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The UK Food Information Amendment, also known as Natasha’s Law, comes into effect from October 2021 and will require food businesses to provide full ingredient lists and allergen labelling on foods pre-packaged for direct sale on the premises. The legislation is being introduced to protect allergy sufferers and give them confidence in the food they buy.
This amendment was brought about thanks to the actions of a lobbying group lead by the parents of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, the teenager who died after suffering an allergic reaction to an undeclared ingredient in a prepacked meal. Due to their efforts, the government confirmed that stronger laws would be implemented to protect those with food allergies and give them greater confidence in the food they buy. |
 | These changes will apply to businesses in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Similar changes will be introduced at the same time in Scotland by Food Standards Scotland. It is estimated that almost 1 in 5 people in the UK suffer from an allergy. From 1 October 2021, the requirements for prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food labelling will change in Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The new labelling will help protect your consumers by providing potentially life-saving allergen information on the packaging. |
| Food businesses need to tell customers if any food they provide contain any of the listed allergens as an ingredient. Consumers may be allergic or have intolerance to other ingredients, but only the 14 allergens are required to be declared as allergens by food law. The 14 allergens are: celery, cereals containing gluten (such as barley and oats), crustaceans (such as prawns, crabs and lobsters), eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs (such as mussels and oysters), mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites (if they are at a concentration of more than ten parts per million) and tree nuts (such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios and macadamia nuts). This also applies to additives, processing aids and any other substances which are present in the final product |
