Example label
Hot cross bun label example
Hot cross buns bagged before sale contain wheat and, in most enriched doughs, milk and egg. Barley malt extract is common. Sulphites sit in the sultanas and mixed peel more often than people expect.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The label
Ingredients (teaching narrative)
Wheat flour, milk, butter (milk), egg, sugar, barley malt extract, sultanas (sulphites), mixed peel, mixed spice.
- Wheat
- Milk
- Eggs
- Barley — malt extract
- Sulphites — dried fruit, when at or above 10 mg/kg
What this teaches
Mixed spice is not an allergen. The malt and the fruit preservative are the non-obvious ones.
Is this PPDS?
Buns in bags are PPDS. Loose buns on a tray are not packed.
Questions
Are hot cross buns gluten-free if I use spelt?
No. Spelt is wheat.
Does the cross paste add allergens?
A flour-and-water paste is more wheat. An oil paste may add nothing new. List what you used.
Official sources
Everything on this page traces back to these. Where they and we disagree, they are right — tell us and we'll fix it.
- Labelling guidance for prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food productsFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK
- Introduction to allergen labelling for PPDS foodFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK
Typical sectors: Bakeries.