Buying snacks wholesale to sell on

Many small shops, cafés and clubs buy snacks in bulk to sell on. In England, a rule limits where some of those snacks may sit in a shop. The stock itself carries dates and labels to check.

Does the placement rule apply to you?

The Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021 restrict where food high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS) may be placed in a store. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) guidance, last updated on 29 September 2023, says the restriction by location came into force on 1 October 2022.

It says the restrictions apply to medium and large retailers "with 50 or more employees" offering prepacked food for sale. The guidance lists businesses that are exempt, including micro or small businesses with under 50 employees, schools and colleges for children under 18, and the out of home sector.

A business with 50 or more employees is also exempt from the location rule if it is a specialist retailer, or if it "has a relevant floor area of less than 185.8m2 (2,000 sq ft)". Check the guidance against your own business before deciding where it stands.

If the rule does apply

The guidance names the key locations in a store as store entrances, aisle ends and checkouts. Any area "within 2m of the checkout facility" is in scope, and so is any area within 2m of a designated queuing area. It says specified food may still be placed inside an aisle, even within 2m of a checkout, but not at the end of one.

Use-by and best before

GOV.UK says most prepacked foods must show either a use-by date or a best before date. It says, "Use-by dates relate to the safety of food, whereas best before dates relate to quality." The manufacturer decides which date a product carries.

Packing snacks yourself

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) says food prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) is food "packaged at the same place it is offered or sold to consumers". The business that packs it must label it with the name of the food and a full ingredients list, with allergenic ingredients emphasised within the list. Bagging up loose sweets or nuts to sell from your own counter may fall under this, so the FSA's introduction is the place to check.

Starting to sell food

GOV.UK says you must register with your local authority to run a food business, at least 28 days before you start trading.

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