Guide
How to label cheese products for PPDS
Cheese is milk — emphasise milk. Some grated hard cheeses contain egg lysozyme; flavoured cheeses can add nuts or celery. List what the specification shows.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The short answer
Cheese is milk — emphasise milk. Some grated hard cheeses contain egg lysozyme; flavoured cheeses can add nuts or celery. List what the specification shows.
Emphasise Annex II allergens inside the ingredients list — bold, capitals, colour or underline — as set out in FSA allergen labelling guidance.
How to apply it
Cheese is milk — emphasise milk. Some grated hard cheeses contain egg lysozyme; flavoured cheeses can add nuts or celery. List what the specification shows. Emphasise Annex II allergens inside the ingredients list — bold, capitals, colour or underline — as set out in FSA allergen labelling guidance. Walk the product in front of you against the checklist below before you print. The mistake to refuse is: It is still milk for allergen labelling.
- Emphasise milk
- Check anti-caking blends and lysozyme
- Break out flavoured cheese ingredients
- Goat and sheep cheeses are still milk
Worked example
Worked example for “How to label cheese products for PPDS”: take one real SKU you sell this week. Apply the first check — emphasise milk. Then contrast it with check anti-caking blends and lysozyme. 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. (Cheese is milk — emphasise milk.)
Checklist before you print
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Emphasise milk | For “How to label cheese products for PPDS”, “Emphasise milk” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Check anti-caking blends and lysozyme | For “How to label cheese products for PPDS”, “Check anti-caking blends and lysozyme” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Break out flavoured cheese ingredients | For “How to label cheese products for PPDS”, “Break out flavoured cheese ingredients” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Goat and sheep cheeses are still milk | For “How to label cheese products for PPDS”, “Goat and sheep cheeses are still milk” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
Thinking hard cheese is too aged for milk declaration
It is still milk for allergen labelling.
Go deeper
Next: Goat’s cheese. Still milk. Then paste your ingredients into the free generator and confirm allergens before you print.
Questions
Is lactose-free cheese milk-free?
What about vegan cheese?
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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