UK Food Labelling Laws 2026: An Updated Compliance Guide for Sellers
UK food labelling laws have evolved since Brexit. Here is a 2026 update on what food labels must include for UK market sales, with specific attention to allergen requirements.
UK food labelling law is largely based on retained EU law (UK Food Information Regulations 2014, incorporating EU Regulation 1169/2011), with some post-Brexit adjustments. Here is a 2026 compliance guide for food businesses selling in Great Britain.
Mandatory Label Information for Pre-Packaged Food
Every pre-packaged food sold in Great Britain must carry:
- Name of the food: Accurate, specific, and not misleading
- Ingredient list: In descending order of weight at the time of manufacturing; with the 14 major allergens emphasised
- Allergens: Emphasised within the ingredient list (bold, italic, contrasting colour, or underline)
- Net quantity: In metric units
- Date of minimum durability (best before) or use-by date
- Storage conditions and temperature conditions where relevant
- Name and address: Of the food business operator in the UK
- Country of origin or place of provenance: For certain food categories
- Instructions for use: Where necessary
Nutrition Labelling
Nutrition information (energy, fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein, salt) per 100g and per portion is mandatory for most pre-packaged food.
Post-Brexit Changes
Following Brexit, address requirements changed from "EU" to "UK" addresses. Some product-specific regulations have diverged slightly from EU equivalents. Monitor FSA guidance for further divergence.
The 14 Major Allergens: What Sellers Must Declare
The 14 major allergens that must be emphasised in ingredient lists are: celery, cereals containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, kamut), crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, tree nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts), peanuts, sesame, soybeans, and sulphur dioxide and sulphites at concentrations above 10mg/kg or 10mg/litre. Each must be clearly distinguishable from the surrounding ingredient text using bold type, italic, underlining, or a contrasting colour. Omitting even one allergen or failing to emphasise it correctly can result in enforcement action by your local authority trading standards team.
When selling food online through a Shopify store, the allergen information must be available to the customer before they complete their purchase and again at the moment of delivery. This dual-stage disclosure requirement applies to all distance selling of food, including marketplace listings and social commerce. Simply stating "contains allergens — see packaging" is not sufficient for online sales; the specific allergens must be explicitly named in your product listing. Trading standards officers increasingly review food product pages, and non-compliant listings can be flagged without prior warning.
Allergen cross-contamination, often described with "may contain" or "produced in a facility that also handles" statements, is not currently a legal requirement under UK law, but the Food Standards Agency strongly encourages its use where genuine cross-contact risk exists. If you choose to include precautionary allergen labelling, it must be truthful and based on a documented risk assessment — it cannot be used as a blanket disclaimer to avoid responsibility. Keeping accurate, up-to-date allergen records for every product variant you sell is essential, particularly if you reformulate recipes or change suppliers. Allergen Matrix at saltai.app helps Shopify merchants manage exactly this.
Natasha's Law and Its Ongoing Impact on Food Businesses
Natasha's Law came into force on 1 October 2021 and fundamentally changed the rules for foods prepacked for direct sale (PPDS). A PPDS food is one that is packaged on the same premises from which it is sold directly to the consumer — for example, a sandwich made and wrapped in a café, or a jar of sauce prepared and labelled in a home kitchen. Before Natasha's Law, PPDS foods required only an allergen declaration; they now require a full ingredient list with all 14 allergens emphasised, displayed on the packaging itself. There is no grace period remaining; all PPDS foods must currently comply in full.
The law was named after Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who died in 2016 after suffering an allergic reaction to a baguette that did not display allergen information on its label. The subsequent inquest and campaign by her family led directly to the legislative change. For small and independent food businesses in the UK, the practical burden of compliance is real — every product variant requires its own accurate label, and any recipe change necessitates an immediate label update. Regulators do not distinguish between large manufacturers and cottage industry producers; the obligations are identical regardless of business size or turnover.
For Shopify sellers who produce PPDS foods and ship them directly to customers, the online product listing must also reflect the full ingredient and allergen information. Even if your physical label is fully compliant, failing to display allergens clearly in your online store can independently constitute a breach of the Food Information Regulations. Businesses operating across both physical and digital channels should treat their online product descriptions as legal documents that require the same rigour as their physical labels. Regular audits of your Shopify product pages against your current recipes are strongly recommended.
Country of Origin and Provenance Labelling Rules
Country of origin labelling is mandatory for specific food categories in Great Britain, including fresh, chilled, and frozen beef, veal, lamb, mutton, pork, goat, poultry, and fish. For these categories, the country of origin or place of provenance must appear on the label. For beef specifically, both the country of birth, rearing, and slaughter must be declared if they differ. Honey must indicate the country or countries of origin. For other food categories, origin labelling is only compulsory where omitting it would mislead the consumer — for example, if imagery or language on the packaging implies a particular geographical origin that is not accurate.
Post-Brexit, the rules for indicating origin have become more complex for businesses sourcing ingredients from both GB and EU suppliers. If your primary ingredient originates outside the UK but your product is manufactured in the UK, you may still need to declare the ingredient's origin separately from the product's country of manufacture. The FSA has published category-specific guidance, and it is advisable to review it for each product line individually rather than applying a single blanket approach. Labelling a product "Made in the UK" when a significant primary ingredient is imported can attract scrutiny if consumers could reasonably be misled.
For food businesses selling niche, artisan, or geographically distinctive products — such as regional cheeses, cured meats, or traditional preserves — it is also worth considering whether your product may qualify for a UK Geographical Indication (GI) scheme, which replaced EU Protected Designation of Origin and Protected Geographical Indication schemes after Brexit. Registering under a UK GI scheme can add commercial value and legal protection to your product name, but it also imposes strict production and labelling standards that must be maintained continuously. Check the DEFRA register to see whether your product category has an active UK GI scheme in place.
Date Marking: Best Before, Use By, and Frozen Food Rules
Use-by dates must be applied to foods that are microbiologically perishable and likely to pose an immediate danger to human health after a short period — chilled ready meals, fresh meat, dairy products, and similar items typically fall into this category. It is a criminal offence to sell food past its use-by date in Great Britain, even if the food appears and smells acceptable. The use-by date must be accompanied by the storage conditions required to ensure the food remains safe until that date. Businesses that change their packaging or storage instructions must re-validate that their stated use-by date remains accurate for the new conditions.
Best-before dates apply to foods where quality rather than safety is the primary concern after the stated period — dried pasta, tinned goods, biscuits, and frozen products are common examples. Unlike use-by dates, selling food past its best-before date is not automatically illegal, provided the food remains safe and is not presented in a misleading way. However, trading standards can still act where the quality deterioration is significant enough to make the sale misleading under consumer protection legislation. Some food waste reduction businesses specifically retail past-best-before products, but they must be transparent with consumers about this at the point of sale.
Frozen food carries specific labelling requirements regarding recommended freezer storage times, shown by star ratings or explicit statements such as "use within three months of freezing." If you sell frozen products through your Shopify store and ship them with dry ice or frozen gel packs, your labelling must also address any relevant storage conditions for the transit period and what the customer should do upon receipt. Temperature-controlled delivery does not exempt you from including this information on the product label itself. Always document your cold chain procedures and retain records, as these may be requested during any enforcement investigation.
Selling Food on Shopify: Practical Compliance Steps for 2026
Building a compliant food product listing on Shopify requires treating your product description, images, and metadata as part of your legal label rather than purely as marketing copy. Your product page must display the food name, full ingredient list with emphasised allergens, net quantity, storage instructions, and the name and address of the UK food business operator. If your product page uses imagery that implies a particular ingredient quality, geographical origin, or health benefit, the supporting text must substantiate that claim — unsubstantiated nutrition and health claims are separately regulated under retained EU law and enforced by trading standards.
Maintaining version control over your product listings is a practical necessity that many small food businesses overlook. When you reformulate a recipe, change a supplier, or update packaging, your Shopify product page must be updated simultaneously — not at the next convenient opportunity. A mismatch between your physical label and your online product listing creates a compliance gap that exposes you to enforcement risk from two directions: food safety legislation and consumer protection law. Keeping a simple changelog for each product, recording the date of every recipe or supplier change alongside the corresponding label and listing update, gives you an audit trail that demonstrates good faith compliance.
Shopify merchants selling food should also review their returns and complaints handling procedures in the context of food safety. If a customer reports an unexpected allergic reaction or illness potentially linked to your product, you are required under the Food Safety Act 1990 to investigate and, where appropriate, notify your local environmental health authority. Withdrawing a non-compliant product from sale promptly and documenting your response is both a legal obligation and a practical protection for your business. Tools that centralise your allergen data and flag inconsistencies across product variants reduce the likelihood of errors reaching customers in the first place.
Manage allergen labelling compliance across your Shopify food store with Allergen Matrix at saltai.app.
Try Allergen Matrix free at saltai.app — no credit card required.
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.