Guide
How to label subscription meal boxes
Individually packed meals prepared before subscribers receive them are usually PPDS. Each meal needs its own particulars. Weekly menu changes mean weekly label checks.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The short answer
Individually packed meals prepared before subscribers receive them are usually PPDS. Each meal needs its own particulars. Weekly menu changes mean weekly label checks.
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
Individually packed meals prepared before subscribers receive them are usually PPDS. Each meal needs its own particulars. Weekly menu changes mean weekly label checks. 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: Each PPDS unit needs clear particulars.
- Label each sealed meal
- Match the week’s recipes
- Watch sauce pots packed inside
- Distance selling may need pre-order allergen info
Worked example
Worked example for “How to label subscription meal boxes”: take one real SKU you sell this week. Apply the first check — label each sealed meal. Then contrast it with match the week’s recipes. 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. (Individually packed meals prepared before subscribers receive them are usually PPDS.)
Checklist before you print
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Label each sealed meal | For “How to label subscription meal boxes”, “Label each sealed meal” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Match the week’s recipes | For “How to label subscription meal boxes”, “Match the week’s recipes” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Watch sauce pots packed inside | For “How to label subscription meal boxes”, “Watch sauce pots packed inside” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Distance selling may need pre-order allergen info | For “How to label subscription meal boxes”, “Distance selling may need pre-order allergen info” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
One ingredients card for the whole box and unmarked pots
Each PPDS unit needs clear particulars.
Go deeper
Next: Meal prep guide. Rotation menus and packs. Then paste your ingredients into the free generator and confirm allergens before you print.
Questions
Do frozen subscription meals differ?
What if customers customise macros?
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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