Guide
How to audit your PPDS labels monthly
Once a month, pull five products, compare the printed label to the current recipe and supplier specs, and fix mismatches the same day. Sample high-risk items with compound sauces first.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The short answer
Once a month, pull five products, compare the printed label to the current recipe and supplier specs, and fix mismatches the same day. Sample high-risk items with compound sauces first.
Control masters, reprint when recipes change, and train staff not to improvise labels. Process beats memory on a busy service.
How to apply it
Once a month, pull five products, compare the printed label to the current recipe and supplier specs, and fix mismatches the same day. Sample high-risk items with compound sauces first. Control masters, reprint when recipes change, and train staff not to improvise labels. Process beats memory on a busy service. Walk the product in front of you against the checklist below before you print. The mistake to refuse is: Quiet lines drift too.
- Pick five SKUs including one sauce-heavy product
- Diff label vs recipe vs specs
- Reprint failures immediately
- Log the audit date
Worked example
Worked example for “How to audit your PPDS labels monthly”: take one real SKU you sell this week. Apply the first check — pick five SKUs including one sauce-heavy product. Then contrast it with diff label vs recipe vs specs. 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. (Once a month, pull five products, compare the printed label to the current recipe and supplier specs, and fix mismatches the same day.)
Checklist before you print
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Pick five SKUs including one sauce-heavy product | For “How to audit your PPDS labels monthly”, “Pick five SKUs including one sauce-heavy product” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Diff label vs recipe vs specs | For “How to audit your PPDS labels monthly”, “Diff label vs recipe vs specs” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Reprint failures immediately | For “How to audit your PPDS labels monthly”, “Reprint failures immediately” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Log the audit date | For “How to audit your PPDS labels monthly”, “Log the audit date” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
Auditing only the bestseller
Quiet lines drift too.
Go deeper
Next: Keeping labels up to date. A maintenance routine. Then paste your ingredients into the free generator and confirm allergens before you print.
Questions
Is a monthly audit a legal requirement?
What evidence should I keep?
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
Related guides
Operations
Can I handwrite PPDS labels?
Yes. Handwritten PPDS labels are allowed if they are clear, permanent and complete: name of the food, full ingredients list, and allergen…
6 min read
Operations
Thermal printer allergen labels
Monochrome thermal printers are the workhorse for PPDS labels in cafés and bakeries. Use bold or capitals for allergen emphasis — colour…
6 min read
Operations
How to build an ingredient library for labels
An ingredient library is a verified list of every ingredient and compound mix you use, with allergens already mapped. Build it once from…
6 min read