Guide

Coffee shop pastry labelling

Pastries sealed or boxed before customers choose them — muffins in wraps, croissants in bags, cakes under sealed domes — are usually PPDS and need Natasha’s Law labels. Open tray displays where staff plate to order follow different allergen-information practices, often with a matrix and trained baristas.

Reviewed 22 September 2026 against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.

Read the cabinet honestly

If a customer can grab a wrapped muffin without staff assembling it, that wrap needs a pack label. If everything is plated from an open tray after asking, focus on accurate allergen info at the point of sale.

Pastry allergen traps

Butter and lamination (milk)
Egg wash shine
Almond frangipane and praline
Sesame on savoury twists
Soy lecithin in compound chocolate

Labelling during the morning rush

Prep labels the afternoon before for known lines. Keep a “new delivery” rule: nothing from a new bakery supplier goes out until the ingredients list is verified.

Industry page

See the cafés vertical for sandwich and breakfast pack patterns that sit beside pastry.

Questions

Supplier already labelled the pack — enough?

If you sell it unchanged and the label is accurate and complete, you may be able to rely on it — but you are still responsible for what you sell. Re-labelling is required if you add glaze, stickers that obscure information, or re-pack.

Do I label the tray or each pastry?

Each PPDS pack needs the particulars. A tray ticket that does not leave with a sealed pastry is not enough for that pastry.

Official sources

Everything on this page traces back to these. Where they and we disagree, they are right — tell us and we'll fix it.

Introduction to allergen labelling for PPDS foodFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK
Labelling guidance for prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food productsFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK
Food allergen labelling and information requirements technical guidanceFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK