Guide
How to label smoothie and juice bottles you fill
Bottles you fill and seal before customers choose them are usually PPDS. List every fruit, milk, yoghurt, nut butter or seed ingredient with allergens emphasised when present.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The short answer
Bottles you fill and seal before customers choose them are usually PPDS. List every fruit, milk, yoghurt, nut butter or seed ingredient with allergens emphasised when present.
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
Bottles you fill and seal before customers choose them are usually PPDS. List every fruit, milk, yoghurt, nut butter or seed ingredient with allergens emphasised when present. 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: Customers need ingredients, not only a brand name.
- Name the drink clearly
- List all components
- Emphasise milk, nuts, soya as present
- Watch protein powders for soya, milk or gluten cereals
Worked example
Worked example for “How to label smoothie and juice bottles you fill”: take one real SKU you sell this week. Apply the first check — name the drink clearly. Then contrast it with list all components. 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. (Bottles you fill and seal before customers choose them are usually PPDS.)
Checklist before you print
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Name the drink clearly | For “How to label smoothie and juice bottles you fill”, “Name the drink clearly” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| List all components | For “How to label smoothie and juice bottles you fill”, “List all components” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Emphasise milk, nuts, soya as present | For “How to label smoothie and juice bottles you fill”, “Emphasise milk, nuts, soya as present” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Watch protein powders for soya, milk or gluten cereals | For “How to label smoothie and juice bottles you fill”, “Watch protein powders for soya, milk or gluten cereals” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
Writing only “berry boost”
Customers need ingredients, not only a brand name.
Go deeper
Next: PPDS hub. Packed before selection. Then paste your ingredients into the free generator and confirm allergens before you print.
Questions
Does blended fruit need allergen emphasis?
What about bought-in bottles you resell?
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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