Guide
How to label egg-free products that still have allergens
Egg-free only means egg is absent. PPDS packs still need a full ingredients list with any other Annex II allergens emphasised — wheat, milk, soya, nuts and the rest.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The short answer
Egg-free only means egg is absent. PPDS packs still need a full ingredients list with any other Annex II allergens emphasised — wheat, milk, soya, nuts and the rest.
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
Egg-free only means egg is absent. PPDS packs still need a full ingredients list with any other Annex II allergens emphasised — wheat, milk, soya, nuts and the rest. 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: Claims are not ingredients lists.
- Do not stop at an egg-free claim
- List all ingredients
- Emphasise remaining allergens
- Watch vegan egg replacers for soya
Worked example
Worked example for “How to label egg-free products that still have allergens”: take one real SKU you sell this week. Apply the first check — do not stop at an egg-free claim. Then contrast it with list all ingredients. 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. (Egg-free only means egg is absent.)
Checklist before you print
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Do not stop at an egg-free claim | For “How to label egg-free products that still have allergens”, “Do not stop at an egg-free claim” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| List all ingredients | For “How to label egg-free products that still have allergens”, “List all ingredients” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Emphasise remaining allergens | For “How to label egg-free products that still have allergens”, “Emphasise remaining allergens” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Watch vegan egg replacers for soya | For “How to label egg-free products that still have allergens”, “Watch vegan egg replacers for soya” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
Printing only “egg free” on the pack
Claims are not ingredients lists.
Go deeper
Next: Eggs on food labels. When egg is present. Then paste your ingredients into the free generator and confirm allergens before you print.
Questions
Can egg-free bakery still contain milk?
Do I emphasise egg if it is absent?
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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