The Food Information, or Natasha’s Law amendment came into force in October 2021. What does this mean for hospitality businesses? Well, it’ll be a legal requirement for all food operators and retailers to display allergen labelling information and full ingredient lists on every food item that they sell ‘pre-packed for direct sale’ (PPDS).

Focusing on the needs of consumers is an essential amendment going forward, but it could make it confusing for business owners. So, read on to know more about the amendments to Natasha’s Law and how these changes will impact your business.

This law stems from the case of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who tragically passed away in 2016 after eating a baguette containing sesame seeds, which she was severely allergic to. The baguette didn’t have any allergen advice on the wrapper because it was made on the premises and wasn’t required by law. After a campaign from her parents, Natasha’s Law, which overhauls the current PPDS labelling system, has been passed to ensure that something like this does not happen to other families. Around 5% of UK children are estimated to have a clinically confirmed food allergy. Together with the Food Standards Agency’s estimate that around 6% of UK adults have a clinically confirmed food allergy, this highlights why accurate allergen information and labelling are essential to help millions of people make safe food choices. 

What Does PPDS mean?

PPDS food items are prepared, packaged and stored in the same location where they’re being sold. For example, if a sandwich is assembled in the kitchen, put into a sleeve, and stored in the fridge for customers to take and go, it must have the full allergens and ingredients on the label.

In the hospitality sector, servers often check and ask for allergen requirements before serving their customers. However, it’s not as easy as this in a grab-and-go environment, making this new law vital. The Food Standards Agency’s PPDS guidance has more detail and worked examples if you are ever unsure whether a product counts as PPDS.

Sue recommends: If you are unsure whether something you sell counts as PPDS, treat it as if it does. It is a much smaller job to label a product that turns out not to need it than to explain a missing label to an inspector, or worse, to a customer.

What About Food That Isn’t PPDS?

A café menu board displaying written allergen information for customers ordering at the counter

Natasha’s Law only covers PPDS food, but the rules around other food have moved on too. In 2025, the Food Standards Agency published new best practice guidance extending written allergen information to non-PPDS food sold in the out-of-home sector, such as food ordered from a menu, at a counter, over the phone or online.

In practice, this means it is no longer enough to rely on staff simply knowing the answer if asked. Customers should be able to access written allergen information at the point of ordering, for example on a menu, a chalkboard, or by pointing them to an allergen chart on your website. If your business takes phone or online orders, this information needs to be available before the order is placed, not just when the food is collected.

This does not change your legal duties under Natasha’s Law itself, but it does reflect where the Food Standards Agency expects good practice to be heading, and it is worth building into your allergen procedures now rather than waiting for it to become a formal requirement.

How To Overcome The Challenges Of This Amendment?

If you’re a business that needs new labelling on its products because of this amendment, you need to ensure that you collate a full ingredients list and put them on the package in a clear way. It’s also very important that you use the most up-to-date label on food items. For instance, if the recipe or ingredients change, this must be reflected immediately on the label.

Everyone needs to embrace the amendments to Natasha’s Law as it’s important to give customers a positive experience and to ensure that tragedies like the case of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse do not happen again.

Sue recommends: Build a label review into any recipe change, however small. It is easy for an ingredient swap to be agreed in the kitchen and forgotten about on the label, and that is exactly the kind of gap Natasha’s Law was designed to close.

Here at Envesca, with over 30 years of experience in food safety training, we’re proud to offer two allergen courses that include details on Natasha’s Law: our Level 2 Allergen Awareness course for anyone handling or serving food, and our Level 3 Allergen Management course for those responsible for managing allergens across a kitchen or site. Register online today.

It’s also worth knowing about a related but separate development, Benedict’s Law, new statutory guidance impacting schools in England, which covers how schools manage pupil allergies day to day rather than food labelling. Envesca has a new eLearning bundle available. The Benedict’s Law eLearning bundle includes two core courses:

  • Introduction to Allergen Awareness
  • Anaphylaxis and Auto-injectors

Providing clear, practical allergy training is one of the most effective ways to prepare for the new expectations, while strengthening pupil safety and staff confidence.

If you work in the education sector, our schools, colleges and nurseries page covers the training we offer for that setting.

If you have a question or enquiry about health and safety, or would like to book onto one of our allergen courses, please call the team on 01452 502113 or complete our enquiry form.