Craft brewing, cider making and distilling

Alcohol products such as beer, cider and spirits, must comply with food labelling and packaging rules. 

The information on drinks packaging must be accurate and help consumers make an informed choice. Falsely describing food products is a criminal offence. Your labelling should include:

• name of the drink
• ingredients or processing aids causing allergies or intolerances
• warnings if the drink contains certain ingredients, eg liquorice and aspartame
• net quantity of the drink
• a date of minimum durability, eg a 'best before' date
• any special storage conditions 
• instructions for use if necessary 
• name or business name and address of the producer 
• country of origin or place of provenance (if required)
• the alcohol strength by volume for drinks with more than 1.2% alcohol by volume (ABV)

Normally pre-packaged food products must include an ingredients list. This is not required for drinks over 1.2% ABV. Alcoholic drinks over 1.2% ABV also do not require a nutrition declaration. However, you may choose to voluntarily include an energy declaration in kJ (kilojoules) and kcal (kilocalories), and on a per 100ml basis. You may additionally provide the energy information per portion. 

Alternatively, you can provide a full ("back of pack") nutrition declaration on a voluntary basis on alcoholic drinks. This must be expressed per 100ml. You may additionally provide this information per portion.

Health advice

The UK Chief Medical Officer provides guidelines to the public for reducing the risks of drinking alcohol. The Department of Health recommends that these guidelines are communicated to consumers on alcohol packaging.

Download information on communicating the low risk drinking guidelines to the public (PDF, 218KB). 

Marketing rules 

Your product packaging must not promote drinking alcohol irresponsibly or appeal to children. Find out more about advertising rules for alcohol products.