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Nutrition Information (back-of-pack): UK nutrition label

Nutrition Information (back-of-pack), the UK nutrition label under Food Information Regulations 2014 (retaining EU 1169/2011), 7 mandatory nutrients, per 100 g or 100 ml, English on pack. Generate a compliant label free.

Reviewed against Food Information Regulations 2014 (retaining EU 1169/2011) · Page updated August 16, 2026

Jurisdiction
United Kingdom (packaged food sold at retail)
Regulation
Food Information Regulations 2014 (retaining EU 1169/2011)
Effective
13 December 2014
Official source
eur-lex.europa.eu
Generate the UK labelUK labelling guide

Nutrition labelling requirements in the UK

Packaged food sold in the UK must carry a nutrition declaration under Food Information Regulations 2014 (retaining EU 1169/2011). This page covers the UK - Nutrition Information (back-of-pack) format: Per-100g + per-serving table with %RI, salt not sodium. A compliant UK nutrition label declares 7 mandatory nutrients: energy, fat, of which saturates, carbohydrate, of which sugars, protein and salt. Values are declared per 100 g or 100 ml, with energy in both kJ and kcal, and salt rather than sodium. The panel is headed "Nutrition Information". English is required on pack. There is no mandatory front-of-pack warning scheme. NFL builds a print-ready UK nutrition label from your recipe, applying the rounding rules and reference intakes for the UK automatically, and exports it as PDF, PNG, SVG, JPG or EPS.

Official regulation

Citation
Food Information Regulations 2014 (retaining EU 1169/2011)
Effective
13 December 2014
Scope
United Kingdom (packaged food sold at retail)
Source

Key facts

Mandatory nutrients (7)
Energy, Fat, of which saturates, Carbohydrate, of which sugars, Protein and Salt
Declaration basis
Per 100 g or 100 ml
Energy units
kJ and kcal, both required
Sodium or salt
Declared as salt, not sodium
Panel heading
Nutrition Information
Label language
English required on pack
Front of pack
Optional: uk traffic light
Required footnote
*Reference Intake of an average adult (8400 kJ / 2000 kcal).

What retained Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 puts on the back of pack

The back-of-pack declaration is set by Articles 30 to 34 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 as it now sits on legislation.gov.uk. Article 30(1) fixes the mandatory content as energy plus fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt; Annex XV fixes that order, energy first and salt last, with energy in both kJ and kcal. Article 32(2) requires every value per 100 g or per 100 ml. Article 34 requires a table with the numbers aligned where space permits, otherwise linear format, all in the same field of vision.

Salt, not sodium, is the mandatory line. Annex I defines salt as sodium multiplied by 2.5 (400 mg sodium per 100 g declares as 1.0 g salt). Where all of it comes from naturally occurring sodium, Article 30(1) allows a statement saying so in close proximity to the declaration.

Article 30(2) allows supplements, and only these: mono-unsaturates, polyunsaturates, polyols, starch, fibre, and vitamins or minerals present in significant amounts. Under Article 31 the figures are average values for the food as sold, from analysis, ingredient calculation or established data. Article 13(2) sets the minimum x-height for mandatory particulars at 1.2 mm, or 0.9 mm where the largest surface of the pack is under 80 cm2.

Source: Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 as retained in UK law, Articles 30 to 34, Annex I and Annex XV (legislation.gov.uk).

Per portion, reference intakes and the Article 30(3) front-of-pack repeat

Per 100 g or 100 ml is compulsory; per portion is an addition, not a substitute. Article 33(1) allows energy and nutrients to be expressed per portion or per consumption unit as well, provided the portion is quantified on the label and the number of portions in the pack is stated, and Article 33(4) requires the portion used to appear in close proximity to the declaration.

Reference intake percentages are optional. Article 32(4) allows energy and the mandatory nutrients to be expressed additionally as a percentage of the Annex XIII Part B reference intakes; where that is done per 100 g or 100 ml the statement "Reference intake of an average adult (8 400 kJ/2 000 kcal)" must appear in close proximity. Declared vitamins and minerals must always carry both per 100 g/ml amounts and the percentage of reference intake.

The front-of-pack repeat is governed by Article 30(3): either energy alone, or energy with fat, saturates, sugars and salt ("energy + 4"). Article 33(2) allows that repeat per portion alone, but energy must then still be given per 100 g or 100 ml as well. Article 34(5) allows "Contains negligible amounts of ..." in place of a figure.

Source: Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 as retained in UK law, Articles 30(3), 32, 33 and 34(5) (legislation.gov.uk).

The voluntary UK traffic light scheme (DH/FSA 2016 front-of-pack guide)

Colour-coded front-of-pack labelling remains voluntary. The governing document is the front of pack guide updated November 2016 by the Department of Health, the Food Standards Agency and the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It states that FoP information cannot be given in isolation: it sits alongside the full back-of-pack declaration, in the principal field of vision, using the energy + 4 set, and shows the portion size, each nutrient per portion, the percentage reference intake per portion rounded to a whole number, and energy per 100 g/ml.

Colour is applied to fat, saturates, sugars and salt but never to energy, which sits on a neutral background. Illustrative cut-offs: for food, fat is green at 3.0 g or less per 100 g and red above 17.5 g; salt is green at 0.3 g or less and red above 1.5 g. Drinks use tighter per 100 ml bands, for example sugars are red above 11.25 g per 100 ml.

A second test catches large portions: where the portion exceeds 100 g of food or 150 ml of drink, a nutrient is red if the portion supplies more than 30% of the reference intake (15% for drinks), for example over 21 g fat or 1.8 g salt in a food portion. High, Medium and Low text may accompany the colours, and every figure must use one basis, as sold or as consumed.

Source: Guide to creating a front of pack (FoP) nutrition label, DH/FSA/devolved administrations, November 2016 (gov.uk).

Exemptions under Article 16 and Annex V, and the 2016 transition

Article 16(4) exempts the foods in Annex V from the mandatory declaration, and separately exempts beverages above 1.2% alcohol by volume. Annex V has 19 categories, among them:

  • unprocessed products, and products only matured, that comprise a single ingredient or category of ingredients;
  • waters, herbs, spices, salt, table-top sweeteners, coffee and tea without nutritionally significant additions, vinegars, flavourings, additives, enzymes, gelatine, yeast and chewing gum;
  • food in packaging whose largest surface is less than 25 cm2;
  • food, including handcrafted food, supplied directly by a manufacturer of small quantities to the final consumer or to local retail establishments.

The exemption is lost when a nutrition or health claim is made or vitamins or minerals are added: government guidance says nutrition information must then be given. Article 54(2) required any voluntary declaration between 13 December 2014 and 13 December 2016 to follow Articles 30 to 35 in full, so a producer who declares voluntarily uses the full format.

Article 9(1)(l) made the declaration mandatory on most prepacked food from 13 December 2016, and Article 54(1) let stock labelled before that date sell through until exhausted. UK amendments dated 31 December 2020 and 27 February 2025 replaced Commission powers and EU terminology; neither changed the nutrient list, the per 100 g basis or the exemptions.

Source: Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 as retained in UK law, Article 16, Article 54 and Annex V (legislation.gov.uk).

Source: Food labelling: giving food information to consumers (gov.uk).

Enforcement under the Food Information Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1855), GB and Northern Ireland

The Food Information Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1855) apply in England only (regulation 1(4)). Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have parallel instruments (WSI 2014/2303, SSI 2014/312, SR 2014/223). Regulation 9 places the enforcement duty on the local food authority (in practice trading standards and environmental health) and on port health authorities.

Enforcement of the nutrition declaration is notice-led. Regulation 12 applies the improvement notice procedure in section 10 of the Food Safety Act 1990 to the provisions in Schedule 5, and Part 3 of that Schedule adds Article 9(1)(l), the mandatory nutrition declaration, from 13 December 2016. Failing to comply with a notice is an offence. The direct offences in regulation 10 (level 5 fine under regulation 11) cover only the allergen provisions, which can be prosecuted without a prior notice.

The Food Standards Agency states that the retained version of Regulation 1169/2011 applies to food businesses in Great Britain, while EU food law, including Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 itself, applies in Northern Ireland, where the FSA is responsible for nutrition labelling and district councils enforce it. The address rule follows the same split. Article 8(1) was amended on 27 May 2021 to refer to the British Islands, and government guidance states that from 1 January 2024 prepacked food sold in GB must carry a UK address for the operator or its UK importer (EU, GB or NI addresses were accepted until 31 December 2023), while food sold in NI must carry an NI or EU address. Build a UK label in the generator.

Source: Food Information Regulations 2014, SI 2014/1855, regulations 1, 9 to 12 and Schedule 5 (legislation.gov.uk).

Source: Packaging and labelling, Food Standards Agency (food.gov.uk).

How NFL handles it

  • Applies the correct rounding rules for every nutrient
  • Uses the right Daily Value / Reference Intake table for this jurisdiction
  • Renders the required front-of-pack warnings automatically when thresholds are hit
  • Handles multilingual labels where required (bilingual EN/FR, EN/ES, Arabic + EN, etc.)
  • Exports print-ready vector PDF, PNG, SVG, JPG, and EPS

Worked examples with real foods

See the UK nutrition information table filled in with real USDA values: egg nutrition label, chicken breast nutrition label, avocado nutrition label, bacon nutrition label, milk nutrition label, banana nutrition label, peanut butter nutrition label, ground beef nutrition label, salmon nutrition label, Greek yogurt nutrition label. Every food page renders the same serving as a US, Canadian, EU and UK label and offers the FDA panel as a PNG or SVG download. Browse all foods →

Common questions

What nutrients must a UK nutrition label show under retained Regulation 1169/2011?
Seven items, in this order: energy (in kJ and kcal), fat, of which saturates, carbohydrate, of which sugars, protein and salt, all per 100 g or per 100 ml. The declaration may be supplemented only with mono-unsaturates, polyunsaturates, polyols, starch, fibre and vitamins or minerals present in significant amounts. Fibre is optional in the UK, not mandatory.
Do UK labels declare salt or sodium?
Salt. Annex I of the retained regulation defines salt as sodium multiplied by 2.5, so you convert analysed sodium to salt before declaring it. If all the salt is from naturally occurring sodium, you may add a statement saying so next to the declaration.
Is the traffic light label mandatory in the UK?
No. The red, amber and green front-of-pack scheme in the 2016 DH/FSA guide is voluntary. If you use it, it must sit alongside the full back-of-pack declaration, show energy plus fat, saturates, sugars and salt, and colour only the four nutrients, never the energy value. The Article 30(3) repeat itself is also voluntary.
What makes a nutrient red on a UK front-of-pack label?
Two tests from the 2016 guide. Per 100 g of food, red starts above 17.5 g fat, 5.0 g saturates, 22.5 g sugars or 1.5 g salt, with tighter per 100 ml bands for drinks. If the portion is over 100 g (or 150 ml for a drink), the nutrient is also red when the portion supplies more than 30% of the reference intake (15% for drinks).
Who is exempt from nutrition labelling in the UK?
Annex V lists 19 categories, including single-ingredient unprocessed foods, water, herbs, spices, salt, tea and coffee, additives, chewing gum, packs whose largest surface is under 25 cm2, and small quantities of food, including handcrafted food, supplied by the manufacturer directly to consumers or local shops. Drinks over 1.2% alcohol are exempt under Article 16(4). The exemption falls away if you make a nutrition or health claim or add vitamins or minerals.
Does the EU version or the UK version of 1169/2011 apply in Northern Ireland?
The Food Standards Agency states that EU food law, including Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, applies in Northern Ireland, while the retained UK version applies in Great Britain. Practically the nutrition declaration is the same, but the operator address differs: food sold in NI needs an NI or EU address, food sold in GB needs a UK address.
Who enforces the Food Information Regulations 2014 and what happens if my nutrition label is wrong?
In England, regulation 9 of SI 2014/1855 gives the duty to the local food authority (trading standards or environmental health) and port health authorities; Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have parallel instruments. For the nutrition declaration the route is an improvement notice under section 10 of the Food Safety Act 1990 requiring you to fix the label; failing to comply with that notice is an offence. Allergen breaches can be prosecuted directly.
What address must appear on food sold in Great Britain?
Government guidance states that from 1 January 2024 prepacked food sold in GB must carry a UK address for the responsible food business operator, or the address of the UK-based importer if the operator is outside the UK. EU, GB or NI addresses were accepted until 31 December 2023. The FSA adds that a Channel Islands or Isle of Man address also satisfies the GB rule.

How to generate one

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