Natasha's Law: a practical guide for hospitality operators

Last updated: April 2026 · ~8 min read

Natasha's Law is the everyday name for the UK rules on Prepacked for Direct Sale (PPDS) food labelling. This guide translates the regulation into the decisions a catering or hospitality operator actually has to make: what to label, how to label it, and where the common traps are. It is written for chefs, ops leads, and venue managers, not lawyers.

1. What the law requires, in one paragraph

From 1 October 2021, any food that is packed on the same premises it is sold from, and that is already in its packaging before the customer orders or picks it up, must carry a label showing the full name of the food and a full ingredients list, with the 14 regulated allergens emphasised within that list (for example bold, italics, or a different colour). The requirement applies across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland under aligned instruments.

2. Why it exists

The law is named after Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who died in 2016 after an allergic reaction to sesame in a baguette bought from a UK retailer. Sesame was present in the dough but was not on the packaging because, at the time, food packed on-site for direct sale did not need a full ingredients list. Natasha's Law closes that gap.

3. PPDS vs. non-PPDS: the decision that drives everything

The single most important question is: is the item PPDS? Because the label rules only apply to PPDS food.

Catering edge case: if you pre-wrap canapés, sandwich platters, or individual dessert pots for a buffet before guests arrive, those can fall under PPDS when they are handed out in the original packaging. When in doubt, label. It is cheaper than a failed inspection.

4. The 14 allergens you must emphasise

This list is set by law and is the same as prepacked food generally:

• Celery
• Cereals containing gluten
• Crustaceans
• Eggs
• Fish
• Lupin
• Milk
• Molluscs
• Mustard
• Peanuts
• Sesame seeds
• Soybeans
• Sulphur dioxide & sulphites
• Tree nuts

Within the ingredients list, each allergen must be clearly distinguishable from the surrounding text, typically by bold, italics, underlining, or a different colour. Listing them in a separate "allergens" box is not enough on its own; they must be highlighted inside the ingredients list.

5. What a compliant label actually looks like

6. Where operators slip up

• Treating "vegan" as "allergen-safe". A vegan cake can still contain wheat, soy, nuts, and sesame. The 14-allergen list is independent of dietary claims.
• Only listing allergens in a separate box. The law requires emphasis within the ingredients list, not just a summary underneath.
• Stale labels after recipe changes. If a supplier reformulates a sauce and adds mustard, every downstream product must be relabelled. A quarterly recipe audit is the minimum; a live system is safer.
• "May contain" used as cover. Precautionary allergen statements are for genuine, unavoidable cross-contact, not a substitute for listing allergens that are actually in the recipe.
• Allergens hidden inside compound ingredients. A gravy containing wheat, a chocolate containing soy lecithin, a stock containing celery: all of them need to surface on the final label, highlighted.
• Staff verbal advice that conflicts with the label. Train front-of-house to point to the label rather than guess. The label is the source of truth.

7. A short checklist for the kitchen team

1. Decide, per SKU, whether the item is PPDS, non-PPDS, or true prepack.
2. Hold a canonical recipe for every PPDS item, with ingredient sub-components broken down to allergen level.
3. Generate the label from that recipe, never from memory.
4. Emphasise all 14 allergens inside the ingredients list, using one consistent typographic treatment.
5. Include quantitative ingredient declaration (QUID) for named ingredients (e.g. "chicken 32%").
6. Re-issue labels whenever a supplier changes spec or a chef edits the recipe.
7. Keep a dated archive of label versions so inspectors and incident reviews can reconstruct what was on shelf and when.

8. Where Havenue fits in

Havenue's Safety Engine maps every ingredient in every recipe to the 14 regulated allergens, surfaces them on kitchen-ready event orders and PPDS labels, and re-checks automatically whenever a recipe or supplier spec changes. The goal is not to replace your food safety team. It is to remove the silent failure modes (stale labels, hidden allergens in compounds, memory-based labelling) that Natasha's Law was written to eliminate.

See also: how the Havenue Brain digitises PDF recipes, the Set Menu Builder with live cost-per-head and GP%, and the unified event operations dashboard.

9. Further reading

• Food Standards Agency: PPDS labelling technical guidance (food.gov.uk/ppds).
• Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019 and equivalent instruments in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
• Food Information Regulations 2014 / retained Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, for non-PPDS and prepacked food more generally.
• Anaphylaxis UK: operator training resources (anaphylaxis.org.uk).

This guide is intended as a practical overview for hospitality operators and is not legal advice. Enforcement rests with your local authority environmental health service and, where relevant, the Food Standards Agency or Food Standards Scotland. For specific compliance decisions, consult your EHO or a qualified food-law adviser.