Dietary Tags Metafield
Prerequisites
Before you begin, make sure you have:
An active Shopify store
Accentuate Custom Fields installed from the Shopify App Store
Staff permissions to access Apps in your Shopify admin
(Recommended) An Online Store 2.0 theme, which allows metafield values to be displayed via the theme editor without touching code
Key Concepts to Know First
Scope — The Shopify object the metafield attaches to. For Dietary Tags, this will be Products.
Namespace & Key — The unique identifier for your field. The namespace groups related fields (e.g. custom) and the key is the specific field name (e.g. dietary_tags). Together they form custom.dietary_tags, which is the address used in your theme to pull the value.
Field Data Type — Controls what kind of data the field holds. For Dietary Tags, a Multi Select is strongly recommended. A single wellness product can carry multiple dietary certifications and lifestyle claims simultaneously — for example, a protein powder might be Vegan, Gluten-Free, Non-GMO, and Soy-Free all at once. Multi Select allows all applicable tags to be assigned clearly and consistently in one field.
Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1 — Open ACF from your Shopify Admin Go to your Shopify Admin, click Apps in the left sidebar, and open Accentuate Custom Fields. You'll land on the ACF dashboard, which shows the Metafields and metaobjects section with cards for Products, Shops, Metaobjects, and Customers.
Step 2 — Open Product Metafields In the Products card, click the Metafields button. This takes you into the Product Custom Fields screen where you can see all existing fields listed with their types and manage your definitions.
Step 3 — Add a New Section Click the + Add section button in the top-right area of the Product Custom Fields screen. An Add Section modal will open across two pages.
Page 1 — Basic Details:
Title: Dietary Tags — displayed in bold as a visual header when editing product values (1–50 characters, no HTML)
Name: dietary_tags — must be unique within your Product fields (3–64 characters, letters, digits, underscores or dashes only)
Description: Optionally add a note like Dietary certifications and lifestyle suitability claims for this product — supports Markdown
Color: Leave as the default #dfe3e8, or choose a colour to visually distinguish this section from others in your Wellness & Health field setup
All fields in this section apply to: Leave as All types unless you want to restrict this to specific product types
Make visible to the Storefront API: Leave checked (default) — this makes the dietary tag values accessible in themes and custom storefronts
Click Next to continue.
Page 2 — Advanced Settings:
Repeatable section: Leave unchecked — dietary tags are a single set of values per product, not a repeating block.
Include value of first text field: Leave unchecked — not needed for a select-type field.
Show as collapsed when editing: Leave unchecked — keeps the section expanded by default so it is easy to find and fill in when editing a product.
Hide section: Leave unchecked — checking this would make the section invisible in the editor entirely.
Show section even if empty: Optionally check this if you want the Dietary Tags section to always appear on products, even before any values have been assigned.
Exclude from layout: Leave unchecked — only tick this if you want the section excluded from ACF's layout editing tools.
Click Done to save the section.
Step 4 — Add the Dietary Tags Field Once the section is saved, click + Add field to add the actual field inside it. Fill in the details:
Label: Dietary Tags
Namespace: accentuate (ACF's default, or use your own e.g. wellness)
Key: dietary_tags
Field Data Type: Select Multi Select — this allows multiple dietary tags to be assigned to a single product at the same time
Step 5 — Add Your Dietary Tag Options Once Multi Select is chosen, add each allowed value one by one:
Lifestyle & Diet Type:
Vegan
Vegetarian
Pescatarian-Friendly
Paleo
Keto-Friendly
Raw Food
Allergen & Intolerance Claims:
Gluten-Free
Dairy-Free
Lactose-Free
Soy-Free
Nut-Free
Egg-Free
Shellfish-Free
Corn-Free
Formulation & Production Claims:
Non-GMO
Organic
No Artificial Sweeteners
No Artificial Colours or Flavours
No Added Sugar
Low Sugar
Sugar-Free
Caffeine-Free
Alcohol-Free
Preservative-Free
Ethical & Religious Claims:
Halal
Kosher
Cruelty-Free
Sustainably Sourced
Add, remove, or rename options at any time to match your brand's verified claims — existing product values are preserved when you edit the list.
Step 6 — Save Click Save. Your Dietary Tags field will now appear inside its section on every product edit page in your Shopify admin.
Populating Dietary Tag Values on Products
One by one: Open any product in Shopify Admin, scroll to the Dietary Tags section added by ACF, select all applicable tags from the multi-select dropdown, and save.
Bulk edit: Back on the Product Custom Fields screen, click Edit Values to open the table/bulk edit view. All products appear as rows and you can update the Dietary Tags column across many products at once. This is particularly efficient when a large portion of your range shares the same dietary claims (e.g. your entire range is Vegan and Non-GMO).
CSV import: Use the Export button to download a CSV template, fill in the dietary_tags column for each product row (separate multiple values with the delimiter shown in the template), then re-import via the Import button. Best for large catalogs or migrating data from an existing product database or supplier spreadsheet.
Displaying Dietary Tags on Your Storefront
Theme Editor (no code, OS 2.0 themes): Go to Online Store → Themes → Customize. Open a product template, click Add Block, select an ACF or Metafield block, choose the Dietary Tags field, position it on the page (typically in the product highlights, key details, or certifications section), and save. It will display automatically for any product with values set.
Liquid Code (all themes): Add this to your product template file where you want the dietary tags to appear:
If you used a custom namespace (e.g. wellness), replace custom with your namespace name.
Tips & Best Practices
Only tag what is verified — dietary tags such as Gluten-Free, Halal, Kosher, and Organic carry legal and regulatory weight in many markets. Only assign tags that have been confirmed by your supplier, manufacturer, or a relevant certifying body. Never tag based on assumption.
Dietary Tags vs Allergens / Free-From — if you also have an Allergens / Free-From metafield, be deliberate about which claims live in which field. A clean split would be: allergen and formulation claims (Gluten-Free, Nut-Free, Dairy-Free) in Allergens / Free-From, and lifestyle and certification claims (Vegan, Organic, Halal, Keto-Friendly) in Dietary Tags. This keeps both fields focused and easy to manage.
Use Dietary Tags for collection filtering — connect dietary_tags as a filter in Online Store → Navigation → Filter menus. Wellness shoppers frequently filter by dietary requirements and lifestyle preferences before anything else, making this one of your most valuable filter attributes.
Display tags as icons or badges — dietary tags lend themselves well to visual badge-style displays on product pages and collection cards. Consider having your theme developer style the dietary tag output as small icons or pill badges for a more premium feel.
Keep naming consistent — decide on a format (e.g. always hyphenated: Gluten-Free, not Gluten Free) and apply it uniformly across all products. Inconsistent labels create duplicate filter values on the storefront.
Avoid the shopify namespace — it is reserved by Shopify and can cause conflicts. Use custom or a brand-specific name like wellness.
Multi-language stores — ACF supports translatable metafields. Mark Dietary Tags as translatable if you need localised dietary claim labels for different markets, particularly where certification terminology differs by region.
Quick Reference
Setting
Value
Scope
Products
Section Title
Dietary Tags
Section Name
dietary_tags
Field Label
Dietary Tags
Namespace
custom
Key
dietary_tags
Full Identifier
custom.dietary_tags
Field Data Type
Multi Select
Options
Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Nut-Free, Non-GMO, Organic, Keto-Friendly, Paleo, No Added Sugar, Caffeine-Free, Halal, Kosher, and more (see Step 5)
Storefront API
Enabled (checked by default)
Liquid Reference
{{ product.metafields.custom.dietary_tags.value }}
For further details, visit the official ACF documentation at help.accentuate.io
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