Allergen labelling

Food allergies can cause unpleasant and sometimes life-threatening symptoms. The only way to manage a food allergy is to completely avoid foods containing the allergen that triggers a reaction. 

Food businesses must:

• provide allergen information to the consumer for both prepacked and non-prepacked food and drink
• manage food allergens effectively when preparing and serving food and drink

Food businesses must tell consumers if the food they sell contains any of the 14 allergens which must be declared by law in the UK.

When any of these allergens are used as ingredients, a food business must make this information available to the consumer. The requirements for this depend on how the food is packaged and presented to the consumer. This can be:

• prepacked
• Prepacked for Direct Sale (PPDS)
• Non-prepacked (loose)

Detailed guidance on how to correctly provide allergen information to consumers can be found in the food allergen labelling and information requirements technical guidance. 

Food businesses must make sure that their staff are trained on allergens.

Our free online food allergy training offers more detailed information and guidance on how to ensure the food you produce and serve to consumers is safe.

We've also developed a free advanced online allergen training tool. This can to be used in addition to the online allergy training for a more in-depth understanding of allergen management in hospitality and catering settings. 

These tools operate independently from one another so you don't need to complete the first before moving onto the advanced tool.