New UK Food Labelling Requirements – Is Your Company Ready?
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From the 1st October 2021, the UK Food information amendment or Natasha’s Law will require businesses to label pre-packed food for direct sale (PPDS) made on their premises with its product name and its full list of ingredients, including highlighted allergens. The new law will come into play in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with similar standards being introduced in Scotland by its local Food Standards agency.
The new law is aimed to protect allergy suffers and give them the confidence when buying food. These types of foods are packaged onsite and are usually on sale in display units, behind counters or sold in mobile/temporary outlets.
What are the options?
The new law effects everyone from small bistros to larger hospitality chains who in turn require new technology to fulfil these new documentation requirements. There are a number of labelling options which businesses can consider, including handwriting sticky labels or batch buying pre-printed labels which can often be costly and very time consuming. An additional negative point of purchasing large quantities of pre-printed labels is that they will instantly become redundant when recipe ingredients are updated, causing additional costs to reproduce.
An alternative option is to look into self-label printing, this allows for the production of smaller quantities of labels as-and-when required. The most popular media options on the market today are either traditional silicon linered pre-cut re-stick labels or linerless labels which both allow the user flexibility on the label content they produce.
Why go linerless?
Linerless labels are characterised as pressure-sensitive labelling with a special release coating applied on the face of the label. Going linerless provides up to 40% more labels per roll than traditional label media by simply removing the requirement of silicon backing paper. This special feature allows label printing of variable lengths, making it ideal for ingredient and allergen labelling which can often vary in size.
Typically, linerless labelling requires specialised printers for efficient use. BIXOLON offers a portfolio of linerless labelling solutions from traditional desktop printers to compact mobile printers. Its SRP-S300 linerless label or receipt printer, is ideal for high humidity kitchen environments. Providing concise, accurate linerless printing over five different print widths onto both re-stick and permanent linerless label media. The XL5-40 is the world’s first exclusively dedicated linerless desktop label printer with unmatched features compared to existing desktop printers, supporting linerless labelling as an option. Alternatively BIXOLON’s comprehensive range of compact mobile printers available in two, three and four-inch media widths providing consistent, flexible printing from your chosen smart device.
To find out more about the BIXOLON’s Linerless Label printing range and why it is quickly becoming a favoured labelling technology of choice for major hospitality brands across the UK, visit www.BixolonEU.com or call +49-211-68-78-84-0.
BIXOLON Europe GmbH
Tel: +49-211-68-78-54-0
Email: Sales@Bixolon.de
Website: www.BixolonEU.com
