Guide
How to label pastry products
Puff, shortcrust and filo usually bring wheat and often milk or egg. When sealed before selection, list pastry components and fillings with allergens emphasised.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The short answer
Puff, shortcrust and filo usually bring wheat and often milk or egg. When sealed before selection, list pastry components and fillings with allergens emphasised.
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
Puff, shortcrust and filo usually bring wheat and often milk or egg. When sealed before selection, list pastry components and fillings with allergens emphasised. 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: Ask for the pastry specification.
- Break out bought-in pastry
- Declare butter or margarine
- Include egg glaze when used
- Fillings need their own allergens
Worked example
Worked example for “How to label pastry products”: take one real SKU you sell this week. Apply the first check — break out bought-in pastry. Then contrast it with declare butter or margarine. 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. (Puff, shortcrust and filo usually bring wheat and often milk or egg.)
Checklist before you print
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Break out bought-in pastry | For “How to label pastry products”, “Break out bought-in pastry” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Declare butter or margarine | For “How to label pastry products”, “Declare butter or margarine” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Include egg glaze when used | For “How to label pastry products”, “Include egg glaze when used” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Fillings need their own allergens | For “How to label pastry products”, “Fillings need their own allergens” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
Treating pastry as a black box
Ask for the pastry specification.
Go deeper
Next: Allergens in puff pastry. Wheat and dairy. Then paste your ingredients into the free generator and confirm allergens before you print.
Questions
Is filo always dairy-free?
What about vegan puff pastry?
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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