Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme: Labelling requirements

Last updated: 28 March 2025

Since 1 October 2024, all milk and dairy products also need to be ​​individually labelled. 

Dairy products

Dairy products are products resulting from the processing of raw milk or other dairy products. Dairy products include, but are not restricted to:

• all milk, including pasteurised, thermised and ultra-heat-treated (UHT) milk, condensed and evaporated milk, flavoured milk and milk with increased protein
• buttermilk or cream produced from animal products, including flavoured products
• cheeses produced from animal milk, including cottage cheese, hard cheeses, blue cheeses and cheeses with added herbs or fruit
• yoghurt, including flavoured and natural yoghurts and those with increased protein
• butter
• custard, both fresh and ambient (shelf-stable)
• whey and whey products
• butteroil and other dairy-based oils
• fermented dairy products, including kefir, koumiss, viili, fil, smetana, rjaženka and rūgušpiens
• caseins and anhydrous milk fat (AMF)
• ice cream made only from dairy products, stabilisers, flavourings and sweeteners. For example, a frozen yoghurt with added sugar and vanilla flavouring, or an all-dairy ice cream with no added oils

Composite products

Phase 2 does not include composite products that contain products from this list.

Composite products are products that contain both:

• plant products
• processed POAO for human consumption

For example, a chilled pizza with processed cheese does not need individual labelling in phase 2.

It is not a composite product if a plant product only adds special characteristics to a POAO, such as flavour, sweetness or as a thickening or decorative agent. These products therefore need to be individually product labelled.

The following examples are still defined as dairy products, as the plant product only adds flavour:

• cheese with added herbs
• yoghurt with added fruit
• breaded cheese, such as mozzarella sticks

Compound products

Compound products that need labelling in phase 2 are dairy products combined with another POAO, such as dairy or fish. For example, fish with a cheese sauce or prawns packaged with a dairy dip.

Commodity codes for products included in phase 2

You can also use the lists of commodity codes to confirm which products need labels in phase 2.