Food label language requirements in Ireland

English is sufficient for a food label in Ireland. Irish may be added but is not required -- and that honest answer is worth stating plainly.

English satisfies the requirement

Ireland gives effect to Art. 15 of Reg. (EU) 1169/2011 through S.I. No. 556 of 2014, the European Union (Provision of Food Information to Consumers) Regulations. English is the required language for the mandatory particulars.

Irish, or any other language, may be added. Nothing obliges an exporter to produce an Irish-language label, and a pack that carries only English is compliant on the language point.

Why this matters for exporters

Ireland is often assumed to need a bilingual pack because Irish is a first official language of the State. For food labelling under S.I. No. 556 of 2014 that assumption adds cost without adding compliance.

The honest answer -- English is enough -- is one many suppliers never get, because the safe-sounding advice is always 'add the other language'.

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 English.

Because English satisfies the language rule outright, the work in an Irish pack is entirely in the particulars below rather than in translation.

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 an Irish pack

An English pack built for another English-language market usually needs no language change for Ireland. What it does need is every 1169 mandatory particular present and legible.

LabelYog builds the English declaration from your recipe and will add Irish as a second language if you want it for brand reasons rather than legal ones.

At a glance

• English present for all mandatory particulars
• Irish optional -- add it for brand reasons, not compliance
• Any other language may also be added alongside
• All Reg. 1169/2011 mandatory particulars present
• Legibility met independently of language choice
• 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.