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Are you prepared for Natasha’s Law?

12th June 2021

From October 1st 2021, ‘Natasha’s Law’ will come into force, requiring all food business to provide full ingredients labelling on food that has been pre-packed for direct sale.

The new legislation is designed to better protect those with allergies and give them greater confidence in the food they buy.

Teenager Natasha Ednan-Laperouse suffered an anaphylactic reaction to sesame seeds baked into the dough of a baguette she purchased. There was no mention of ingredients, or allergen information on the packaging and her parents said if there had been, Natasha would not have bought or consumed the sandwich. Since her death, Natasha’s parents, Tanya and Nadim, have successfully petitioned ‘Natasha’s Law’ with a clear vision to help people with allergies. The main purpose of the ‘Natasha Allergy Research Foundation’ is to fund and support pioneering allergy research bringing scientific minds together, working for better medicine to eradicate allergies. 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.

What does Natasha’s Law mean to hospitality?

‘Natasha’s Law’ follows the introduction of allergen legislation in 2014, which requires all food businesses to tell customers if any of the food they provide contains any of the following 14 major allergens - celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, soya and sulphur dioxide - as an ingredient.

As hospitality operators know, they must provide details to customers – on the menu, online or verbally by staff – of the 14 allergens present in any dish they serve (for both dine-in and takeaway), but it doesn’t require them to list all the ingredients in a dish.

‘Natasha’s Law’ WILL require businesses to provide a full list of ingredients, but only for food that is PPDS – foods that are prepared and packed by staff in a café, restaurant, pub, hotel or other food business and put on a shelf, in a refrigerator, or a hot cabinet ready to be purchased and consumed.  

This means that if your business pre-makes sandwiches and other ready-to-eat dishes – like salads, pies and cakes - package them up and puts them on display for customers to select to eat-in or takeaway later in the day, they must display a full list of ingredients on the item’s label. This will apply to any type of outlet – from a small coffee shop, or sandwich bar, to a large restaurant with a grab-and-go counter.

The new law doesn’t apply to food that is made to order, takeaways or deliveries, however, operators must continue to provide allergen information to customers for dishes ordered as a takeaway, delivery, or to eat-in as they have done for the last seven years.

How Essential Cuisine can support you

At Essential Cuisine, we are proud of our 100% gluten free range, with many of these ingredients containing no declarable allergens^. Our products are manufactured in our on-site BRC AA rated factory in Winsford, Cheshire and clearly labelled, identifying ingredient compositions and product attributes giving you that added confidence.

Our team of chefs work tirelessly monitoring food trends to bring you innovative recipes to suit a wealth of dietary requirements. You can filter our recipes to show ones suitable for coeliacs as well as recipes that contain no declarable allergens^.

Our team are always on hand to supply product information and further support. Click here to download our FREE allergen chart, displaying all of our products are their suitability. 

^Does not contain declarable allergens under the EU regulation 1169/2011 (Annex 11)

Sources:

www.theaccessgroup.com
www.narf.org.uk 

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