Food labelling requirements for ready-made meal businesses

If you're preparing and packaging meals for sale, your food labels must meet Australian labelling laws. Getting it right helps protect your customers, build trust, and keep your business compliant.

Why accurate labelling matters

Food labelling laws help ensure consumers can make safe, informed choices. If you’re preparing and packaging food for sale (even for delivery or pick-up via Cookaborough), your labels must meet the requirements of the Food Standards Code and other relevant regulations.

What to include on your food labels

Your food labels must include the following:

1. Name or description of the food

Make it clear what the product is (e.g. Beef Lasagne, Vegetarian Thai Curry). The name should be easily understood and not misleading.

2. Ingredients list

List all ingredients in descending order by weight.
You must also:

• Use plain English names (e.g. milk, wheat, peanuts)

• Declare any compound ingredients (e.g. tomato paste, curry powder)

  
  

3. Allergen declaration

Australia has mandatory allergen labelling laws, including the new Plain English Allergen Labelling (PEAL) rules.

You must:

• Highlight allergens in bold in the ingredients list

• Include a summary statement like:
  “Contains: Milk, Egg, Wheat, Soy”

This applies to all food sold in packaging, even if not sold in stores. If you package meals and sell them directly to customers, you must comply.

There are 11 mandatory allergens to declare:

• Egg

• Milk

• Peanuts

• Tree nuts

• Sesame

• Soy

• Wheat

• Fish

• Crustacea

• Molluscs

• Lupin

4. Use by or best before date

Use-by dates are required for food that is unsafe after a certain time. Best-before dates apply to foods that may lose quality but are still safe to eat.

5. Storage instructions

Include clear instructions for refrigeration or freezing, especially for perishable items.

6. Business name and address

You must include the name and physical street address of your business (not just a website or email).

Optional but recommended

Nutrition information panel

While not always mandatory for small businesses, it’s good practice to include a nutrition panel—especially if you’re catering to health-conscious customers, HCP recipients, or NDIS participants.

Country of origin

We recommend including a simple statement such as “Made in Australia" or “Cooked locally in [Suburb/City/State]” This helps reinforce transparency and build trust with your customers.

Common labelling mistakes to avoid

❌ Listing allergens but not bolding them

❌ Using technical terms (e.g. “casein” instead of “milk”)

❌ Omitting compound ingredients

❌ Missing or unclear use-by dates

Use Cookaborough’s built-in labels to stay compliant

Preparing compliant food labels doesn’t need to be time-consuming or expensive.

With Cookaborough’s built-in label generator, you can easily generate labels that include:

• Item name, ingredients and allergen information

• IBusiness name and address, logo and contact information

• Nutritional Panel

• Use or freeze by date

• Customer instructions on how to prepare, serve and store this dish

This helps ensure your labels meet the core requirements of the Food Standards Code - without extra software or manual formatting.

Staying compliant on Cookaborough

If you're using the Cookaborough platform, you're responsible for the accuracy of your labels. We recommend reviewing your product info regularly, especially when recipes or suppliers change.