Natasha's Law labelling for pre-packed food

If you pack food on your premises before a customer selects it — sandwiches made that morning and put in the chiller, a slice of cake wrapped and put on the counter, a salad box assembled ahead of service — it counts as "prepacked for direct sale" (PPDS) and needs a full label: the name of the food, a complete ingredients list, and the 14 allergens emphasised within that list (bold, underlined or in a different colour).

This is "Natasha's Law", introduced after Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died from a sesame allergy in a baguette that only had to display allergen information on request, not on the label. Getting PPDS labelling wrong is both a food safety offence and, if someone is harmed, a matter that will be scrutinised far beyond a routine inspection.

Watch out for

• Assuming "made fresh" items are exempt — freshness has nothing to do with it, what matters is whether it was packed before or after the customer chose it.
• Emphasising allergens inconsistently or not at all — bold text alone across the whole label does not meet the requirement, only the allergenic ingredients must stand out.
• Missing bought-in items that get repacked — if you decant a supplier's product into your own packaging before sale, it becomes PPDS and needs your own label.

Sources

• GOV.UK — PPDS allergen labelling changes for restaurants, cafés and pubs (Natasha's Law) checked 2026-09-08
• GOV.UK — Labelling guidance for PPDS food products checked 2026-09-02

See also

• Build your 14-allergen matrix
• Put your HACCP system in place