Put a checkout-safe QR code on your food and drink packaging
One code that rings up at the till and takes shoppers to your ingredients, allergens, provenance or a recipe — built to the GS1 Digital Link standard, and editable after it's printed.
In short
- A GS1 Digital Link QR code carries the same GTIN your barcode carries today, so it rings up at a supermarket till exactly as your current barcode does.
- One code can hold the GTIN, a batch or lot number and a best-before date together, which is what makes a recall targetable to a single production run.
- Because the destination is a page you control, you can change what a shopper sees after the packaging is printed — no reprint, no new artwork.
Start free → or the Sunrise 2027 checklist →
Why a 2D barcode for food & drink?
A food or drink label only has room for so much. A GS1 Digital Link QR code gives you the rest — full ingredients and allergens, nutrition, where it was made and how to enjoy it — behind a single scan, without shrinking your artwork or your type size.
Because the code can carry a batch or lot number and a best-before date alongside the GTIN, it also makes recalls faster and more precise: you can point a single affected batch at a notice while every other unit keeps working normally. That is the difference between withdrawing one run and withdrawing everything you have in the trade.
It still scans as an ordinary product barcode at the checkout — the same GTIN a retail till reads today — so nothing about ringing up the sale changes. The till does not need an internet connection, a software update, or to know anything about your website.
The reason to care now rather than in 2027 is that packaging is the constraint. A printed code cannot be changed, so the only moment you can add one is a print run you were doing anyway. Brands that get this right do it as part of a redesign they had already budgeted for; brands that leave it late pay for a reprint on its own.
What to put behind the code
- Full ingredients and allergen information
- Nutrition and dietary suitability (vegan, gluten-free)
- Provenance — the farm, region or maker's story
- Recipes and serving suggestions
- Recycling and disposal instructions
- Time-limited promotions and competitions
What a page does that fine print can't
A web page can do things a printed food & drink panel physically cannot: it can be read aloud by a screen reader, zoomed to any type size, searched for a single allergen, translated into the reader's language, and corrected after the pack has shipped. For a shopper with low vision, an allergy, or another language, that is the difference between information that exists and information they can actually use — and you don't have to build the page yourself: hosted pages serve it at the scan URL, cookie-free and changeable at any time after printing.
Where the rules sit for food and drink
Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 — the Food Information to Consumers rules — sets what has to appear on a prepacked food label: the ingredient list, allergens emphasised within it, nutrition, and durability dates. Those are duties about what is physically on the pack, and a QR code does not replace any of them.
There is one place the rules already accept digital delivery, and it is narrower than it is usually described. For food sold at a distance — online — Article 14 requires all mandatory information except the date of minimum durability to be available to the shopper before they buy, and that can be provided electronically. Everything must still be physically present at the moment of delivery. So a Digital Link helps you serve the online case properly; it does not let you take anything off the label.
Which is the honest reason to do this: not compliance relief, but everything the label has no room for. Provenance, method, recipes, the full nutrition breakdown, what to do with the packaging — plus the batch-level traceability that makes a recall precise instead of total.
Sources: Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 (consolidated)
We build the barcode, not the compliance programme — this is background, not legal advice, and you should check your own obligations with someone qualified to give it.
Your food & drink Sunrise 2027 checklist
Specific to food & drink
Every brand does these
How you can check we're right
Every claim on this page is testable, and we'd rather you tested it than took our word for it.
- Paste a code into the parser to see exactly what a till reads out of it — the GTIN, the batch, the best-before, field by field.
- Read our GS1 conformance test results — the full suite we run against the standard, with what passes and what doesn't.
- Work through the Sunrise 2027 checklist for the general picture beyond food & drink.
- Read what a Digital Link actually is — the structure, and why a till and a phone read the same symbol differently.
- Check the print size before artwork goes to press — the X-dimension GS1 specifies, and what it works out to in millimetres.
Common questions
Will it still scan at a supermarket checkout?
Yes. The code is a GS1 Digital Link built around your existing GTIN, so a retail till reads it offline exactly as it reads your current barcode.
What is a GS1 Digital Link, in plain English?
It is a web address with your product's identifiers built into it, in a structure GS1 defines. A till reads the identifiers and ignores the rest; a phone reads it as a normal link and opens your page. One code, two audiences, no compromise between them.
Do I need a new GTIN for this?
No. A Digital Link is built around the GTIN you already hold from GS1. If your barcodes are current, you have everything you need — this changes how the number is encoded on the pack, not the number itself.
Can one code carry the best-before date and batch number?
Yes. A GS1 Digital Link can carry the GTIN plus a batch/lot number (Application Identifier 10) and a best-before date (AI 15) in the same scan — useful for targeted recalls and traceability. If what your pack carries is an expiry or use-by date rather than a best-before, that is a different identifier, AI 17.
Can I show different information for different batches?
Yes. You can set a rule so a specific lot points somewhere of its own — a recall notice, say — while every other unit keeps its normal destination.
Does the old linear barcode have to come off the pack?
Not yet, and for most brands it should not. Until every retailer you sell through can scan 2D at the till, carrying both is the safe answer — the linear barcode keeps the checkout working while the QR code does everything else.
How big does the code need to be printed?
Big enough that the modules survive your print process, which depends on substrate and press more than on the code itself. Our print size guidance walks through the X-dimension you need; the rule of thumb is that anything you can comfortably scan from a phone at arm's length on a proof will survive the shelf.
Is it free?
Ten products are free forever — no card required. Pro is £10/month when you need more, with your own domain on the codes included.
More specific guides
- QR codes for drinks labels, including the EU wine e-label
- QR codes for coffee bags that open the farm behind the roast
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