Free allergen label maker for PPDS food (Natasha's Law)

PPDS means prepacked for direct sale. It's food that you pack on the same premises where you sell it, before the customer chooses or orders it. That includes food sold from your market stall or van.

A simple test: is the food already in its packaging before the customer asks for it? If yes, and the food can't be changed without opening or changing the packaging, it's PPDS.

Selling online or by phone? The PPDS label rule doesn't apply to food sold at a distance. But you must give allergen information before the customer buys and again when the food arrives. A sticker on each dish works well, and this tool can print those too.

Not sure? The FSA has a free allergen and ingredients labelling decision tool on GOV.UK. Loose food you serve without packaging needs allergen information too. For that, use our allergen matrix maker.

The law asks for three things.

1. The name of the food. Use the legal name if there is one (like "sausage roll"). Otherwise use the name customers know, or a clear description such as "Ham and mustard sandwich on white bread".
2. A full ingredients list. It must start with a heading that includes the word "Ingredients". List ingredients in order of weight, heaviest first, as weighed when you made the food. If an ingredient has its own ingredients, like bread in a sandwich, list those in brackets after it.
3. The 14 allergens, emphasised. Every time an allergen appears in the list, make it stand out. You can use bold, CAPITALS, a contrasting colour or underlining.

A "Contains:" box isn't enough on its own. The allergens must be emphasised within the ingredients list itself. The only exception is a very small pack, such as a sauce pot, with a largest surface under 10cm². It still needs the name and a "Contains:" statement, and the full ingredients must be available another way.

• Minimum text size. The ingredients must be printed with an x-height of at least 1.2mm. If the largest surface of the pack is under 80cm², it can be 0.9mm. (The x-height is the height of a lowercase "x".) The tool checks this for you.
• Easy to see. Customers shouldn't have to open the packaging to read it.
• Clear contrast. No pale grey on brown kraft paper.
• Handwritten labels are allowed if they're clear and meet the size rules. Printed labels are faster and easier to get right every time.
• Meat products: if you sell PPDS meat products, you may also need to show how much meat is in them, for example "pork (80%)". Type the percentage in brackets after the meat.
• "May contain" isn't a legal requirement. The FSA says to use one only when your risk assessment finds a real risk of cross-contact that you can't remove. Name the allergen: "May contain sesame", not "May contain traces of everything".

Cheese and pickle sandwich. Ingredients: Malted bread (wheat flour, water, malted barley flake, yeast, salt, rapeseed oil, soya flour), mature Cheddar cheese (milk), pickle (swede, carrot, onion, sugar, barley malt vinegar, cauliflower, tomato paste, salt, spices), mayonnaise (rapeseed oil, water, egg yolk, spirit vinegar, salt, sugar, mustard seed, lemon juice), butter (milk).

This example has six allergens: cereals containing gluten (wheat and barley), soya, milk, egg and mustard. Each one is emphasised every time it appears. Example only: always copy ingredients from your own suppliers' labels.

1. 1

   Enter the name of the food.

   The legal name, the name customers know, or a clear description.

2. 2

   Add your ingredients in order of weight.

   Paste them from your supplier's label, or type them in. Add sub-ingredients in brackets for anything made of several things (bread, sauces, pastry).

3. 3

   Check the allergens.

   The tool finds the 14 allergens and emphasises them. Tap a word to stop emphasising it, or add one it missed. You must check this step yourself.

4. 4

   Choose your style.

   Bold is the default. You can switch to capitals, underline or colour.

5. 5

   Add optional extras.

   For example, your business name, a use-by date, storage advice, a "packed on" date or a QR code to your online menu.

6. 6

   Pick your label size.

   The tool picks the smallest size that fits your text at the legal minimum, and warns you if your text won't fit.

7. 7

   Print.

   Print a test sheet on plain paper first and hold it over your label sheet to check alignment.

You can save products in your browser and reprint them in seconds next time. You can also load your dishes and the allergens you've tagged from your Menuthere menu.

Sizes are standard industry sizes that most UK label brands sell. Check against your label pack before printing. Long ingredients lists need bigger labels. For sandwiches, a 99.1 × 57mm label (10 per A4 sheet) fits most ingredients lists at a legal text size; bigger lists may need 99.1 × 67.7mm.

Tip: print one product per sheet, or mix products on a sheet. You can also start halfway down a used sheet, so you don't waste labels.

Yes. The PPDS rules started on 1 October 2021 across the UK. England, Wales and Northern Ireland follow FSA guidance. Scotland follows guidance from Food Standards Scotland. The core label is the same: name, full ingredients list and allergens emphasised, with the same minimum text sizes. In both, food sold online or by phone isn't PPDS, but allergen information must still be given before the sale and at delivery.

• PPDS food (packed before ordering): a full ingredients label. Use this tool.
• Loose food (served unpacked or packed to order): allergen information in writing or by asking staff. Use our allergen matrix maker.
• Online and phone orders: allergen info before ordering and at delivery. Tag the allergens on each dish on your online menu so customers see them before they order, and stick a label on each item in the bag.

An allergen sheet on the wall doesn't replace PPDS labels. If you sell both PPDS and loose food, you need both.

On a Menuthere menu, you can tag any of the 14 allergens, calories and a halal mark on each dish, on every Menuthere plan including the free one. Customers see them when they open a dish, in every menu layout and in the digital menu booklet. Use the same allergens as your labels. Also keep a full allergen matrix for staff and customers to check; it can load the allergens you've tagged in Menuthere. See our takeaway ordering system.