Best food labelling for cake makers: what to look for (and what's actually free)

What cake makers usually mean by food labelling

In the UK, packed cakes sold from a shed, stall or collection often need a full ingredients list with the 14 major allergens clearly emphasised. That is the Natasha's Law / PPDS job most bakers are searching for when they type “food labelling for cake makers”.

Pretty bakery labels (names, flavours, prices) are a separate job. They do not replace an allergen ingredient label. If you only design the pretty one, you still have the compliance one to do.

More detail: what needs to be on the allergen ingredient label and what Natasha's Law means for home bakers.

A simple checklist (use this to compare anything)

Good food labelling for cake makers should make these jobs easy:

• Full ingredients in weight order
• Sub ingredients opened out (not just “chocolate”)
• The 14 major allergens shown in bold or CAPITALS (ask your EHO which they prefer)
• A best before date (or use by, if the bake is highly perishable)
• Storage advice where it helps (for example keep refrigerated, or store in a cool dry place)
• Business name, and address if your EHO wants it for how you sell
• A way to reprint when a pack or recipe changes
• Text large enough to read at a glance
• You can check every word against the real packs before you sell
• Do not put an allergen under may contain if it is already in the ingredients list

If a tool, template or spreadsheet cannot do those, it is not the “best” option for the search you typed, however nice it looks on Instagram.

Allergens in bold or capitals

Any of the 14 major allergens that are in the bake should stand out in the ingredients list. In practice that usually means bold. Some bakers use CAPITALS instead, or both. Check with your EHO which style they are happy with. Tiny text that nobody can scan quickly defeats the point.

A short allergy advice line is good practice, for example: for allergens, including cereals containing gluten, see ingredients in bold (or in CAPITALS, if that is how you emphasise them).

Best before, and storage if you use it

Natasha's Law is mainly the name and the ingredients list with allergens emphasised. Packed cakes often also need a best before date. Use use by instead if the bake is highly perishable (cream cakes are a common example). Many EHOs like to see a date on the pack. Ask yours what they want for what you sell.

Storage advice is not always mandatory in the same way, but it is useful and many bakers add it: keep refrigerated, eat within so many days of opening, or store in a cool dry place. If you add it, keep it honest to how the bake actually keeps.

May contain is not a copy of your ingredients list

“May contain” is only for possible cross contamination, such as nuts used elsewhere in the kitchen. If an allergen is already in your ingredients list, it does not go under may contain.

Example: if eggs are in the sponge, write eggs in the ingredients list (in bold or CAPITALS). Do not also write “may contain egg”. That is a common mistake and it confuses people who need the label to be accurate.

Canva and shop templates vs an allergen label maker

A design template is fine for the pretty label. It is a weak allergen label maker. You type the list once. When a pack changes, you have to remember to open the file, retype sub ingredients, and re-bold allergens. That is where mistakes creep in on a busy bake day.

A food allergen label maker should start from the packs you actually bake with, keep the ingredients list for that product, and let you print again without rebuilding from a blank page. You still review the text. The tool does not replace your checks or your EHO.

What is actually free

Search results for “free food labelling for cake makers” mix three different things:

• Free to draft: a notebook, Google Doc or spreadsheet. Cost is your time. Fine for one product while you learn the rules.
• Free to design: Canva-style templates. Fine for look. Weak when packs change.
• Free to try software: a short trial so you can build a real label from packs before you pay. BakeSafe’s trial is 7 days, no card.

Nothing reputable does your legal labelling forever at zero cost and zero checking. If a page promises that, treat it as a warning, not a bargain.

How BakeSafe fits (after the checklist)

BakeSafe is built for that allergen job: photograph ingredient packs, including bulk upload for a recipe, build the ingredients list, emphasise allergens, and print. Same account as fridge logs and SFBB-style checks if you want them.

It is one option that matches the checklist above. Compare it the same way you would compare anything else: can you reprint when a pack changes, and can you read the label in a rush.

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