Not PPDS. This is non-prepacked (loose) food

"Any food that is not in packaging or is packaged after being ordered by the consumer." The butchers guidance adds: "PPDS does not include food that is not in packaging, such as meat on display including joints of meat or loose sausages," and "Food placed into packaging at the consumers request is not PPDS."

For loose food you must still supply allergen information for every item containing any of the 14 allergens, either as "full written allergen information on a menu, chalkboard or in an information pack" or "verbally, with a written notice placed in a clearly visible position". A full ingredients list is not the legal minimum here.

The 14 allergens: celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites above 10ppm, and tree nuts.

Precautionary allergen labelling is not part of the PPDS requirement.

The test is about timing, place and packaging, never about what the food is. The same item can be PPDS on one counter and not on another.

Sources

• GOV.UK: PPDS allergen labelling changes for butchers
• GOV.UK: Allergen guidance for food businesses
• GOV.UK: Find your local council

Guidance, not legal advice. Your local environmental health team has the final word.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Crown copyright. Source file last reviewed 23 Aug 2026.

This is general guidance, not legal advice, and it decides nothing about a specific product. The food business operator is legally responsible for what appears on the label, always. Software can derive a label from your data; it cannot take on that responsibility, and no tool can certify a product or a business.

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