Food label language requirements in Czechia

Czech is mandatory for the required food information on any food placed on the Czech market — and failing to provide it is a defined offence, not a technicality.

The rule sits in the Foodstuffs Act

Czechia's requirement is in zákon č. 110/1997 Sb., o potravinách a tabákových výrobcích — the Act on Foodstuffs and Tobacco Products.

Section 3(1)(e) places the duty on the food business operator: where a food is placed on the market in the territory of the Czech Republic, the mandatory food information laid down in the legal regulations must be given in Czech.

The phrasing is worth noting — it attaches to the mandatory information 'laid down in the legal regulations', which is the Reg. 1169/2011 set. It is not a rule about the product name; it is a rule about the whole mandatory apparatus.

Breach is a defined offence

The Act's penalty provisions make failure to give the mandatory food information in Czech, contrary to § 3(1)(e), an offence in its own right — listed alongside breaches such as exceeding permitted levels of toxicologically significant substances.

That framing matters commercially: the language duty is not treated as a presentational detail in Czech law but as one of the operator's core obligations.

What else Reg. 1169/2011 makes mandatory

Language is one requirement among many, and the language rule applies to ALL of them. Reg. (EU) 1169/2011 Art. 9(1) sets the mandatory particulars: the food name, the ingredient list, allergens, QUID where it applies, net quantity, the date, storage and use conditions, the responsible operator, origin where required, instructions for use, alcoholic strength above 1.2% vol, and the nutrition declaration. Every one of them has to appear in Czech.

The duty covers the mandatory information as a whole, which is why a partially translated pack does not satisfy it.

Art. 13(2)-(3) sets how small they may be: an x-height of at least 1.2 mm, or 0.9 mm where the largest surface of the pack is under 80 cm². X-height is the height of a lower-case x — not the nominal point size, which is the mistake that puts a label under the floor while the artwork file says otherwise.

Allergens, QUID and the nutrition table

Art. 21(1)(b) and Annex II require every one of the 14 allergen groups to be emphasised INSIDE the ingredient list by a distinguishing typeset — a different font, style or background. The 14 include the gluten cereals, sulphites above 10 mg/kg, lupin and molluscs. An ingredient list set entirely in capitals emphasises nothing, because nothing distinguishes the allergen from the rest.

Art. 22(1) requires the QUID percentage whenever an ingredient appears in the food's name, is emphasised in words or pictures, or characterises the food.

Arts 30(1), 32(2) and 34(1)-(2) with Annex XV require the full nutrition declaration — energy plus fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt — per 100 g or 100 ml, in the Annex XV order, tabular where space permits and linear where it does not.

Dates, the operator and net quantity

Art. 24 and Annex X set the date form, and the two are not interchangeable. “Best before” (with the day shown) or “Best before end” (month and year) is quality dating; “Use by” is safety dating, and after that date the food is deemed unsafe. Using one where the other belongs carries different legal consequences.

Art. 8(1) and Art. 9(1)(h) require the responsible operator's NAME AND ADDRESS — the operator under whose name the food is marketed, or the importer where that operator is not established in the market. A website, an e-mail address or a phone number is not an address.

Art. 23 and Annex IX set net quantity: volume in l, cl or ml, mass in kg or g, with drained weight where the food is glazed or packed in liquid. The ℮ mark is optional — an average-system guarantee — and where it is used it must be at least 3 mm and in the same field of vision.

Building a Czech pack

Czech across every mandatory particular, with other languages alongside as you need them for neighbouring markets.

LabelYog builds the Czech declaration from your recipe, so a Czech and Slovak pack is generated from one set of product data.

At a glance

• Czech present for all mandatory food information
• Duty is on the food business operator placing the food on the market
• Covers the Reg. 1169/2011 mandatory set, not the product name alone
• Breach of § 3(1)(e) is a defined offence under the Act
• All Art. 9(1) particulars present, x-height >= 1.2 mm (0.9 mm under 80 cm2)
• Annex II allergens emphasised INSIDE the ingredient list
• Operator NAME AND POSTAL ADDRESS -- not a website or e-mail

Questions

You can try the free tools without an account, read what a paid plan adds on pricing, or see how we compare with other label software before deciding anything. Every market we build for has a rule-book page of its own.