The 60-second answer
- Thai prepackaged food labels are governed by Ministry of Public Health Notification No. 450 B.E. 2567 (2024), in force since 19 July 2024. It repealed four earlier notifications (367, 383, 401, 410). Labels made under the old rules could be used until 18 July 2026 — that window has now closed.
- The label must be in Thai; other languages may be added. Imported food must show the importer's name and address plus the manufacturer's name and country, and make clear whether the party named is the importer or the manufacturer.
- The item that catches most exporters is the อย. number (เลขสารบบอาหาร): 13 digits in 5 groups, inside the อย. frame, digits at least 2 mm high, with contrast against the frame and the label background. The number is applied for by the Thai importer — not by the printer.
- The real layout difficulty is not the number of fields but Thai type: the legal minimum measures the face height, while Thai upper and lower vowel marks push the line box to roughly 1.6–1.8×. Set Thai text at Chinese or Latin sizes and the lines collide.
1. Two different labels: sold in Thailand vs exported from Thailand
The same notification contains two different regimes. Getting this right first can save a whole reprint.
| Situation | Provision | Language | Minimum content |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made in Thailand or imported for sale in Thailand (prepackaged food) | Clause 5 | Thai required, other languages optional | The 14 particulars of Clause 5 (section 2) |
| Made in Thailand, for export only | Clause 7 | Any language | ① Country of manufacture ② food serial number, establishment number, or manufacturer name and address (one of the three) |
| Not sold directly to consumers (to repackers or food processors) | Clause 5, final paragraph | English may replace Thai | Food name, serial number, operator name and address, contents, date — plus "raw materials for food processing only" |
2. The 14 particulars of Clause 5
| # | Particular | What it means in practice | Usual mistake |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Food name | In a prominent position; where a trade mark is used, the word "brand" / "trade mark" (or ®) must appear with it | Brand name only, no product name |
| 2 | Food serial number (เลขสารบบอาหาร) | 13 digits, 5 groups, in the อย. frame, digits ≥2 mm | Wrong digit count, frame too small to print, old number retained |
| 3 | Manufacturer / packer / importer name and address | For imports: importer name and address plus manufacturer name and country; the label must make clear which party is which | Only the overseas factory address — the consumer cannot find the responsible party |
| 4 | Contents in metric units | Net weight for solids, net volume for liquids, either for semi-solids; drained weight where a notification requires it | Mixed units, or a quantity with no unit |
| 5 | Percentage by weight of main ingredients | May be in descending order; may move to the container where the label is under 35 cm²; single-ingredient and dried/concentrated products have their own rules | Ingredient list without percentages |
| 6 | Allergen statement | "Information for food allergy: contains …" for ingredients, "may contain …" for cross-contamination; equivalent wording is allowed but must be prominent and legible | Allergens buried inside the ingredient list |
| 7 | Food additives | Colours and preservatives: functional class plus specific name or INS number; flavour enhancers and sweeteners: specific name; other additives may be declared as "food additive" plus name | An E-number alone, or "preservative" alone |
| 8 | Flavouring statement | "natural flavour added", "artificial flavour added", "natural imitation flavour added" as applicable | Flavourings used but never declared |
| 9 | Date | See section 4 (wording and precision) | A vague "valid until" instead of the prescribed wording |
| 10 | Warning statement | Set by product category (e.g. aspartame → phenylketonuria warning; ginkgo leaf → blood clotting and children/pregnancy warnings) | Copying a competitor's label, including warnings that do not apply |
| 11–14 | Storage, cooking instructions, Annex texts, and texts required by product-specific notifications (infant food, etc.) | Only where applicable — but once printed, it must be true | Boilerplate that contradicts the actual product |
Nutrition labelling is separate: MOPH Notification No. 445 B.E. 2566 (2023), in force 2 July 2024. Products that already held a serial number before that date may keep the old nutrition format until 1 July 2027; new products and new registrations follow No. 445. Any nutrition claim (high calcium, low sugar, no added sugar) triggers nutrition labelling.
3. The อย. number: 13 digits, and harder to lay out than it looks
- 13 digits in 5 groups. The first group is the province code of the manufacturing or importing site, the second indicates whether the site is licensed by the central FDA, and the remaining groups carry the site number, year and product sequence. The number is applied for by the Thai manufacturer or importer — a printer cannot obtain it.
- It sits inside the อย. frame. The frame and the digits are one graphic; printing 13 digits without the frame is not compliance.
- Digits at least 2 mm high, with contrast between digits and frame and between frame and label background. 2 mm is roughly twice normal body text — this is where small labels blow up.
4. Dates: precision follows shelf life
- Shelf life of 90 days or less: day / month / year.
- Shelf life over 90 days: month / year (day / month / year is also accepted).
- The date must sit with "should consume by" (ควรบริโภคก่อน) or "expiration date" (หมดอายุ); if those words cannot fit, the label must state clearly which numbers are the date.
- The month may be numeric or written; Thai and English may appear together, but they must agree.
- The stated expiry may not precede the date of sale — in practice, an oversticker may not move a date forward or cover the original.
5. Allergens and additives: the two places that require classification
Thailand lists ten allergen groups: cereals containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oat, spelt and hybrids), crustacea, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk and dairy including lactose, tree nuts, sulphites at 10 mg/kg or more, and shellfish/squid. Each group carries exceptions (fully refined soybean oil, wheat-based glucose syrup and others) — check exceptions item by item rather than dropping a whole group.
For additives, Thailand wants the functional class plus the specific name or INS number. That is close to the Hong Kong and Macau approach and different from China's GB 2760 style, which asks mainly for the name. A label written to the Thai pattern (name + function) usually satisfies both; the reverse leaves the Thai side short of a functional class.
6. Type size and contrast: three hard constraints
| Item | Requirement | Practical conversion |
|---|---|---|
| Food name | Not less than 2 mm letter height, readily legible | About 5.7 pt; for Chinese or Thai labels start at 2.5 mm and leave room for print variation |
| Other mandatory text | Label ≤100 cm²: not less than 1 mm; >100 cm²: not less than 1.5 mm | 1 mm is about 2.8 pt — a legal floor, not a recommendation |
| Label under 35 cm² | Some information (e.g. ingredient percentages) may go on the container | 35 cm² is roughly 5 × 7 cm — bigger than most people assume |
| Background vs text | Must contrast so the text is legible | White type on pale yellow, or pale ink on gold board, fails this |
Thai FDA also sets a 1 mm minimum for flavouring statements, nutrition labelling, GDA labelling and nutrition claims. Height is measured on the letter face, excluding extenders — which matters for Thai (next section).
7. Thai/Chinese bilingual layout: four details you only learn by doing it
- Line height is not type size. Thai has upper and lower vowel forms (ี ื) and tone marks (่ ้ ์); a line occupies roughly 1.6–1.8× the face height. The law measures the face, the layout must budget the line box — otherwise marks from one line sit on the next.
- Thai does not break on spaces. Automatic wrapping in a narrow panel splits words in the wrong place. Fix the line width and control the breaks by hand, or set the Thai paragraph as artwork.
- Outline Thai type before sending. A design or prepress station without Thai fonts will silently turn the text into empty boxes — the classic "looked fine on screen, printed as tofu" failure.
- Do not set Chinese and Thai at the same size. Dense Chinese strokes make Thai look smaller and tighter at equal size. Start at about 1.2 mm for Chinese and 1.4 mm for Thai, and let the Thai line set the leading.
8. The transition ended — worth telling your customer
Notification No. 450 was published on 18 July 2024 and took effect the following day, with a two-year transition: labels compliant with No. 367 could still be used, but for no more than two years from the effective date — that is, until 18 July 2026. In practice:
- Products manufactured from 19 July 2024 must carry a No. 450 label;
- The grace period for shipping old No. 367 labels ran out on 18 July 2026;
- Any reprint, top-up or revision in late 2026 should be laid out to No. 450 rather than reusing the old artwork.
We do not give legal advice: whether a product is a "specifically controlled food" needing pre-approval of the label (Clause 8) is for the Thai importer to confirm with the Thai FDA. Everyone else is responsible for preparing a compliant label. Our job is to print it correctly, legibly and consistently.
9. Seven things to send with an enquiry
- Whether the goods are sold in Thailand or exported from Thailand — this decides Clause 5 versus Clause 7;
- The full 13-digit อย. number, with the frame artwork; if it does not exist yet, get it from the Thai importer — never print a placeholder;
- The approved Thai text, and who translated and checked it (we typeset and preflight, we do not translate legal wording);
- The category-specific items: warnings, storage, cooking, allergens, additive functional classes;
- The shelf-life length, which decides whether the date shows the day;
- Finished size and the usable area where the label will be applied — under 35 cm² and under/over 100 cm² change both type size and how many fields fit;
- Quantity, number of versions, rolls or sheets (core size, unwind direction) and required arrival date.
10. Three questions buyers ask
Can a Thai label be in English only?
No. Clause 5 requires Thai text; another language may be added but cannot replace it. The only exceptions are food not sold directly to consumers (to repackers or processors), where English may replace Thai with the statement "raw materials for food processing only", and export-only labels under Clause 7, which may be in any language.
Can you obtain the อย. number for us?
No. It is issued to the Thai manufacturer or importer and is tied to the premises licence and the product formula. What we do is check the digits, the grouping and the frame size, and print it at 2 mm or more. Printing without a valid number wastes the whole run.
Can one label serve Hong Kong and Thailand?
Technically yes, if you take the union of both field lists: Hong Kong requires food name, ingredients, date marking, storage instructions, manufacturer or packer name and address, and net weight (plus nutrition rules); Thailand requires its 14 particulars plus the อย. frame. Two things block a true single version — Thai text (not required in Hong Kong, mandatory in Thailand) and the registration number (Hong Kong has no equivalent). In practice that means one layout, separate versions, with the Thai version carrying its own traceable number.
Related reading: Southeast Asia food labelling: Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, local-language labels for Southeast Asia, allergen labelling compared, Indonesian halal labels, Macau food labels (Decree-Law 50/92/M), Hong Kong food labelling (Cap. 132W), how to specify roll labels.
- Artwork: AI, PDF, EPS or PSD with fonts outlined or embedded; include the die line if you have one; 20MB per file. A photo or screenshot is fine if the design is not final.
- Finished size and shape (round, square, custom; a die-line file is ideal).
- Quantity: how many versions, how many per version, and whether it ships in rolls or cartons.
- Material and where the label sits: paper, synthetic paper, PE or PET; outside the pack or inside.
- Destination market and the standard to meet (Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, EU food-contact rules).
- Required delivery date: samples and digital work about 24 hours, small runs about one week, bulk about 15 days — confirmed against the actual schedule.
Your contacts: quotations Ms Zeng +86 180 1199 6161 | sales Mr Hong +86 189 2511 1128. We reply within the working day (Monday to Saturday); for urgent work please call.
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