Natasha's Law and Allergen Rules for UK Restaurants: A Practical Guide

Natasha's Law is the common name for the rule that food prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) must carry a label showing the name of the food and a full ingredients list, with any of the 14 allergens emphasised. It has applied in England, Wales and Northern Ireland since 1 October 2021 and has a sibling rule in Scotland. Most restaurant dishes served at the table are not PPDS, but they still need allergen information, and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) now says that information works best in writing, backed by a conversation.

What Natasha's Law requires

The change was made by the Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019, which came into force on 1 October 2021, with equivalent rules for Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Before that date, a sandwich made and packed on the premises could be sold with allergen details given verbally. Now the FSA's PPDS guidance says any business that produces PPDS food must label it with:

• the name of the food
• a full ingredients list, with the 14 allergens emphasised within the list

The label has to be on the packaging, because the point of the rule is that a customer can read it without having to ask.

What counts as PPDS (and what does not)

PPDS food is packaged at the same place it is sold, and is already in its packaging before the customer orders or selects it. The FSA's examples include:

• sandwiches, salads and pasta pots packed on site before the customer chooses them
• a burger wrapped and kept under a heat lamp, where it cannot be altered without opening the packaging
• cookies packed on site and given out as free samples
• food packed on site and sold elsewhere by the same operator, such as at a market stall

If you are unsure, the FSA offers an allergen and ingredients food labelling decision tool.

The 14 allergens

Under FSA guidance, the allergens you must declare are:

1. Celery
2. Cereals containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley and oats)
3. Crustaceans (prawns, crab, lobster)
4. Eggs
5. Fish
6. Lupin
7. Milk
8. Molluscs (mussels, oysters, squid)
9. Mustard
10. Peanuts
11. Sesame
12. Soybeans
13. Sulphur dioxide and sulphites (only above 10 parts per million)
14. Tree nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios, macadamia)

The duty also covers additives, processing aids and anything else present in the final product. For cereals and tree nuts, name the specific one when you give the information in words, for example "wheat" or "almond", not just "gluten" or "nuts".

Non-prepacked food: what most restaurants must do

If you serve food that is not prepacked, you must supply allergen information for every item containing any of the 14 allergens. The legal minimum is that you can do this by any means, including:

• full written information on a menu, chalkboard or information pack
• verbally, with a clearly visible written notice telling customers how to get the information

Takeaway and delivery have a two-stage rule: information must be available before the order is completed (in writing online, or by phone) and again when the food is delivered, for example on a sticker or an enclosed menu. For buffets, give allergen information for each dish, not for the buffet as a whole.

Best practice since February 2025: write it down and talk about it

In February 2025 the FSA published best practice guidance on allergen information for non-prepacked food. It is not law, and the FSA is clear that the minimum legal requirement has not changed. But it is the approach the FSA now recommends to cafes, restaurants and takeaways:

• Make written allergen information easy to find without the customer having to ask, for example on the menu, in a booklet at the counter or as a matrix on the wall.
• Cover all 14 allergens, not a subset.
• Give a "Contains" statement per dish, and consider listing components so a guest can ask for the coleslaw to be left off rather than abandoning the dish.
• Ask every customer if anyone has an allergen requirement, or put a clear prompt at the top of the menu.
• Pass the requirement to the kitchen in writing, and have the person serving confirm the plate matches ("here's the pasta with no milk").
• If your information is digital, keep a paper fallback.
• For pre-ordered group menus, check allergens again on the day, because recipes and guest details change.

The guidance gave September 2026 as its next scheduled review date and, at the time of writing, the page still shows its February 2025 publication, so check the FSA page for any update before you rewrite your procedures. The FSA also publishes a free allergen matrix and allergy signs. Our allergen matrix template shows how to build one.

Staff training, records and change control

The FSA states that food businesses must make sure staff receive training on allergens. It offers free food allergy training and an allergen checklist you can hand to new starters.

Three records do most of the work:

• Recipes and specifications: allergen ingredients recorded against each dish, kept up to date.
• Supplier information: ask suppliers to tell you when a product changes, and re-check labels when a delivery looks different.
• A change log: when a recipe, supplier or substitution changes, update the allergen information the same day, before service.

Cross-contamination is part of the duty too. Clean utensils between uses, store allergens separately in closed, labelled containers, and do not use the same fryer oil for gluten-free chips as for battered fish. If you cannot avoid cross-contact, say you cannot offer an allergen-free dish, and avoid "gluten-free" or "free-from" claims you cannot guarantee.

Keeping allergen data in one place

Allergen mistakes mostly come from stale information: a menu changed, a spreadsheet not. In TablePort, allergens (all 14) and dietary labels are stored on the menu item itself, and menu import from a photo or PDF picks up allergens as part of the extraction, so you can review them in one place. Any AI extraction needs a chef's check before it goes in front of guests. See the POS page for what the menu setup covers.

Penalties and enforcement

Local authorities enforce the rules. The FSA says that if you ignore advice, an improvement notice may be issued, and failing to meet it leads to a penalty; you have 14 days to appeal a notice, and in some cases businesses face prosecution. For the offence in the Food Information Regulations 2014, the penalty on summary conviction is a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, which is unlimited in England and Wales. Beyond the legal penalty, the real exposure is a customer being harmed, which can lead to far more serious consequences.

Scotland and the rest of the UK

The FSA guidance applies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland has its own regulator, Food Standards Scotland, and its own legislation and technical guidance. The core duties match: PPDS food must be fully labelled with the 14 allergens emphasised, and for non-prepacked food, allergen information must be available before purchase. The FSA's February 2025 best practice guidance is written for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, so Scottish venues should check Food Standards Scotland for its current guidance. If you run sites on both sides of the border, follow the regulator for each site.

This guide is general information, not legal advice; speak to your local authority's food team or a solicitor about your specific situation.