All mandatory information must appear directly on the package or on a label attached to the package.

The name of the food, the net quantity of the food and, where necessary, the alcoholic strength by volume must all appear in the same field of vision (that is, they can all be read from a single viewing point).

Information must be easily visible, clearly legible and indelible. It must not be in any way hidden, obscured, detracted from or interrupted by any other written or pictorial matter. The mandatory particulars must be printed on the package using a font size where the ‘x’ height is at least 1.2mm, unless the largest surface area of the pack is less than or equal to 80cm2 , in which case you should contact Environmental Health for advice on compliance.

• The name of the food This must be a legal name (for example, sausage, chocolate, jam, natural mineral water) or a customary name (for example, fish fingers, bakewell tart, macaroni). Where neither a legal name of a customary name is used, a descriptive name which is precise enough to indicate the true nature of the product must be used.
• The list of ingredients This must be preceded or headed with the word ‘ingredients’ and ingredients must be listed in descending order of weight at the time of their use. Compound ingredients, that is, ingredients that are made up of other ingredients for example, mayonnaise must have their constituent ingredients listed, either in brackets beside the name of the compound ingredient, or by listing the constituent ingredients as ingredients of the whole product. Additives must be stated in the ingredients list by their functional class, for example antioxidant or preservative, along with either their name or their E number for example Preservative: Potassium Sorbate, or Preservative: E202.
• Details of allergenic ingredients Allergenic ingredients must be emphasised in the ingredients list using a font, style or colour that clearly distinguishes them from other ingredients in the list (1). If allergenic ingredients are present in compound ingredients, then the allergenic ingredient must be highlighted (2). Similarly, if the name of an ingredient does not have a clear reference to the allergen, then the allergen must be named (3). For example, Ingredients: Potato, Skimmed MILK (1) Powder, Plain Flour (WHEAT) (3) , Butter (MILK) (3) , Salmon (FISH) (3) , Mayonnaise (Rapeseed Oil, EGG (2) , White Wine Vinegar) Leek, Onion, EGG (1) , Salt, Seasoning.
• A quantitative ingredient declaration for any emphasised or distinguishing ingredients (QUID) An indication of the quantity of an ingredient used in the manufacture of a food must be given where that ingredient concerned:

For example: Chicken, Ham and Leek Pie - Ingredients: Wheat Flour, Chicken (20%), Leek (10%), Water, Ham (10%) (Pork, Salt, Brown Sugar, Preservative: Sodium Nitrite), Butter (Milk), Onion, Single Cream (Milk), Mature Cheddar Cheese (Milk), Butter (Milk), Egg Yolk.

• The net quantity of the food should be given in the appropriate units (kg/g/mg or l/cl/ml).
• The date of minimum durability (Best Before) or the ‘use by’ date A ‘best before’ date is about food quality rather than safety, so after this date expires the food will not be harmful, but its flavour, colour or texture might begin to deteriorate and it may not be at its best quality after this date. A ‘use by’ date is about food safety and is used on foods that go off quickly (i.e. highly perishable), such as raw meat or fish, cooked sliced meats and dairy products. The ‘date of freezing’ must also be given for meat, meat preparations and unprocessed fishery products that have previously been frozen, or the ‘date of first freezing’ if they have been frozen more than once.
• Any special storage conditions or conditions of use For exampe, ‘Store in a cool, dry place’, ‘Refrigerate after opening’ or ‘Use within 3 days of opening’, ‘Do not refreeze’.
• The name or business name and address of the food business operator under whose name the food is marketed, or the importer into the EU market. The name or business name and the address of the FBO that is responsible for the food information on a product must be indicated on the label. A contact telephone number, email addresses, or other non-physical contact details would not be an acceptable replacement for the FBO address.
• An indication of the country of origin or place of provenance of the food must be provided if failure to indicate this might mislead the consumer as to the true origin or provenance of the food, particularly if other information accompanying the food might imply that the food has a different country of origin or place of provenance. Where the label carries other information that may imply origin (for example, a saltire), then the actual country of origin declaration should be sufficiently prominent, precise and compelling to correct any potentially misleading impression, for example Made in England. Foods are deemed to have been manufactured or produced in the country or place in which they last underwent a treatment or process resulting in a substantial change, such as cooking, therefore, minor processes such as slicing, cutting, mincing, freezing or packing do not amount to such a change. Also, if the origin is given as the place in which the food underwent its last substantial change, but the origin of the primary ingredients is different to the origin indicated, then it may be necessary to provide origin information for the primary ingredients, for example, Smoked Salmon: Smoked in Scotland using Salmon from Norway. Mandatory origin labelling is required for meat for beef, pork, lamb, goat, poultry and fish, as well as honey, wine, imported eggs, fresh fruit and veg.
• Instructions for use if it would be difficult to make appropriate use of the food in the absence of such instructions. If the food needs to be cooked, diluted, reconstituted, etc before consumption, then this needs to be apparent and the label, particularly if a specific method needs to be followed.
• The alcoholic strength by volume, where the product contains more than 1.2% alcohol by volume, must be indicated to not more than 1 decimal place.
• A nutrition declaration From 13th December 2016, a nutrition declaration requires to be provided. The requirement is for nutrient information to be provided per 100g or 100ml.

Information should be tabular, as above, with values aligned, unless space truly does not permit, in which case the information can be given in linear form. When nutrients are not present or are present in negligible amounts, they may be grouped together in a single sentence. Packs with a surface area less than 25cm2 are exempt from providing a nutrition declaration. Also, foods supplied to the final consumer or to local retail establishments by a ‘manufacturer of small quantities of products’, do not need to bare a nutrition declaration. Manufacturers of small quantities are businesses with less than 10 employees and a turnover of less than 1.2m. Local retail establishments are those within North Ayrshire or any neighbouring local authority area. Also, premises that are no more than 30 miles (50 kilometres) from the border of North Ayrshire are considered local. The exemption is for the food, not the business, so only foods that do not benefit from the exemption will have to bare a nutrition declaration.