Guide
How to explain PPDS to new staff in 10 minutes
Teach three ideas: packed before choice means a full ingredients label; made to order is different; never sell a PPDS pack with a missing or homemade guesswork label. Show one correct pack and one wrong pack.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The short answer
Teach three ideas: packed before choice means a full ingredients label; made to order is different; never sell a PPDS pack with a missing or homemade guesswork label. Show one correct pack and one wrong pack.
Control masters, reprint when recipes change, and train staff not to improvise labels. Process beats memory on a busy service.
How to apply it
Teach three ideas: packed before choice means a full ingredients label; made to order is different; never sell a PPDS pack with a missing or homemade guesswork label. Show one correct pack and one wrong pack. 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: They need the packing test and where masters live.
- Packed before choice → PPDS label
- Made to order → different information rules
- Never invent allergens from memory
- Escalate recipe changes
Worked example
Worked example for “How to explain PPDS to new staff in 10 minutes”: take one real SKU you sell this week. Apply the first check — packed before choice → PPDS label. Then contrast it with made to order → different information rules. 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. (Teach three ideas: packed before choice means a full ingredients label; made to order is different; never sell a PPDS pack with a missing or homemade guesswork label.)
Checklist before you print
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Packed before choice → PPDS label | For “How to explain PPDS to new staff in 10 minutes”, “Packed before choice → PPDS label” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Made to order → different information rules | For “How to explain PPDS to new staff in 10 minutes”, “Made to order → different information rules” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Never invent allergens from memory | For “How to explain PPDS to new staff in 10 minutes”, “Never invent allergens from memory” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Escalate recipe changes | For “How to explain PPDS to new staff in 10 minutes”, “Escalate recipe changes” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
Handing them a 40-page binder on day one
They need the packing test and where masters live.
Go deeper
Next: Train staff on PPDS labels. A fuller induction outline. Then paste your ingredients into the free generator and confirm allergens before you print.
Questions
Do weekend staff need the same briefing?
Should front of house reprint labels?
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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