Labelling

The Food Standards Office of the Velocity Interoperability Network sets the rules for the labelling of food sold within the Velocity Interoperability Network. The purpose of the rules is that a customer can tell, from the label or from information at the point of sale, what a food is, what it contains, how long it keeps, how to store and use it, and which business is responsible for it.

The rules were published on 6 September 2026 and take effect on 1 December 2026. Until then, food may be labelled under the arrangements of the member organisation that previously applied to it, and the Office will advise rather than enforce. The full timetable, including the period allowed for selling stock labelled under the former arrangements, is set out at the foot of this page.

The rules. The twelve rules below apply to prepacked food unless the rule says otherwise. Prepacked food is food put into packaging before sale in such a way that the contents cannot be altered without opening the packaging.

Name of the food

Every prepacked food must carry a name that describes it accurately. A customary name may be used where it is understood throughout the Network; otherwise the name must describe the food and, where necessary, its physical condition or the treatment it has undergone, such as dried, smoked, frozen or reconstituted.

List of ingredients

All ingredients must be listed in descending order of weight as recorded at the time of use, under a heading that includes the word ingredients. Compound ingredients must be broken down unless they make up less than two per cent of the food and contain no declarable allergen.

Declaration of allergens

Each of the fourteen declarable allergens must be named in the list of ingredients whenever it is present, and emphasised by bold type, capitals or contrasting colour so that it stands out. Where there is no list of ingredients, the allergens must be declared in a statement beginning with the word contains.

Quantity of certain ingredients

Where an ingredient appears in the name of the food, is emphasised on the label in words or pictures, or is essential to characterise the food, its quantity must be declared as a percentage next to the name of the food or in the list of ingredients.

Net quantity

The net quantity must be given in metric units in the same field of vision as the name. Food packed in a liquid must also show the drained net weight.

Durability date

Highly perishable food must carry a use-by date, after which it must not be sold. Other food must carry a best-before date. Both must be given as day, month and year, or month and year where the food keeps for more than three months, together with any storage conditions needed to achieve them.

Name and address of the responsible business

The label must show the registered name of the food business responsible for the food and the site within the Network at which it is registered, so that the Office and customers can identify it from the register.

Origin and place of provenance

The origin of the food must be given where its omission would mislead, and in every case for fresh meat, fish, fruit and vegetables. Where the origin of the food is given and the origin of its primary ingredient is different, the label must say so.

Instructions for use and storage

Where a food cannot be used safely without them, instructions for use, including cooking instructions and any warning, must be given. Storage conditions must be stated where they affect safety or the durability date.

Nutrition declaration

Prepacked food must carry a nutrition declaration per 100 grams or 100 millilitres, giving energy, fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt, in that order and in a table where space permits.

Legibility

Mandatory particulars must be printed in a type whose lower-case letters are at least 1.2 millimetres high, or 0.9 millimetres on packages with a largest surface of less than 80 square centimetres, in a colour that contrasts clearly with the background, and must not be hidden or interrupted by other matter.

Food sold loose or prepared on the premises

Food that is not prepacked, including food served in restaurants and canteens, must have its name displayed, and information on its declarable allergens must be given in writing at the point of sale or by a notice stating that it is available from staff on request.

Declarable allergens. The fourteen allergens below must be declared and emphasised wherever they are present in a food as an ingredient, as part of a compound ingredient, or as a processing aid that remains in the finished food.

A statement that a food may contain an allergen because of the conditions in which it was made is permitted only where the business has assessed the risk of cross-contamination and found that it cannot be removed. Such statements must not be used in place of the controls the food safety rules require.

Compliance timetable. The dates below apply to every food business on the register.

A business unsure whether a label complies may send a copy of it to contact@food.gov.vin for an opinion, which the Office gives within ten working days. Labelling is examined at every inspection, and a label that omits a declarable allergen is treated as a matter requiring urgent improvement. For the hygiene rules that apply alongside these, see Food Safety; for answers to common questions, see the frequently asked questions.