitchen — before it ships.