Guide
Do delis need Natasha’s Law labels?
Yes for food packed before selection — sealed salad pots, wrapped sandwiches, cheese you cut and pack ahead. Food sliced and wrapped after the customer chooses usually follows different allergen-information practice.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The short answer
Yes for food packed before selection — sealed salad pots, wrapped sandwiches, cheese you cut and pack ahead. Food sliced and wrapped after the customer chooses usually follows different allergen-information practice.
Use the Food Standards Agency PPDS materials on GOV.UK for the core duty, then confirm awkward cases with your local authority.
How to apply it
Yes for food packed before selection — sealed salad pots, wrapped sandwiches, cheese you cut and pack ahead. Food sliced and wrapped after the customer chooses usually follows different allergen-information practice. Use the Food Standards Agency PPDS materials on GOV.UK for the core duty, then confirm awkward cases with your local authority. Walk the product in front of you against the checklist below before you print. The mistake to refuse is: If the dressing or garnish changed, the allergens may have changed. Reprint.
- Fridge pots filled in the morning are classic PPDS
- Compound dressings bring mustard, egg, fish and milk
- Repacked olives or meats need accurate ingredients
- Counter service to order is usually not PPDS
Worked example
Worked example for “Do delis need Natasha’s Law labels?”: take one real SKU you sell this week. Apply the first check — fridge pots filled in the morning are classic PPDS. Then contrast it with compound dressings bring mustard, egg, fish and milk. Write the name of the food and the full ingredients list from today’s recipe and supplier specs, emphasise every Annex II allergen each time it appears, and only then print. If the pack in your hand does not match that list, it is not ready for sale. (Yes for food packed before selection — sealed salad pots, wrapped sandwiches, cheese you cut and pack ahead.)
Checklist before you print
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Fridge pots filled in the morning are classic PPDS | For “Do delis need Natasha’s Law labels?”, “Fridge pots filled in the morning are classic PPDS” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Compound dressings bring mustard, egg, fish and milk | For “Do delis need Natasha’s Law labels?”, “Compound dressings bring mustard, egg, fish and milk” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Repacked olives or meats need accurate ingredients | For “Do delis need Natasha’s Law labels?”, “Repacked olives or meats need accurate ingredients” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Counter service to order is usually not PPDS | For “Do delis need Natasha’s Law labels?”, “Counter service to order is usually not PPDS” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
Copying yesterday’s salad label
If the dressing or garnish changed, the allergens may have changed. Reprint.
Go deeper
Next: Delis industry guide. Counter goods wrapped ahead. Then paste your ingredients into the free generator and confirm allergens before you print.
Questions
Do I label every cheese I cut?
What about soup in a sealed pot?
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.
- Introduction to allergen labelling for PPDS foodFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK
- Labelling guidance for prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food productsFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK
- Food allergen labelling and information requirements technical guidanceFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK
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