Food Labelling Requirements

Singapore's Food Regulations require food businesses offering prepacked food for sale in Singapore to comply with food-labelling requirements. SFA treats a food label broadly: it can be a tag, brand, mark, statement in words, picture or diagram on, attached to, used, displayed with or accompanying food or its package. Labels communicate the product's source, nature, contents and net quantity and help identify food during a safety incident (SFA, Labelling Requirements for Food, last updated 30 December 2025, accessed 30 August 2026).

Which food is covered

Prepacked food is food packed in a wrapper or container before it is put up for sale, including examples such as canned food, pasteurised milk, potato chips, cooking oil and flour. The requirement applies to all prepacked food products intended for sale, including imported products; importers remain responsible even when an overseas manufacturer's label was designed for several markets (SFA, Labelling Requirements for Food, last updated 30 December 2025, accessed 30 August 2026).

Food prepared after a consumer orders it, restaurant and catering meals, food weighed or packed in the retailer's presence, and food sold loosely at places such as delicatessen or bakery counters are examples of non-prepacked food. The formal labelling requirements apply to prepacked food, but SFA says businesses offering non-prepacked food should still provide label-type information, such as allergen information, when consumers request it (SFA, Labelling Requirements for Food, last updated 30 December 2025, accessed 30 August 2026).

What the requirements cover

SFA groups food-labelling controls into general labelling requirements, additional requirements for specified foods, requirements for claims such as organic or gluten-free, prohibited claims on labels and advertisements, and nutrition and health-claim requirements. The detailed Food Regulations and SFA's guide should be checked for the particular product, because a general summary cannot replace product-specific standards or claim rules (SFA, Labelling Requirements for Food, last updated 30 December 2025, accessed 30 August 2026).

Core label information commonly includes an accurate name or description, an ingredients statement, net quantity, date marking where required, directions or storage information where relevant, and the responsible business or origin information required by the applicable rules. Labels must be in English and must not be false, misleading or deceptive; the exact declaration depends on the food category and any additional requirement (SFA, A Guide to Food Labelling and Advertisements, accessed 30 August 2026).

Imports, stickers and changing rules

An importer may use a firmly attached sticker label to add mandatory English information when the imported product's original label does not meet Singapore's requirements, provided the sticker does not cover essential information. Tampering with the expiry or other date mark declared on the original label is prohibited. Importers must check the prevailing Food Regulations rather than assume that a manufacturer's label satisfies Singapore law (SFA, A Guide to Food Labelling and Advertisements, accessed 30 August 2026).

SFA's page records Food (Amendment) Regulations 2025 taking effect on 30 January 2026 and directs businesses to the amendment briefing deck for details. A label review should therefore record the date on which the rules were checked and use the current Food Regulations and SFA guidance, especially for claims, font-size rules and category-specific declarations (SFA, Labelling Requirements for Food, last updated 30 December 2025, accessed 30 August 2026).