Guide
Do meal prep businesses need PPDS labels?
Usually yes. Weekly meal pots packed before customers collect or receive them are classic PPDS: each pot needs the name of the food and a full ingredients list with allergens emphasised.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The short answer
Usually yes. Weekly meal pots packed before customers collect or receive them are classic PPDS: each pot needs the name of the food and a full ingredients list with allergens emphasised.
Decide PPDS using the FSA packing-before-selection test, then put name and ingredients with allergen emphasis on packs that meet it.
How to apply it
Usually yes. Weekly meal pots packed before customers collect or receive them are classic PPDS: each pot needs the name of the food and a full ingredients list with allergens emphasised. Decide PPDS using the FSA packing-before-selection test, then put name and ingredients with allergen emphasis on packs that meet it. Walk the product in front of you against the checklist below before you print. The mistake to refuse is: Nutrition extras are optional for typical PPDS. The emphasised ingredients list is not.
- Individual sealed meals packed ahead are PPDS
- Macros do not replace the ingredients list
- Sauce pots packed separately still need accurate labels
- Distance selling may add pre-order information duties
Worked example
Worked example for “Do meal prep businesses need PPDS labels?”: take one real SKU you sell this week. Apply the first check — individual sealed meals packed ahead are PPDS. Then contrast it with macros do not replace the ingredients list. 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. (Usually yes.)
Checklist before you print
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Individual sealed meals packed ahead are PPDS | For “Do meal prep businesses need PPDS labels?”, “Individual sealed meals packed ahead are PPDS” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Macros do not replace the ingredients list | For “Do meal prep businesses need PPDS labels?”, “Macros do not replace the ingredients list” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Sauce pots packed separately still need accurate labels | For “Do meal prep businesses need PPDS labels?”, “Sauce pots packed separately still need accurate labels” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Distance selling may add pre-order information duties | For “Do meal prep businesses need PPDS labels?”, “Distance selling may add pre-order information duties” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
Printing only calories and macros
Nutrition extras are optional for typical PPDS. The emphasised ingredients list is not.
Go deeper
Next: Meal prep industry guide. Weekly menus on rotation. Then paste your ingredients into the free generator and confirm allergens before you print.
Questions
Do frozen meal-prep packs need labels?
What if customers design their own bowl online?
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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