Guide

Thermal printer allergen labels

Monochrome thermal printers are the workhorse for PPDS labels in cafés and bakeries. Use bold or capitals for allergen emphasis — colour contrast will not appear — and choose label widths that keep x-height readable for full ingredients lists.

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

Why kitchens choose thermal

Fast, cheap per label, and tough enough for fridge condensation when you pick the right stock. The trade-off is monochrome output: plan emphasis for bold/caps from day one.

Setup that survives service

62–102 mm widths for sandwiches and salad pots
Templates that wrap long ingredient lines instead of shrinking fonts
Spare rolls and a second black mark/gap setting saved for your stock

Content workflow

Generate the emphasised list in software, then send to the printer. Avoid retyping allergens by hand at 7am — that is how egg wash gets forgotten.

Test print

Print one label, put it on a filled pack in the fridge overnight, and check smear and legibility before you commit the whole range.

Questions

Do I need a colour label printer for Natasha’s Law?

No. Capitals or bold on thermal output are accepted emphasis methods.

Can I use a postage-label printer?

If the print area is large enough for a full ingredients list at legal legibility — many tiny postage printers are not.

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