Label rules › Malaysia

Malaysia food label requirements: Food Regulations 1985

Food sold in Malaysia is labelled under the Food Act 1983 and the Food Regulations 1985 of the Ministry of Health. The label is in Bahasa Malaysia, and may add English or other languages. The Ministry is consulting on further amendments, including a front-of-pack grade, so check what is in force on the day you print.

Checked: 29 October 2026

Mandatory items

What every food label carries

The name of the food, the ingredient list in descending order, net contents in metric units, the name and address of the maker, packer, importer or brand owner, the country of origin for imports, the date marking for the foods the regulations list, the allergen statement and the nutrition panel for the foods that need one. Prescribed foods also carry statements their own regulation asks for.

Halal and other logos

The halal logo may only be used on products certified by JAKIM, a state religious authority or a foreign body JAKIM recognises; a home-made “halal” mark is an offence under the Trade Descriptions Act. The Healthier Choice logo is voluntary.

What is coming

In 2025–2026 the Ministry consulted on amendments to labelling and nutrient content provisions, on labels for non-retail containers, and announced plans for a mandatory A–D front-of-pack grade for some drinks and foods. None of these should be printed before it is gazetted.

Why the rules look like this

In Malaysia, a label answers two questions at once — is it safe, and is it halal:

1. 1985 — the Food Regulations set Malay as the language of the label, part of the national-language policy; English may follow but never replace it.
2. 2011 — the Trade Descriptions (Definition of Halal) Order makes a false halal claim a criminal offence and ties the logo to certification.
3. 2019 — a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks begins; brands reformulate under the threshold and the nutrition panel becomes a sales argument.
4. 2020 — the “meat cartel” scandal reveals frozen meat imported with fake halal certificates. Since then importers and buyers check the halal logo against JAKIM’s register, and so should the designer who places it.
5. 2026 — the Health Ministry announces an A–D front-of-pack grade. If it is gazetted, the front of a Malaysian pack will need a reserved corner.

Seasons that sell packs

Hari Raya Aidilfitri is the peak: tins and jars of kuih raya and biscuits are opened at every open house, so the label must survive a lid that comes off and goes back many times. Chinese New Year and Deepavali follow the same pattern for their communities, and Ramadan bazaars sell food in light, quick packs. A halal logo matters most in exactly these seasons.

Who answers for the label

Anyone who prepares, imports, advertises or sells the food; when a company offends, its directors and managers may be held personally liable unless they show they took care.

The designer and the printer are not named by these laws — but a contract can make them pay for the reprint. Keep the client’s written approval of the final copy; Drint’s review link records it.

If the label is wrong

Selling food whose label breaks the Food Regulations is an offence under the Food Act, punishable by fine or imprisonment, and the goods can be seized. A false halal claim is prosecuted under the Trade Descriptions Act, where companies face fines running into millions of ringgit; enforcement officers raid premises in the weeks before Hari Raya. Imports with non-compliant labels are detained at the port until relabelled or sent back.

Who else loses, beyond the fine

A wrong label costs more than its fine, and the cost travels down the chain:

1. The shopper — an undeclared allergen can put someone in hospital; that is why recalls for allergens move fastest.
2. The brand — a recall notice with its name stays online for years, and retailers may delist the product.
3. The importer and distributor — stock held at the port or in a warehouse, storage fees, relabelling labour, sometimes a whole container sent back.
4. The shop — products immobilised or pulled from shelves in the middle of a season.
5. The printer — a reprint at its own cost if the contract says so, and a lost client either way.
6. The designer — the reprint blamed on the artwork, unless the client’s approval is on record.

Dates, nutrition and placement

Foods on the date-marking list show “Guna sebelum” (use by) or “Baik sebelum” (best before), with “Tarikh luput” wording, in day, month and year. The nutrition panel gives energy, protein, carbohydrate, fat and the further nutrients its regulation asks for the food, per 100 g or 100 ml and per serving. The name of the food and the net contents sit on the main panel, in letters the regulations’ minimum allows for the pack size.

Mistakes, and a check before printing

The usual problems: an English-only label; a halal logo drawn from the internet or from another country’s body without recognition; a date with no Malay wording; a nutrition panel per serving only.

1. Write every mandatory item in Bahasa Malaysia; English may follow.
2. Use “Guna sebelum” or “Baik sebelum” for the date when the food is on the list.
3. Lay out the nutrition panel per 100 g / 100 ml and per serving.
4. Use the halal logo only from the client’s valid certificate, at its proportions.
5. For imports, add the importer and the country of origin.

Cosmetics and other goods

Cosmetics notified to the NPRA under the ASEAN Cosmetic Directive carry the product name and function, directions, the full ingredient list, the country of manufacture, the name and address of the company responsible in Malaysia, the contents, the batch number, the manufacturing or expiry date and any warnings. Electrical goods under the Energy Commission’s rules carry the SIRIM-ST label; the Trade Descriptions Act forbids any misleading origin or halal claim, food or not.

Worked example: a 200 g box of butter cookies

Made in Vietnam and sold in Malaysia, the pack reads, line by line (the client’s own names and numbers replace those in brackets):

1. BISKUT MENTEGA · BUTTER COOKIES
2. Ramuan: tepung gandum, mentega (susu), gula, telur, garam, agen penaik (natrium bikarbonat).
3. Mengandungi gandum, susu dan telur.
4. Kandungan bersih: 200 g
5. Baik sebelum: [hari bulan tahun]
6. Simpan di tempat yang kering dan sejuk.
7. Dikilangkan oleh: [pengilang], Vietnam · Diimport oleh: [nama dan alamat pengimport]
8. Negara asal: Vietnam
9. Maklumat pemakanan setiap 100 g dan setiap hidangan [ ] g

Why it reads this way

Malay comes first and English may follow; the halal logo appears only if the cookies hold a certificate JAKIM recognises.

How Drint helps

Three kinds of people make packs for Malaysia with Drint, and each needs something different:

Free, no account: the barcode generator, the mm to inches converter and the paper sizes table.

1. A business with its own brand — Drint has no label kit for Malaysia yet, so the checklist on this page is your check before export. See the pack in 3D before it is printed, send the design to the person who must approve it with a review link, and hand the printer one CMYK PDF/X-4 with the die on its own layer, so nobody retypes the label.
2. A household business — start from a ready dieline cut to your exact box or bag size instead of paying for a die drawing, use your own photos on 3D mockups for your online shop, and keep the mandatory text exactly as you wrote it: Drint never translates or rewords a client’s copy.
3. A designer — lay out several markets from one design, each with its own language and items, keep every client’s approvals in one place, and show finished packs on a portfolio page at drint.io/your-name.

Laying it out in Drint

1. Drint has no label kit for Malaysia yet: add a text block for each item of the table above, in the order the law lists them.
2. Paste the client’s copy as they wrote it — Drint does not translate or reword it.
3. Place official marks (symbols, numbers, logos) from the authority’s own files at their stated size; export the CMYK PDF/X-4 with the die on its own layer for your printer.

Official sources

1. Bahagian Keselamatan dan Kualiti Makanan, KKM
2. Portal Halal Malaysia (JAKIM)

Drint checks this label while you design, for 47 countries: see how the label-law check works.

Lay out the label in Drint

Questions

A summary written to design packs, not legal advice. Check the Food Regulations 1985 as amended, the Ministry of Health’s Food Safety and Quality Division notices, and the halal certificate, before printing.