Guide
How to label sausage rolls and pasties
When sealed or boxed before customers choose them, sausage rolls and pasties are usually PPDS. Pastry brings wheat and often milk or egg; fillings bring more.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The short answer
When sealed or boxed before customers choose them, sausage rolls and pasties are usually PPDS. Pastry brings wheat and often milk or egg; fillings bring more.
Decide PPDS using the FSA packing-before-selection test, then put name and ingredients with allergen emphasis on packs that meet it.
How to apply it
When sealed or boxed before customers choose them, sausage rolls and pasties are usually PPDS. Pastry brings wheat and often milk or egg; fillings bring more. Decide PPDS using the FSA packing-before-selection test, then put name and ingredients with allergen emphasis on packs that meet it. Walk the product in front of you against the checklist below before you print. The mistake to refuse is: The glaze is an ingredient. Emphasise egg when used.
- Declare pastry components
- Break out sausage meat and seasonings
- Include glaze if egg-washed
- Emphasise allergens every occurrence
Worked example
Worked example for “How to label sausage rolls and pasties”: take one real SKU you sell this week. Apply the first check — declare pastry components. Then contrast it with break out sausage meat and seasonings. 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. (When sealed or boxed before customers choose them, sausage rolls and pasties are usually PPDS.)
Checklist before you print
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Declare pastry components | For “How to label sausage rolls and pasties”, “Declare pastry components” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Break out sausage meat and seasonings | For “How to label sausage rolls and pasties”, “Break out sausage meat and seasonings” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Include glaze if egg-washed | For “How to label sausage rolls and pasties”, “Include glaze if egg-washed” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Emphasise allergens every occurrence | For “How to label sausage rolls and pasties”, “Emphasise allergens every occurrence” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
Forgetting the egg wash
The glaze is an ingredient. Emphasise egg when used.
Go deeper
Next: Sausage roll example. Pastry and filling allergens together. Then paste your ingredients into the free generator and confirm allergens before you print.
Questions
Do open counter pasties need PPDS labels?
What about vegan sausage rolls?
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
Related guides
PPDS
PPDS vs prepacked food
Two similar words, two different sets of rules. A comparison table and the cases that catch people out.
5 min read
PPDS
What is PPDS food?
PPDS means prepacked for direct sale: food packed before the customer selects it, and offered by the same food business from the same pre…
6 min read
PPDS
Do market stalls need PPDS labels?
Yes, when you pack food before customers pick it and sell it from your stall. Bags of cookies, boxed brownies and sealed salad pots prepa…
6 min read