Example label

Mince pie PPDS label example

Mince pies boxed before sale need the pastry allergens and the mincemeat allergens. Suet and sugar are not the surprise. Sulphites in the dried fruit, and brandy or barley if you add them, are.

Reviewed 23 September 2026 against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.

The label

Ingredients (teaching narrative)

Wheat flour, butter (milk), mincemeat (apple, dried vine fruits, sugar, suet, preservative: sulphur dioxide), sugar.

Wheat — pastry
Milk — butter
Sulphites — dried fruit in the mincemeat

What this teaches

Vegetable suet can contain wheat. Beef suet is not an Annex II allergen. Check which suet is in the mincemeat.

Is this PPDS?

Pies in boxes on a shop counter are PPDS. A pie served hot on a plate at the table is not a packed product.

Questions

Does mincemeat contain meat allergens?

Traditional mincemeat contains suet, not a named allergen meat. The allergens are in the pastry, the fruit preservative and any flour in the suet.

Do I declare brandy?

List alcoholic ingredients you add. Sulphites in wine or brandy count when the finished pie is at or above 10 mg/kg.

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