PPDS labels: what to check before you print

If you pack food before the customer chooses it, that pack needs a PPDS label. A folder behind the till is not enough, and a QR code on the fridge is not enough either.

This guide is for independent UK cafés, bakeries, delis, pubs and takeaways. It covers what PPDS labels (Natasha’s Law labels) must show, what to look for in a labelling setup, and how to keep the pack in step with your other allergen information. Fourteen includes Natasha’s Law labels on Pro, from the same ingredient records as your menu and matrix. Plans and the 14-day free trial are on the pricing page.

What counts as PPDS food

The Food Standards Agency defines prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food as food packed on the same premises from which it is sold, before it is offered or selected by the customer.

In a café, bakery or takeaway that usually means:

• Sandwiches made in the morning and put in the display fridge
• Cakes or slices already in individual boxes
• Salad pots filled and lidded before service
• Bakery items bagged and sealed before anyone picks one
• Grab-and-go wraps, porridge pots or sausage rolls

Food assembled when the customer asks is not PPDS. Food that is not in packaging is not PPDS either. Both still need allergen information, just not a pack label. For the wider picture, see Fourteen’s allergen rules page.

The PPDS rules took effect on 1 October 2021 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Food Standards Scotland sets out equivalent rules for Scotland from the same date.

What Natasha’s Law labels must include

Natasha’s Law is the everyday name for these PPDS rules. On every PPDS item the pack itself must show:

• The name of the food
• A full ingredients list
• Any of the 14 regulated allergens emphasised in that list

That comes from the FSA’s PPDS guidance. Bold type is the usual way to emphasise allergens. Italics, underline or a contrasting colour are also used. The customer should be able to spot the allergens in the list without hunting.

The 14 allergens include celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites, and tree nuts. If an ingredient contains one of these, it has to appear in the list, emphasised.

PPDS labels should be printed and put on the food. A chalkboard, a ring binder or a QR code does not replace the name and ingredients on the pack. People have to be able to read the label without asking, then still speak to staff if they have an allergy.

Your local authority enforces the rules. Follow the FSA guidance, keep records that match what you are actually selling, and never treat a label as a substitute for that conversation.

What to look for before you choose a setup

You are choosing a way to keep labels true when recipes and suppliers change, not a one-off print run.

One list of ingredients. If the same ham goes in a sandwich, a toastie and a salad pot, record its allergens once. When the supplier label changes, you change it once and every pack that uses ham follows.

Allergens that add themselves up. Typing the allergens onto each label by hand is how packs drift from the matrix on the wall. Look for a setup where you tick ingredients and the 14 allergens calculate from that.

A printed pack, not only a screen. PPDS labels should be printed. A digital menu helps for food that is not PPDS. It does not take the place of the label on a prepacked item.

The same information everywhere. Your QR menu, allergen matrix, counter sign and pack labels should agree. If they disagree, staff and customers do not know which one to trust.

Easy to correct. A library of common UK ingredients is useful only if you can match it to your supplier labels. If your sliced bread lists soya and the default does not, you must be able to tick soya and move on.

You stay in charge. No tool should mark a dish safe. No tool replaces asking what someone needs to avoid and checking the current ingredients. The business remains responsible for its own allergen information.

DIY, templates or one ingredient list

Approach	When it can work	What tends to go wrong
Handwritten or Word labels	A tiny, stable range	A new batch or a new loaf and the pack is already wrong
Spreadsheet plus a label printer	A busy bakery bench	Two places to update, and the wall matrix is a third
One ingredient list feeding labels, menu and matrix	Venues that sell PPDS and made-to-order food	You still have to check every supplier label yourself

Templates are not wrong. They go stale. The FSA does not approve software, and nothing you buy makes food allergen-free. What you want is fewer places to edit, and a record of what you published.

Fourteen is built around that single ingredient list. You tick what goes in a dish. The allergens add themselves up. Change an ingredient once. The QR menu, the printable matrix and the Natasha’s Law labels on Pro all follow. Building and previewing are free, with no card. Natasha’s Law labels sit on Pro (Starter is £9 a month, Pro is £19 a month), and your first plan starts with a 14-day free trial.

A Monday-morning checklist

Walk this before the lunch rush.

1. List every item you pack before the customer selects it. Those are your PPDS products.
2. For each one, write the name as you sell it and every ingredient, including oils, garnishes, glazes and the bread.
3. Check the supplier label for each ingredient against the 14 allergens. Correct your records if they do not match.
4. Print the PPDS label and put it on the pack: name, full ingredients, allergens emphasised.
5. Make sure the same records feed your matrix and any QR menu, so the pack and the counter agree.
6. Brief the till: if someone has an allergy they should speak to staff before ordering, and staff should check today’s ingredients, not last week’s printout.

If a delivery arrives with a different spec, change the ingredient that day. Then print fresh PPDS labels for anything already packed with the old spec, or take those packs off sale.

When you are ready to keep all of that in one place, use Fourteen. Build the menu free, then go live on Pro if you need Natasha’s Law labels. Plans and the trial are on the pricing page.