The sandwich in your cooler needs a different label than the sixth pan it came from. Here is what goes on it, what the rules say, and how to print both from one app.
Grab and go food labels do a different job than prep labels. A prep label tells your cook what is in the container and when it has to go. A label on a wrapped sandwich, a salad or a parfait in the cooler talks to the customer: what is in it, how many calories, and what someone with a food allergy has to watch for. Most kitchens that sell food in a package end up running two systems to get both. They don’t have to.
Here is what a complete grab and go label carries, and why each line is there:
That is a lot of information for a small label, and it is where handwritten and spreadsheet systems tend to break. An ingredient list gets copied wrong, an allergen gets left off when a recipe changes, or the text shrinks until nobody can read it.
This is a plain summary, not legal advice. Your inspector enforces your state’s version of the Food Code, and local health codes can be stricter, so check with your health department.
Food you package in your own kitchen. The FDA Food Code (section 3-602.11) expects food packaged in a food establishment to carry its common name, the ingredients in descending order by weight, the net quantity, the business name and the major food allergens.
Sesame is the ninth major allergen. The FASTER Act made sesame a major food allergen on January 1, 2023, joining milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soybeans. If the allergen list in your binder still stops at eight, it is out of date. The FDA’s food allergy page lists all nine.
Chains with 20 or more locations. Federal menu labeling applies to restaurants and similar retail food businesses with 20 or more locations under the same name. Calories have to be shown for standard menu items, including self-serve and grab and go food, and written nutrition information has to be available when a customer asks for it.
California chains. Starting July 1, 2026, chains with 20 or more locations and at least one in California must provide written notice of the nine major allergens in each menu item.
The full Nutrition Facts panel. A full panel is generally not required for food made and sold on site. That matters, because a full panel does not fit on a cooler label anyway.
A grab and go label has room for calories, ingredients and allergens, but not for fat, sodium, carbs, fiber, sugars and protein with percent daily values. So the BOH Wiz label carries a small QR code. A customer points a phone at it and sees the item’s full Nutrition Facts panel. There is no app to download, and the page shows only the item and your kitchen’s name.
When you change an item’s numbers in the dashboard, that page updates right away. Labels already sitting in the cooler open the new numbers too, so a recipe change doesn’t mean pulling stock to relabel it.
Picture a cook printing a label for a wrap with a long ingredient list on a small label. The printer runs out of room, the last line of ingredients drops off, and the Contains line never makes it onto the label. The wrap looks labeled. A customer with a sesame allergy reads it, sees nothing to worry about, and buys it.
That is the failure we built against. BOH Wiz will not print a nutrition label that doesn’t fit:
The part kitchens like most is that nothing new shows up on the line. The grab and go item sits on the prep list like everything else. The cook taps it, and the label prints with today’s dates and the right allergens, on the same printer they already use for prep labels.
Getting your menu in doesn’t mean retyping it. You have two ways to start:
Either way, the import flags anything that looks wrong, like an ingredient list that mentions wheat on an item not marked for wheat. Change a recipe once in the dashboard and every location prints the new label, and every change to calories or allergens is logged with who made it and when.
For the counter, there is a printable allergen matrix: every item and all nine allergens on one page, so "does this have nuts?" takes five seconds to answer. Staff can also see an item’s allergens and ingredients in the app, right where they print.
If your kitchen wraps it, cups it or boxes it for a cooler, a warmer or a pick-up shelf, this is for you: convenience store kitchens, hospital cafeterias, university and school dining, corporate cafes, delis and markets, coffee shops with a cooler, senior living, and chains with 20 or more locations. It is turned on per organization, so kitchens that only print prep labels never see it.
See real printed labels, the full list of what prints and a dated comparison with other systems on our nutrition and allergen labels page. If you run more than one location, schedule a call and send us your menu file, and we will show you your own items printed.
About the author: Jose Salazar
Jose Salazar has worked in restaurants for more than 20 years as a restaurant manager, general manager, executive chef and corporate training manager, and has helped open 63 restaurant locations for several restaurant companies. He studied restaurant management and culinary arts, and leads product at BOH Wiz.
One account for every location, invoice billing and no per-location software fee. Pick a time and our team will call you.
October 9, 2026 · 6 min read · Food safety
The six things every BOH label needs, and the FDA 7-day rule in plain words.
Read post →
October 1, 2026 · 6 min read · Healthcare
Why assisted living and hospital cafeterias are switching to printed prep labels.
Read post →
September 24, 2026 · 5 min read · Multi-location
Why the date travels with the food, and how groups keep shelf life the same at every store.
Read post →
Comparing options? Read prep labeling systems compared, prep list software compared, or see how the prep list prints labels.
