Food standards and labelling for consumers

There are regulations in UK law to protect you from eating food which is unsafe, or not as described on a menu or on package labelling. Use this page to check how these protections work, and to help you to decide if you should report a business which is breaking the rules.

If you have a food allergy or intolerance
Visit the Food Standards Agency for detailed information about all aspects of managing food allergies, and the legal responsibilities of businesses to protect you and give you an informed choice about the foods you eat.

Food from cafés, restaurants and street stalls

Look for the Food Hygiene Rating

Your main protection is the Food Hygiene Rating (FHR) of the establishment. This covers issues that you can't see as a customer, like the way that food is sourced, stored and prepared, and the condition of the kitchens. Most reputable establishments will display a sticker showing their current FHR, somewhere that you can easily see it.

Visit the Food Standards Agency website to learn more about:

Check the menu

By law, menus must include accurate information about the dishes, including:

descriptions of ingredients (such as the type of meat or cheese in a recipe, or whether a product contains organic ingredients)
indications of foods which meet special dietary requirements (such as halal, vegetarian or vegan options)
clear labelling of allergens in the dish
the average number of calories per portion of the dish

If you think that a business is breaking these rules, and you cannot resolve it during your visit, you can report the issue to Trading Standards

Take-away or delivered food

Restaurants and delivery services which offer take-away food must let you know about any allergens in their dishes, both when you order, and when they deliver the food.

Pre-packaged food products

Labelling on pre-packaged foods includes information which aims to ensure food safety and food standards. By law, labels must include the following information. Select any item for more detail.

The name of the food

This should be an accurate indication of the contents, including naming ingredients correctly, and only using a name that's restricted to a particular region of production (such as champagne), when the product is authentic.

Net quantity or weight

Where the packaging makes the product feel significantly heavier, you will often see the words net weight. For tinned foods in water or juice, look for drained weight. We are responsible for enforcing accurate weights and measures in the sale of food products.

List of ingredients and the quantity of key ingredients

The ingredients should appear in descending order of weight (meaning that the largest amount is first). Where an ingredient is an important part of the description or name of the food, the amount (as a percentage) often appears. For example, with a beef lasagne, the ingredients list might start: Wheat pasta (34%), Beef (16%)... Visit the British Nutrition Foundation website for detailed information about what must appear on labels, and how it may be presented.

Nutritional information

Visit the British Nutrition Foundation website for detailed information about what must appear on labels, and how it may be presented.

Allergens

Visit the Food Standards Agency for detailed information about all aspects of managing food allergies. The law says that information about allergens should appear with emphasis on food labels.

Most labels use bold type to show allergens, for example:
Dried and sweetened dried fruit (25%) [sultanas, sweetened dried pineapple (10%) (sugar, pineapple, acid: citric acid, preservative: sulphur dioxide), dates, raisins], barley flakes, oat flakes, wheat flakes, toasted and malted wheat flakes (wheat, barley malt extract). May contain nuts.

How long the food will last (best before and use by dates)

Generally, there are best before dates on foods that have a longer shelf life, such as dried fruit or crisps. They indicate that food quality will reduce after this date. Use by dates should appear on food which will only be safe to eat for a short period.

It's against the law to sell food after its use by date. If you find that a business is doing this, you can report the issue to Trading Standards

How to store, prepare or cook the food

This information is to help you to keep the food fresh and safe to eat. Look out for things like: Keep refrigerated, Once opened, use within 3 days or Cook until piping hot. Best before or use by dates are only valid, if you follow the instructions for storing and preparing the food.

Name and address of the food business operator and origin of the food

This may be useful if you need to report a problem with an item, such as a foreign object in the package. It may help the business to find out the source of problems with food safety, if they have to recall a contaminated product.

Report it

If you find that a business is selling food without proper labelling, you can report the issue to Trading Standards.

If you think the problem will affect food hygiene or safety, please report it to the Public Protection Team.

Find out more

Visit the GOV.UK website pages on food packaging and labelling for a full statement of the regulations that businesses must comply with.