Allergens and packaging: a guide to Natasha’s Law for food and drink businesses

Natasha’s Law has made clear allergen labelling and safe packaging a non-negotiable for food and drink business. 

Busy restaurants and small cafes alike must be aware of their responsibilities for keeping customers safe. 

In this guide, we look at everything you know about food allergens, labelling and packaging.

• what are allergens?
• allergen labelling on food products: Natasha’s law and other legislation
• what should you include on a food label?
• how to speak to customers about allergens
• other packaging rules

What are allergens? 

Allergens are substances that cause allergic reactions. More generally this can include pollen or fungal spores. But when it comes to food, there are 14 major allergens that can cause allergic reactions. 

If you produce food and drink products that contain any of these allergens, you need to declare them in some way – we’ll detail the steps you need to take later in this guide. 

The major allergens are:

• celery
• cereals that contain gluten – including wheat (such as spelt and khorasan), rye, barley, and oats
• crustaceans – such as prawns, crabs, and lobsters
• eggs
• fish
• lupin
• milk
• molluscs – such as mussels and oysters
• mustard
• tree nuts – including almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios, and macadamia nuts
• peanuts
• sesame seeds
• soybeans
• sulphur dioxide and sulphites (if they’re at a concentration of more than ten parts per million)

Allergen labelling on food products: Natasha’s Law and other legislation

While Natasha’s Law is perhaps the most famous piece of legislation to impact food product labelling, you should also be aware of. In 2014, European Union Food Information for Consumers Regulation (EU Reg 1169/2011) came into UK law – as mentioned above, this required businesses to note if any of the 14 allergens mentioned above were included in pre packed food. This was retained post Brexit. 

Owen’s Law has been debated by the government, but isn’t legislation yet. 

Natasha’s Law 

The law was introduced in 2019 following the tragic death of teenager Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who suffered a fatal allergic reaction after eating a baguette bought from Pret a Manger.

As the law didn’t require sandwiches prepared on site to be labelled with allergen information, Natasha was unaware that the baguette contained sesame.

The law made it mandatory for businesses to label foods prepared on site with full allergen information. We’ll go into more detail on this later in this guide. 

Owen’s Law 

Owen Carey’s family launched their campaign in 2017 after he suffered a fatal anaphylactic shock while eating a chicken burger at a restaurant. Owen had communicated his severe allergies to front of house staff. 

The campaign has been debated in parliament. 

If it comes in, the law will force restaurants to clearly state the allergy information for all dishes they serve on their standard menu.

What should you include on a food label?

Prepacked food and drink

Prepacked products have been packaged before reaching the site where they will be sold to customers. With these goods, there’s no opportunity to communicate with customers before they buy, or change the contents without opening the packaging.

The Food Standards Agency say that all prepacked food should have: 

1. the name of the food
2. the ingredients
3. whether it contains any of the 14 allergens (or processing aids causing allergies and intolerances)

You have to present the allergen information so it stands out from the rest of the ingredients – for example, using bold font or a different colour.

Plus, if there’s a risk of cross-contamination, for instance where a factory makes both nut and non-nut products, you need to declare that the product may contain the allergen (only after a thorough risk assessment has proven the risk can’t be removed).

Non-prepacked food and drink: Natasha’s Law

This is everything that’s not been prepacked, along with food wrapped on the same site it’s sold.

In 2021, Natasha’s Law changed the rules around allergen labelling for products prepared and packaged on site. 

Businesses now must label these products with a full ingredients list and allergen information. 

Examples of foods covered by Natasha’s Law

The FSA has a list of example foods (as well as detailed technical guidance about the law) that count as prepacked for direct sale, to help you understand whether you need to label the products you sell:

• sandwiches and bakery products packed on site before a consumer chooses or orders them
• fast food packed before it’s ordered (like a burger under a hot lamp where the food can’t be altered without opening the packaging)
• products pre-packaged on site ready for sale (like pizzas, rotisserie chicken, salads and pasta pots)
• burgers and sausages pre-packaged by a butcher on the premises ready to sell to customers
• samples of cookies given to customers for free which were packed on site
• foods packaged and then sold elsewhere by the same operator at a market stall or mobile site
• prepacked food for sale given in schools, care homes, or hospitals and other similar settings will also need labelling

Allergen information for non-packaged food

Food that’s not in packaging, or is packed after being ordered by the customer, doesn’t need to be labelled. 

But you do need to give clear allergen advice to your customers in an obvious place, like a menu. The allergen information can be written down or communicated verbally (but verbal information should be backed up in writing regardless).

The Food Standards Agency state that you should: 

• provide information about the allergens used
• make sure the information is available in writing or by speaking to staff
• use logos or symbols  when accompanied by words and numbers on menus

The information should be easily accessible and accurate, consistent and verifiable. If it’s not provided upfront, you should signpost where customers can find it. 

If Owen’s Law comes into force it will change the way in which allergy information needs to be displayed in restaurants. 

How to speak to customers about allergens 

Getting food labelling and allergen information wrong can be life threatening, so it’s important it’s clear and correct.

This means communicating with suppliers, staff, and your customers to make sure all the ingredients in the products you sell are recorded, and to make sure people with allergies are notified about what’s in the products they buy.

What’s more, having clear information about allergens can be good for business. Research from the Food Standards Agency found that 59 per cent of young people go back to the same food outlet if they’ve eaten safely there before.

There are a few ways to make it easier for customers to find out what’s in the food they’re buying:

• train staff about allergens and how to check whether customers have allergies, ensuring they can give clear information
• make sure all your recipes, menus, and labels have upfront information about the ingredients you use
• have a process in place to update your information when you make changes to your recipes, letting staff know about the new ingredients
• know your kitchen and the way you prepare food inside out, and keep the risk of cross-contamination low. If cross-contamination can’t be avoided, tell your customers about the risk

There’s lots of guidance on the Food Standards Agency’s own website, which we recommend reading to make sure you’re completely clued up. You could also consider getting professional advice to make sure you have all the legal bases covered. You can also find more information about food hygiene ratings in our guide.

Other packaging rules 

According to the government’s website, you need to use packaging that’s suitable for food use. Suppliers will mark suitable packaging ‘for food contact’, or use a symbol that looks like a wine glass and a fork.

Vdant85/Adobe Stock

There are certain rules around using plastics, ceramics or cellophane for packaging. 

You must have written evidence that you’ve kept to these rules – this is called a ‘declaration of compliance’, available from your packaging supplier. 

What can insurance cover?

Having public liability insurance in place can protect you if someone does suffer an allergic reaction after consuming your products.

It won’t cover you if you’ve been negligent and haven’t followed food hygiene or labelling regulations. But if you’ve followed the rules and a customer has a reaction to something that didn’t need to be disclosed, public liability insurance can cover the resulting claim and compensation costs.

Is there anything more you want to know about allergen information? Let us know in the comments below.