Allergen labels for home bakers
In the UK, every bake you sell has to come with accurate information about the 14 allergens. How you give it depends on how the bake is sold: wrapped before the customer chooses it, loose on a counter or a stall, or ordered online or by phone. If you wrap bakes yourself before you sell them, Natasha's Law means a full ingredients label with the allergens emphasised.
The 14 allergens
| Allergen | Where bakers meet it |
|---|---|
| Cereals containing gluten | Wheat (including spelt), rye, barley and oats. Name the cereal on the label, for example "wheat flour". |
| Milk | Butter, cream, buttermilk, milk powder, milk chocolate |
| Eggs | Whole egg, egg glaze, meringue, some fondants and marzipans |
| Nuts | Almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios and macadamias: frangipane, praline, nut flours |
| Peanuts | Peanut butter, some chocolate and decorations |
| Sesame | Seeded breads and toppings |
| Soya | Soya flour, lecithin in chocolate, some margarines |
| Sulphur dioxide and sulphites | Dried fruit and some wines, when over 10 mg per kg or litre |
| Mustard | Savoury bakes, cheese scones, sausage rolls |
| Celery | Savoury pies and stocks |
| Lupin | Some continental flours and breads |
| Fish, crustaceans and molluscs | Rare in baking, but count in savoury bakes and some flavourings |
Which rules apply to your bakes
| How it's sold | What the customer needs | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Prepacked for direct sale (PPDS): you pack it before the customer chooses it, and sell it yourself | A label with the name of the food and a full ingredients list, with any of the 14 allergens emphasised | Boxed brownies on your stall, bagged cookies sold from your door |
| Loose: not packed, or packed when the customer asks | Allergen information, which can be given in person, with a sign saying how to ask | Slices of cake under a dome, a celebration cake made to order |
| Sold by someone else (a café or farm shop selling your packed bakes) | Full prepacked food labelling: ingredients with allergens emphasised, a date mark, storage advice, quantity and your name and address | Your flapjacks on a café counter |
| Ordered online or by phone | Allergen information before they buy, and again when the food is handed over | Cake boxes for delivery, bread club orders |
Natasha's Law has applied to prepacked-for-direct-sale food across the UK since 1 October 2021. Emphasis can be bold, capitals, a contrasting colour or underlining; bold is the usual choice. PPDS labelling guidance (Food Standards Agency).
A label that passes
Best before: 14/11/2026 · Batch LD-1107
Three things catch bakers out:
- Compound ingredients. List what's inside them: "chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, milk powder, emulsifier: soya lecithin)". Copy it from the packet.
- Flour. UK white flour has added nutrients. List them as your flour bag shows, or give the flour's own ingredients in brackets.
- Swapped suppliers. A new brand of chocolate chips can bring a new allergen. Check the label every time you change.
"May contain" warnings
A "may contain" (precautionary) statement is voluntary. Use it only when you've assessed a real risk of cross-contact that you can't control, such as nut flours used on the same bench. It isn't a substitute for cleaning down and keeping ingredients apart, and putting it on everything makes life harder for customers with allergies.
How bakerykeeper builds your labels
- From your recipes, never typed by hand. Each ingredient carries its allergens, and every bake works them out from its recipe, including sub-recipes like a buttercream or a frangipane.
- One change updates every label. Switch to a new chocolate and every recipe and label that uses it updates.
- Ready to print. Name, ingredients with the 14 allergens in bold, best-before or use-by date and a batch code.
- An allergen chart for the counter for loose bakes, from the same recipes.
General guidance, not legal advice. The Food Standards Agency's guidance is the authority, and your council's environmental health team can check your labels.
Questions about allergen labels
Do cakes I sell at my door need a label?
If you wrap or box them before the customer chooses, yes: they're prepacked for direct sale, so they need the name and a full ingredients list with allergens emphasised. If you pack them when the customer asks, they're loose, and you give allergen information instead.
Do custom cakes made to order need a label?
A cake made and packed for one customer's order isn't prepacked for direct sale, so it doesn't need a Natasha's Law label. You still have to give accurate allergen information, and writing it down on the order or the box is the safest way.
Do I need nutrition information?
Not usually. Small businesses selling direct to customers are generally exempt from nutrition labelling, unless you make a nutrition or health claim such as "low sugar".