Guide
How to handle allergen near-misses in the kitchen
If the wrong ingredient almost went into a PPDS product, stop, discard or relabel as needed, record what happened, and fix the process that allowed it. Do not sell packs you cannot vouch for.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The short answer
If the wrong ingredient almost went into a PPDS product, stop, discard or relabel as needed, record what happened, and fix the process that allowed it. Do not sell packs you cannot vouch for.
Control masters, reprint when recipes change, and train staff not to improvise labels. Process beats memory on a busy service.
How to apply it
If the wrong ingredient almost went into a PPDS product, stop, discard or relabel as needed, record what happened, and fix the process that allowed it. Do not sell packs you cannot vouch for. 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: Allergens are not visible. If the record is wrong, the pack is wrong.
- Stop the line for that product
- Do not sell unverified packs
- Record ingredient, product and time
- Update training or process the same day
Worked example
Worked example for “How to handle allergen near-misses in the kitchen”: take one real SKU you sell this week. Apply the first check — stop the line for that product. Then contrast it with do not sell unverified packs. 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. (If the wrong ingredient almost went into a PPDS product, stop, discard or relabel as needed, record what happened, and fix the process that allowed it.)
Checklist before you print
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Stop the line for that product | For “How to handle allergen near-misses in the kitchen”, “Stop the line for that product” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Do not sell unverified packs | For “How to handle allergen near-misses in the kitchen”, “Do not sell unverified packs” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Record ingredient, product and time | For “How to handle allergen near-misses in the kitchen”, “Record ingredient, product and time” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Update training or process the same day | For “How to handle allergen near-misses in the kitchen”, “Update training or process the same day” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
Selling the batch because it “looked fine”
Allergens are not visible. If the record is wrong, the pack is wrong.
Go deeper
Next: Keeping labels up to date. Routines that prevent repeats. Then paste your ingredients into the free generator and confirm allergens before you print.
Questions
Should I write may contain after a near miss?
Do I tell my local authority?
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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