Guide
How to emphasise allergens on thermal labels
On monochrome thermal printers use bold or capitals for allergen emphasis — colour will not show. Keep font size large enough for x-height rules and never rely on a coloured highlight that disappears in print.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The short answer
On monochrome thermal printers use bold or capitals for allergen emphasis — colour will not show. Keep font size large enough for x-height rules and never rely on a coloured highlight that disappears in print.
Control masters, reprint when recipes change, and train staff not to improvise labels. Process beats memory on a busy service.
How to apply it
On monochrome thermal printers use bold or capitals for allergen emphasis — colour will not show. Keep font size large enough for x-height rules and never rely on a coloured highlight that disappears in print. 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: Pink highlights vanish. Capitals survive.
- Prefer bold or CAPITALS
- Test a print on your actual stock
- Avoid colour-only emphasis
- Do not switch fonts mid-list if it breaks clarity
Worked example
Worked example for “How to emphasise allergens on thermal labels”: take one real SKU you sell this week. Apply the first check — prefer bold or CAPITALS. Then contrast it with test a print on your actual stock. 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. (On monochrome thermal printers use bold or capitals for allergen emphasis — colour will not show.)
Checklist before you print
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Prefer bold or CAPITALS | For “How to emphasise allergens on thermal labels”, “Prefer bold or CAPITALS” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Test a print on your actual stock | For “How to emphasise allergens on thermal labels”, “Test a print on your actual stock” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Avoid colour-only emphasis | For “How to emphasise allergens on thermal labels”, “Avoid colour-only emphasis” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Do not switch fonts mid-list if it breaks clarity | For “How to emphasise allergens on thermal labels”, “Do not switch fonts mid-list if it breaks clarity” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
Designing in colour then printing in black
Pink highlights vanish. Capitals survive.
Go deeper
Next: How to emphasise allergens. All four allowed methods. Then paste your ingredients into the free generator and confirm allergens before you print.
Questions
Is underline OK on thermal?
Can I put allergens only in a box at the bottom?
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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