Nutrikonverter Guide
Selling Snacks on TikTok or Lazada? Here's What Your Packaging Needs
6 min read
Last checked against the Ministry of Public Health's official notices: September 2026
You're selling snacks on TikTok Shop, Lazada, or Shopee: chips, roasted nuts, dried fruit, whatever it is. A common question is whether selling online changes what has to be on the package. It doesn't. Thai packaging law doesn't depend on the sales channel. This guide walks through what a packaged snack needs on its label, based on the two regulations that govern it.
This is a plain-language starting point for someone learning this for the first time, based on a direct reading of the official notifications. It is not legal advice and does not replace the official notification text or guidance from the Thai FDA (อย.). Before finalizing your packaging, confirm against the official notification or a regulatory consultant.
First: does selling on TikTok or Lazada change anything?
Almost never, once you're shipping a packaged product under your own brand. Notification 450 (the general packaging law) does exempt food sold "via electronic commerce system," but only in a narrow case: a seller who tells the buyer everything about the food directly at the point of sale, like a food stall or hawker, with nothing pre-packaged sitting on a shelf.
Once your snack has an FDA food serial number (required for essentially any packaged, processed snack sold at volume), the exemption stops applying. The Notification says products under that exemption "if having received food serial numbers shall follow this Notification" anyway. In practice, a standing SKU with your own bag, label, and serial number needs the full label whether it ships from a TikTok Shop order or sits on a convenience store shelf.
Selling online doesn't lower the bar, and it may raise scrutiny. Thai FDA has run an active monitoring partnership with Shopee, Lazada, TikTok, and Grab since December 2023, using automated keyword detection to flag non-compliant listings and unauthorized health claims for takedown.
Two separate layers of packaging law apply to a snack
There isn't one "food label law," which trips up many new sellers. A packaged snack sold in Thailand has to satisfy two notifications at once, and they cover different things.
Layer 1: General label content (Notification 450)
Covers every packaged food: product name, ingredients, manufacturer info, dates, allergens, storage instructions. This is the basic "who made this, what's in it, is it still good" information.
Layer 2: Nutrition facts + GDA graphic (Notifications 394/445/466)
Snacks are one of 13 product categories where this is mandatory regardless of any claim on the package, as our other guide covers in detail. A compliant snack package needs both layers.
Read: Do you need a nutrition or GDA label? →What has to be on the bag (Notification 450, Clause 5)
Unless the FDA grants a specific exemption, your Thai-language label needs all of the following:
Product name
If the product has one: descriptive or a trade name, legible and prominent.
Food serial number
Your FDA registration number (เลขสารบบอาหาร). It is what makes the rest mandatory.
Manufacturer / packer name & address
Domestic products: name and address of whoever made or packed it. Imported: importer name/address plus the manufacturer's name and country.
Net weight
In metric units (grams), clearly stated.
Main ingredients
By percentage of weight. Descending order is recommended but no longer strictly mandatory since the 2024 update.
Allergen declaration
"Contains…" or "may contain…" wording for any of the 10 listed allergen categories, including the newly added shellfish and squid.
Production & expiry dates
Format depends on shelf life: day/month/year if 90 days or less, month/year if longer.
Storage instructions
If applicable, e.g."store in a cool, dry place."
The snack-specific warning line
Categories 1 to 3 (snacks, chocolate, bakery) must carry "should eat a small amount and exercise for good health" in bold, contrasting lettering.
Minimum font sizes are set by law
Notification 450 sets minimum letter heights: generally not less than 1mm (or 1.5mm if your label area is over 100cm²), with the product name specifically not less than 2mm and displayed horizontally in a prominent spot. Labels under 35cm² get a reduced minimum of 1mm even for the product name.
Background and text color also have to contrast enough to stay legible, and this is checked, not just recommended. A label with pastel text on a pastel background is a compliance problem as well as a design one.
Suggested order to sort this out
- 1Confirm you have (or are applying for) an FDA food serial number for this specific product, since that is what makes everything else mandatory.
- 2Check whether your snack sits in one of the 13 GDA-mandatory categories (it almost certainly does, if it's a packaged snack) and calculate your nutrition facts + GDA cylinder graphic.
- 3Pull together the general Notification 450 particulars (manufacturer info, dates, allergens, storage) for the rest of the label.
- 4Check letter sizes and contrast against Clause 15/16 before sending your design to print.
- 5List the product the same way everywhere it sells (TikTok Shop, Lazada, Shopee, your own site). The label doesn't change by platform, so your listing photos shouldn't show an older, non-compliant version that differs from what ships.
Get the nutrition facts + GDA side sorted in minutes
Enter your nutrient values once and get a print-ready Nutrition Facts or GDA label in Thai and English, the mandatory part for any snack.
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