Food label requirements by export market: US, EU, UK, UAE and India

A US food label needs a statement of identity, a net quantity, an ingredient list, an allergen declaration, a Nutrition Facts panel and the name and place of business of the firm responsible, all in English. Imported food also carries its country of origin.

The FDA does not pre-approve food labels; keeping a label legal is the food business's job (FDA, Food Labeling Guide page). The same page notes that the guide's chapters on allergens and nutrition labelling are under revision, so read those chapters with the current regulations beside them.

The information panel is the panel immediately to the right of the principal display panel, as you face it (21 CFR 101.2). Text there must be at least 1/16 inch high, measured on the lower-case letter 'o', and must contrast with its background (FDA Food Labeling Guide).

There are nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame. Sesame has had to be labelled as an allergen since 1 January 2023 (FDA). A 'Contains' statement must sit immediately after or next to the ingredient list, in type no smaller than the list (21 U.S.C. 343(w)).

If any foreign language appears on the label, every required statement must appear in that language as well as in English (21 CFR 101.15). A bilingual Indian pack with English and Hindi therefore needs every US particular in Hindi too, or no Hindi at all. Where a US firm is named as distributor, the country of origin must sit close to that name and address, in lettering at least comparable in size (FDA Food Labeling Guide).

Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 lists twelve mandatory particulars, sets a minimum text size, and requires the 14 allergens it names to be emphasised in the ingredient list (EUR-Lex). It has applied since 13 December 2014, and its nutrition declaration since 13 December 2016 (European Commission).

Article 9 lists the particulars: the name of the food; the list of ingredients; any allergen named in Annex II; the quantity of certain ingredients; the net quantity; the date of minimum durability or 'use by' date; special storage conditions or conditions of use; the name and address of the responsible food business operator; the country of origin where Article 26 requires it; instructions for use where needed; the alcoholic strength of drinks over 1.2 percent; and a nutrition declaration (EUR-Lex).

• Text size. Mandatory particulars must be printed with an x-height of at least 1.2 mm, or 0.9 mm where the largest surface of the pack is under 80 cm² (Article 13, EUR-Lex).
• Field of vision. The name of the food, the net quantity and any alcoholic strength must appear in the same field of vision (Article 13(5), EUR-Lex).
• Language. Mandatory information must be in a language easily understood by consumers in the member state where the food is sold, and a member state may require its own official languages (Article 15, EUR-Lex).
• Allergens. Each Annex II allergen is named in the ingredient list and emphasised through a typeset that sets it apart, for example by font, style or background colour (Article 21, EUR-Lex).
• Nutrition. The declaration gives energy and the amounts of fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt (Article 30, EUR-Lex).
• Responsibility. The responsible operator is the one under whose name the food is marketed or, if that operator is not established in the Union, the importer (Article 8, EUR-Lex).

The 14 allergens in Annex II are cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame seeds, sulphur dioxide and sulphites above a threshold, lupin and molluscs (EUR-Lex). Country of origin is mandatory where leaving it out could mislead the consumer about where the food comes from (Article 26, EUR-Lex).

The UK list is close to the EU's, with one change that catches exporters: food sold in Great Britain must carry a UK address. Everything else on the pack must be in English.

Since 1 January 2024, pre-packed food sold in Great Britain must include a UK address for the food business operator; if the operator is not in the UK, the label gives the address of its UK importer (gov.uk). Pre-packed food sold in Northern Ireland must carry a Northern Ireland or EU address. The address must be a physical one where the business can be contacted by post.

The mandatory information is the name of the food, the quantitative ingredients declaration where needed, the ingredient list with allergens, the net quantity, a 'best before' or 'use by' date, the name and address of the responsible operator, and the alcoholic strength of drinks over 1.2 percent. It must be printed with a minimum x-height of 1.2 mm, or 0.9 mm if the largest surface of the pack is under 80 cm² (gov.uk).

The UK uses the same 14 allergens. They must be emphasised every time they appear in the ingredient list, for example in bold, in a contrasting colour or underlined, and for food sold in the UK the information must be in English (gov.uk, allergen labelling for manufacturers). The same guidance says a 'may contain' statement should only follow a thorough risk assessment, where the risk of cross-contamination is real and cannot be removed.

Arabic. A Gulf label carries its mandatory information in Arabic, and any other language on the pack must say the same thing.

The UAE standard is UAE.S 9, 'Labeling of Prepackaged Food Stuffs', listed in its 2019 edition among mandatory food standards in a 2020 Cabinet resolution (UAE legislation portal). The text of UAE.S 9 was not available for this guide, and the official portal could not be opened. What follows comes from official sources in two other Gulf states, which apply the parallel Gulf standard, GSO 9.

Saudi Arabia's Food and Drug Authority, applying GSO 9, says labelling and adjoining explanatory statements shall be in Arabic, another language may appear alongside it, and the information in that language must be identical to the Arabic (SFDA). Bahrain's Ministry of Health lists what the label must include: the product name, the ingredients with any that cause hypersensitivity declared, nutrition data, net contents, the name and address of the manufacturer or packer, the country of origin, and date marking with storage and use instructions (Bahrain Ministry of Health).

The UAE section rests on official secondary sources, not on the text of UAE.S 9 itself. Before you print a pack for the UAE, buy the current standard or confirm the requirement with the UAE authority.

Food sold in India is labelled under the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020. The marks a foreign buyer notices first are the green or brown symbol and the FSSAI logo with a licence number (FSSAI).

• Language. The declarations must be in English or Hindi in Devanagari script; another language may be added if it does not contradict them (regulation 4(5), FSSAI).
• Name. The name of the food, indicating its true nature, on the front of the pack (5(1), FSSAI).
• Veg or non-veg. Vegetarian food carries a green filled circle inside a green-outlined square; non-vegetarian food carries a brown filled triangle inside a brown-outlined square (5(4), FSSAI).
• Licence. The FSSAI logo and licence number of the brand owner, and of the manufacturer or packer if different; for imported food, the importer's (5(7), FSSAI).
• Name and address. The brand owner's, preceded by words such as 'Manufactured by' or 'Marketed by'; imported food also carries the importer's name and address in India (5(6), FSSAI).
• Nutrition. Per 100 g or 100 ml or per single pack: energy, protein, carbohydrate, total and added sugars, fat with its breakdown, and sodium (5(3), FSSAI).
• Lot and dates. A batch, code or lot number, and the date of manufacture or packaging with the expiry or use-by date, grouped together (5(9) and 5(10), FSSAI).
• Allergens. Declared separately as 'Contains' followed by the allergen; cross-contamination may be declared as 'May contain' (5(14), FSSAI).
• Net quantity and retail price. As set by the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and its rules (5(8), FSSAI).

These rules govern food sold in India. FSSAI also licenses exporter-manufacturers whose products comply with the importing country's rules rather than India's (FSSAI kind-of-business list). An export pack is built to the destination's label law; the private-label manufacturing guide covers the licences behind it.

At about 10 mg/kg (10 ppm) in the US, the EU, the UK and India: at 10 or more in the US and India, above 10 in the EU and the UK. If a dried ingredient in your product was treated with a sulphiting agent, test the finished food before you write the label.

The EU wording matters for dried vegetables and other foods sold dry. The threshold is measured on the food as eaten or as reconstituted, so the figure on a certificate of analysis for the dry product is not the figure the rule applies to (EUR-Lex). In the US the agents covered are sulphur dioxide, sodium sulphite, sodium and potassium bisulphite, and sodium and potassium metabisulphite (21 CFR 101.100).

The particulars are close; the form is not. Language, the allergen list, the address and the special marks are where packs fail.

In the US, a label that leaves out a required particular makes the food misbranded, and misbranded food can be refused entry. A refusal is final, and the goods must be destroyed or re-exported.

US law says imported food that appears to be adulterated or misbranded shall be refused admission (21 U.S.C. 381(a)). The FDA calls a refusal its final decision that a detained shipment violates its laws, and a refused shipment must be destroyed or exported under the supervision of CBP and the FDA within 90 days (FDA, import refusals). The FDA publishes refusals by country and product in its Import Refusal Report, updated monthly.

The FDA's import alert for food that appears misbranded lists the charges it detains under (Import Alert 99-39). The ones an export pack can avoid at the artwork stage:

• No common or usual name of the food.
• Ingredients not listed by their common or usual names.
• No name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer or distributor.
• No accurate statement of net quantity.
• Required information not prominent, or not in English, or not repeated in every language used on the pack.
• No Nutrition Facts, or nutrition information that does not follow the rule.
• A nutrient content or health claim that is not authorised.
• A chemical preservative or artificial flavour present but not declared.
• Labelling that is false or misleading in any particular.

A missing allergen declaration is misbranding in its own right under section 403(w) of the US food law (21 U.S.C. 343). For Great Britain, a pack that carries only an Indian or EU address misses the UK address requirement (gov.uk). For the Gulf, it is a pack with no Arabic (SFDA).

The house sells a label audit: a document review of your artwork against the destination's published requirements, with a findings table and printer-ready wording. It is not a laboratory test or a certification. Which destinations it covers is confirmed per enquiry.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Regulations change: it states what each rule said when the guide was checked on 13 October 2026. Read the current text of each regulation before you print a pack, and confirm anything you are unsure of with the authority in the destination market.