How to Label Food in a Commercial Kitchen

Labelling food is helpful at home, let alone in a commercial kitchen. But not everyone realises how important it is for maintaining good food hygiene and standards. While not strictly legislated on, proper labelling of food is widely seen as mandatory for meeting UK food safety requirements.

As kitchen labelling is often confused with labelling for prepackaged food, we thought we’d produce a quick guide on how to label food in a commercial kitchen: the requirements, the reasons why it’s so important, and how to implement it in line with regulations like the Food Safety Act 1990 and inherited EU laws.

The benefits of clear food labelling

Labelling food in a commercial kitchen has some obvious and immediate benefits. Using clear, consistent, and accurate food labels tells the kitchen team exactly what the food is, when it was prepared, who prepared it, and when it has to be used by. This information helps to ensure food is stored safely, and prevents food being served beyond safe time limits. 

It also reduces the likelihood of cross-contamination. Clear identification makes it less likely that someone will mix up raw and cooked products, or allergens and non-allergens. With more and more people reporting allergies—and more cases of deadly allergic reactions to food—there is a huge onus on businesses to prevent any lapses in allergen awareness. For businesses with high staff turnover or a rotating workforce, the clarity provided by consistent labels also ensures that standards remain the same regardless of who is on duty.

There are operational advantages, too. Kitchens that label food properly tend to have better stock management, less food waste, and more accurate rotation systems. Labels indicating preparation and expiry dates make it much easier to follow the first-in-first-out method, reducing costs by ensuring that food is used at the right time. Good labelling practices can also smooth communication between your front-of-house and kitchen teams, particularly where items are pre-prepared, or held in storage before service.

Why labelling is essential in a commercial kitchen

The consequences of poor or absent labelling, by contrast, can be severe. From a practical perspective, failing to clearly label items increases the risk of using spoiled or unsafe food, with serious implications for both the health of your customers and the reputation of your business. Even a single incident of serving food past its safe life can lead to illnesses, with an impact on your reviews, trust, and potentially your legal liabilities.

Operationally, missing labels make it difficult to maintain good stock control, resulting in food being unnecessarily thrown away, or ingredients that should have been thrown away being used. Confusion over ingredients can also slow down service, with staff wasting valuable time trying to verify what an unlabelled item contains.

In the UK, food business operators are legally required to ensure that food is safe, traceable, and correctly described. Several pieces of legislation (including the Food Safety Act 1990, the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013, and parallel regulations in the devolved nations) place a duty on businesses to maintain proper documentation and controls. If a business fails to label food properly, and this failure results in unsafe food being served, you could be subject to enforcement action. Penalties range from improvement notices to prosecution, fines, and even your restaurant being closed.

As mentioned, allergens are another major beneficiary of proper labelling. Natasha’s Law, which came into force in 2021, requires that any pre-packed foods for direct sale are labelled with all of their ingredients. While not directly relevant to many restaurants, incorrect or unclear allergen labelling can still lead to life-threatening reactions, and the potential for substantial legal liability.

How to label food correctly in a commercial kitchen

Now we know the ‘why’, how should businesses label food in a commercial kitchen? The starting point is clarity. Labels need to identify the food precisely, avoiding generic descriptions such as “sauce” or “meat”. Instead, the label should specify what the item actually is, using terms that are immediately recognisable to all staff. 

Where ingredients contain allergens, this should be indicated in line with the business’s allergen management policy (if you don’t have a clearly defined allergen management policy, that’s another key step). Although full ingredient lists are not usually required for internally stored items, clear allergen warnings will significantly reduce the risk of cross-contact.

The next essential element is dating, and not the Tinder kind. In the UK, commercial kitchens are expected to apply both preparation dates and use-by or expiry dates. These dates must be accurate and legible. A preparation date tells staff when the item was made, which supports traceability and food rotation. A use-by date tells them when the item is no longer safe to serve. 

Use-by dates need to reflect the business’s food safety management system, which is usually based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles. Different foods have different safe holding times, depending on factors such as cooking method, storage temperature, and the type of product. Each business needs to establish these limits and ensure that all employees follow them.

The person who prepared or opened the food should also be recorded on the label. Knowing who handled the item allows traceability in the event of a query or safety concern, and helps to foster accountability within your team. Some kitchens will opt to include time as well as date, particularly for items with short shelf lives, such as cooked rice or high-risk chilled foods.

Maintaining practical labelling standards

A less crucial but still important aspect of labelling food is durability. Labels need to be able to withstand the conditions of a busy kitchen, and the cold and moisture of a refrigerator. Many kitchens choose purpose-made adhesive labels designed for refrigeration and freezing to ensure they remain attached and legible. 

Many kitchens opt to use colour-coded systems to support day-of-the-week rotation, with the meaning of each colour being clearly communicated to and understood by staff. It’s equally important to maintain cleanliness and hygiene when applying labels. This means not applying labels directly to food, naturally, but also that surfaces should be clean and dry before labels are attached, and hands washed when handling labels and pens.

Training and compliance

As with any aspect of food safety, knowing how to label food in a commercial kitchen requires staff training. Every member of staff needs to be trained in the kitchen’s labelling procedures, understanding why they matter, and knowing how to apply them. Training should form part of the induction process, and be refreshed regularly, especially when procedures change. 

Supervisors should monitor compliance, and correct any deviations promptly. Record-keeping will help to support these processes, and demonstrate that you’ve done your due diligence if inspectors or regulators even check in. 

Food businesses should also integrate labelling into their broader food safety management system, if it isn’t already. Regular reviews of your shelf-life rules, storage practices, and labelling standards will ensure that your system remains effective, and compliant with UK law. Environmental health officers will expect to see that the business follows its own documented procedures, and that labelling is accurate and consistent across all areas of the kitchen.

Labelling food in a commercial kitchen is a more central aspect of food safety than you might think. It protects customers in a variety of ways, supports staff in their day-to-day work, helps you reduce waste, and keeps you compliant with UK food regulations. 

By adopting clear, consistent and well-enforced processes, food businesses can keep high standards, and reduce the risks associated with food handling. A rigorous approach to labelling is a common-sense component of any commercial kitchen, and something you should implement as soon as possible.