Guide
How to label bought-in cakes you repack
If you take a bought-in cake out of its packaging and reseal it for sale from your premises before customers choose it, you typically become responsible for the PPDS particulars on the new pack — name and full ingredients with allergens emphasised.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The short answer
If you take a bought-in cake out of its packaging and reseal it for sale from your premises before customers choose it, you typically become responsible for the PPDS particulars on the new pack — name and full ingredients with allergens emphasised.
Write the ingredients list from the recipe and supplier specs, in descending order of weight, then emphasise every Annex II allergen each time it appears.
How to apply it
If you take a bought-in cake out of its packaging and reseal it for sale from your premises before customers choose it, you typically become responsible for the PPDS particulars on the new pack — name and full ingredients with allergens emphasised. Write the ingredients list from the recipe and supplier specs, in descending order of weight, then emphasise every Annex II allergen each time it appears. Walk the product in front of you against the checklist below before you print. The mistake to refuse is: Your new sealed pack needs a complete ingredients list if it is PPDS.
- Keep the original supplier specification
- Copy ingredients accurately onto your pack label
- Do not invent a shorter list
- If you add cream or toppings, include them
Worked example
Worked example for “How to label bought-in cakes you repack”: take one real SKU you sell this week. Apply the first check — keep the original supplier specification. Then contrast it with copy ingredients accurately onto your pack label. 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 you take a bought-in cake out of its packaging and reseal it for sale from your premises before customers choose it, you typically become responsible for the PPDS particulars on the new pack — name and full ingredients with allergens emphasised.)
Checklist before you print
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Keep the original supplier specification | For “How to label bought-in cakes you repack”, “Keep the original supplier specification” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Copy ingredients accurately onto your pack label | For “How to label bought-in cakes you repack”, “Copy ingredients accurately onto your pack label” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Do not invent a shorter list | For “How to label bought-in cakes you repack”, “Do not invent a shorter list” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| If you add cream or toppings, include them | For “How to label bought-in cakes you repack”, “If you add cream or toppings, include them” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
Sticking your logo over the supplier label and stopping there
Your new sealed pack needs a complete ingredients list if it is PPDS.
Go deeper
Next: Compound ingredients. Bought-in cakes are full of them. Then paste your ingredients into the free generator and confirm allergens before you print.
Questions
Can I point customers to the original box in the bin?
What if I only slice and plate to order?
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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