When Do UK Food Labels Need a Nutrition Table?

Food labelling in Great Britain is governed by the Food Information Regulations 2014 (FIR 2014), which give effect to retained EU law — principally Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, often called the Food Information to Consumers Regulation, or FIC. Among many other things, FIC sets out when a nutrition declaration is compulsory, what it must contain, and how it must be presented. Getting this right matters: an incorrect or missing declaration is a labelling offence, and local authority trading standards officers can require corrective action or, in serious cases, prosecute.

This article focuses narrowly on the nutrition declaration — the table of energy and nutrient values you see on the back of most packaged products. It is a companion to our wider explainer on FIR 2014 and food information regulations, and it deliberately leaves allergen labelling to our guide to the 14 major allergens and our Natasha's Law complete guide. Allergens and nutrition are separate legal requirements that are often confused, so it helps to treat them one at a time.

What a nutrition declaration actually is

A nutrition declaration is the standardised statement of energy value and the amounts of certain nutrients in a food. In the UK it is almost always shown as a table on the back or side of the pack, which is why people call it the "nutrition table" or "back-of-pack" information. It is not the same as the voluntary colour-coded panel you often see on the front of the pack — that front-of-pack scheme is separate and optional, and we cover it further down.

The purpose of the declaration is to let consumers compare products and make informed choices. Because of that, the law is prescriptive about both content and format. You cannot simply list "calories and a bit of sugar"; you must show a defined set of values, in a defined order, expressed per a defined quantity. The aim is consistency, so a shopper can put two products side by side and compare them fairly.

The mandatory "big-7"

When a nutrition declaration is required, it must as a minimum contain seven mandatory elements — commonly called the "big-7". They must appear in this exact order:

• Energy — given in both kilojoules (kJ) and kilocalories (kcal), in that order
• Fat
• of which saturates
• Carbohydrate
• of which sugars
• Protein
• Salt

Two presentation rules trip people up most often. First, energy must be expressed in both kJ and kcal — showing kcal alone is not compliant. Second, the value declared is salt, not sodium; if you start from a sodium figure you must convert it to salt (salt = sodium × 2.5). "Saturates" and "sugars" are sub-categories indented under fat and carbohydrate respectively, so the layout reflects that hierarchy.

Beyond the big-7, FIC allows a limited list of optional nutrients to be added voluntarily, such as fibre, mono-unsaturates, polyunsaturates, polyols, starch, and certain vitamins and minerals (vitamins and minerals may only be declared where they are present in significant amounts). You can add a per-portion column too, but the optional items can never replace any of the seven mandatory ones.

Per 100g (or per 100ml) is the anchor

Every value in the declaration must be expressed per 100g for solids or per 100ml for liquids. This is the non-negotiable baseline, and it is what makes products comparable on the shelf. You may, in addition, declare values per portion or per consumption unit — for example "per 30g serving" — but a per-portion figure can only ever sit alongside the per-100g figure, never instead of it. If you do show a portion, you must state what the portion is and how many portions the pack contains.

Format and order

The declaration normally has to be presented together in one place, in tabular form where space allows, with the numbers aligned. Where there is not enough space for a table, it may be set out in linear (single-line) format. There is also a minimum font size requirement (the same x-height rule that applies to other mandatory information). The order of the seven elements is fixed — you cannot reorder them to suit your design.

When a nutrition declaration is mandatory

The general rule is straightforward: prepacked food intended for the final consumer or for supply to caterers must carry a mandatory nutrition declaration. "Prepacked" means the food was put into its packaging before being offered for sale, and the packaging fully or partly encloses the food so that the contents cannot be altered without opening or changing the packaging. If that describes your product, the default position is that you need the table.

This applies regardless of how big your business is and regardless of where the sale happens. It covers:

• Packaged food on a retail shelf in a shop
• Packaged food sold online or by mail order (distance selling)
• Packaged food supplied to another business that will resell it, or to caterers
• Packaged food sold at a market stall where it was packed before the customer chose it

For distance and online selling there is an extra wrinkle: the mandatory information — including the nutrition declaration — generally has to be available to the customer before they buy, for example on the product webpage, as well as on the pack when it arrives. So an online seller of prepacked products typically needs the declaration in two places.

When a nutrition declaration is exempt

This is where many small UK food businesses find relief — but it is also where the most dangerous assumptions are made. FIC sets out a list of exemptions (in the retained Annex V, sometimes referenced via Schedule 5 of FIR 2014) where a mandatory nutrition declaration is not required. The most important for small businesses are below.

Non-prepacked (loose) food

Food sold loose — not in packaging — does not require a nutrition declaration. This includes food sold at a deli counter, bread sold from a basket, or cakes sold individually without wrapping. Note that allergen information rules still apply to loose food, but that is a different obligation.

PPDS — prepacked for direct sale (Natasha's Law)

Food that is prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) — packed on the same premises from which it is sold, such as a sandwich made and wrapped in the shop where it is bought — does not require a mandatory back-of-pack nutrition declaration. PPDS food is governed by Natasha's Law, which requires the product name plus a full ingredients list with the 14 allergens emphasised. Nutrition is not part of that requirement. You can add nutrition voluntarily, but if you do, it must follow the standard format. For a quick recap of what PPDS demands today, see our Natasha's Law 2026 compliance refresher.

Small quantities supplied directly — the "small producer" exemption

This is the exemption most relevant to small UK food businesses, and the one most often misread. FIC exempts food supplied by the manufacturer in small quantities directly to the final consumer, or to local retail establishments that directly supply the final consumer. In plain terms: a small maker selling their own products direct to customers, or into a few nearby shops, may not need a mandatory nutrition declaration.

However, the legislation does not put precise numbers on "small quantities" or define "local" with a fixed radius. There is no national threshold spelled out in the regulation itself, which means whether you qualify is a matter of judgement against the facts of your business — and ultimately a matter for your local trading standards. The exemption is real, but it is narrow and conditional, and it can be lost as you scale up, start supplying further afield, or move into mainstream retail.

Single-ingredient and minimally processed foods

Several product types are exempt because there is little to declare or the information adds little value. These include unprocessed products that comprise a single ingredient (for example a bag of whole apples), and processed products where the only processing has been maturing and which also comprise a single ingredient.

Herbs, spices, seasonings and similar

Herbs, spices and mixtures of them, salt and salt substitutes, table-top sweeteners, and certain very low-consumption products are exempt. So are products such as water (including waters with added carbon dioxide or flavourings), vinegars, fermentation vinegars, and certain food additives, flavourings, enzymes and processing aids. Coffee and tea (and their extracts) intended to be consumed without adding other foods (other than for flavouring) are also exempt.

The full picture

The table below summarises the most common situations. Treat it as a starting point, not a legal ruling — and remember that allergen rules can still apply even where a nutrition table does not.

Voluntary front-of-pack labelling (the traffic-light scheme)

Separate from the mandatory back-of-pack declaration is the UK's voluntary front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme — the colour-coded "traffic light" panel many shoppers recognise. It is voluntary in the UK, though it is recommended by government and very widely used by major retailers and brands.

The scheme uses the multiple traffic-light format: it shows energy plus the levels of fat, saturates, sugars and salt, colour-coded red (high), amber (medium) or green (low) based on defined criteria, alongside the amount and the percentage of the reference intake (%RI) that a portion provides. Crucially, front-of-pack figures are presented per portion (with the colour bands derived from per-100g thresholds). If you choose to use it, you have to follow the official format and the prescribed colour and %RI calculations — you cannot invent your own colour scheme.

How to calculate your nutrition values

There are two recognised routes to producing the figures for a declaration.

Calculation from ingredient data (recipe analysis)

The most common and cost-effective method is to calculate the declaration from the known nutrition data of each ingredient, combined according to your recipe and adjusted for the quantities used. You can draw ingredient figures from recognised reference datasets — for example McCance and Widdowson's The Composition of Foods — or from the nutrition specifications your suppliers provide. The FSA accepts calculated values for the great majority of foods, and for small producers calculation is almost always the practical choice.

Where calculation gets fiddly is in accounting for processing: cooking losses, water loss or gain, and fat absorbed or drained off can all change the final composition compared with the raw ingredients. Good practice is to base your figures on the food as sold (as eaten where relevant) and to document your assumptions.

Laboratory analysis

The alternative is to send a representative sample to an accredited laboratory for chemical analysis. This is more expensive and slower, but it can be the better choice for complex recipes, fermented products, or where you need a high degree of confidence. Many businesses calculate first and use lab analysis selectively to validate or for hero products.

Where FoodCore fits

This is exactly the kind of admin FoodCore is built to take off your plate. FoodCore calculates a nutrition declaration straight from your recipe and ingredient data, giving you both the per 100g and the optional per portion figures, and it generates back-of-pack labels with the big-7 in the correct order. It also produces PPDS labels for prepacked-for-direct-sale items, tracks allergens across your recipes, and handles recipe costing in the same place — so the numbers behind your labelling and your pricing come from one source. You can explore the labelling side in more detail on our food labelling software page.

Plans start at £19/month for Essentials and £55/month for Core, with a 7-day free trial and no card required — you can start at signup.foodcore.io. One important caveat: FoodCore is a tool, not a compliance authority. It does the calculation and formatting work, but the legal responsibility for the accuracy of your labels and for deciding whether an exemption applies always rests with your business. Always sense-check FoodCore's figures and verify your nutrition values and exemption status against current FSA guidance.

Tolerances

Declared nutrition values are averages, not exact measurements, and food is naturally variable — so the law works on the basis of tolerances. The EU/retained tolerance guidance sets out how far an actual measured value may differ from the declared value before it is considered non-compliant, and the permitted tolerance differs by nutrient and by how the value is rounded. This is why declarations are described as "typical values": you are stating a representative average for the food, and an enforcement check would compare a measured sample against the declared figure within the allowed tolerance band rather than expecting a perfect match. When you set your declared figures, build in sensible margins and keep your calculation records so you can justify them if asked.

Further resources

• FSA — Packaging and labelling business guidance
• FIR 2014: the Food Information Regulations explained
• Natasha's Law: the complete guide to PPDS labelling
• Natasha's Law 2026 compliance refresher
• The 14 major allergens under UK law
• FoodCore food labelling software
• Free recipe cost calculator
• Get started with FoodCore

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