Struggling with Natasha's Law Compliance?
Here's the Simple Solution

Natasha's Law UK explained

Natasha's Law is the everyday name for the UK Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019 and its equivalents in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The law took effect on 1 October 2021 and changed the way every UK food business must label prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food. It is named after Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, a 15-year-old who died in 2016 after eating a Pret a Manger baguette that contained sesame. The packaging carried no ingredients list and no allergen warning because, under the previous rules, it was not legally required.

The amendment closes that gap. Any food that is packaged on the same premises from which it is sold, before a customer chooses it, must now carry the name of the food and a full ingredients list with the 14 regulated allergens emphasised within that list. The rule applies to bakeries, cafés, delis, sandwich shops, supermarket counters, hotels, schools, hospitals and mobile food units alike. It is one of the most significant food safety changes in the UK in a generation.

For operators this means every recipe needs to be documented, every change needs to be tracked, and every label needs to be right every single day. Manual processes that were already stretched are now under regulatory scrutiny — and the cost of getting it wrong is severe.

What a compliant PPDS label must include

The Food Standards Agency requires every PPDS item to display the following on the packaging itself, or on a label attached to it:

• The name of the food — clear enough that a customer knows what they are buying (for example "chicken and bacon sandwich", not just "sandwich").
• A full ingredients list — every ingredient in descending order of weight at the time of preparation, including water if it is part of the recipe.
• Emphasised allergens — any of the 14 regulated allergens that appear in the recipe must stand out from the rest of the ingredient text, typically by being in bold, CAPITALS, italics, underlined, or a contrasting colour.
• Legible and in English — the label must be easy to read, not obscured, and in a language the customer understands.

"May contain" warnings for cross-contamination are not a substitute for accurate labelling. They are a separate risk communication and should only be used where a genuine risk of unintended allergen presence exists.

The 14 allergens you must declare

UK law identifies 14 ingredients as major allergens. Every PPDS label and every allergen matrix must account for all of them, even where the answer is "none":

Tree nuts include almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios and macadamia nuts — each must be named specifically rather than grouped as "nuts". Cereals containing gluten covers wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt and kamut.

Which UK businesses Natasha's Law applies to

If you make food on-site and pack it before a customer chooses it, Natasha's Law applies to you. In practice this covers a much wider range of operators than people often assume:

• Bakeries with pre-packed loaves, cakes and pastries
• Cafés and coffee shops with grab-and-go fridges
• Sandwich shops and delis with pre-made boxes
• Supermarket and butcher in-store counters
• Hotels with mini-bar snacks or breakfast takeaway bags
• School, hospital and workplace caterers
• Market stalls and street food traders with pre-packaged items
• Farm shops and food halls with own-made products
• Subscription meal services packed at the production site

Food made to a customer's order in front of them — a barista sandwich, a pizza built when ordered, a salad assembled at the counter — is not PPDS and falls under the loose-food rules instead. The distinction matters: get it wrong and the wrong labelling regime is applied.

A practical compliance checklist

1. Audit every product. List every PPDS item you produce and the recipes behind them. If you cannot list it, you cannot label it.
2. Map ingredients to allergens. Cross-reference each ingredient against the 14 regulated allergens, including hidden sources (soy in some breads, sulphites in dried fruit, sesame in seeded toppings).
3. Standardise recipes. Lock down a master version of each recipe so two staff members making the same item produce the same label.
4. Design clear labels. Use a consistent template with the product name, full ingredient list and emphasised allergens. Print legibly and attach securely to packaging.
5. Train every staff member. Anyone preparing, packing or selling PPDS food must be trained on Natasha's Law, the 14 allergens, and what to do when a customer asks an allergen question.
6. Update instantly when recipes change. A swapped supplier or a new bread can change the allergen profile overnight. Your system needs to keep pace.
7. Keep records. Store recipe specifications, supplier allergen statements and label history so you can show an EHO exactly how each label was produced.