Natasha’s Law is coming into force in October 2021

In October this year, Natasha’s Law will see new food labelling regulations come into England with the aim of protecting the estimated 2million people diagnosed with food allergies in the UK.

As all of us are aware, Natasha’s Law is in honour of the tragic death of 15 year old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse. In July 2016, Natasha suffered a fatal allergic reaction after eating a baguette from Pret-a-Manager. Unaware that sesame seeds had been pre-baked into the bread, Natasha collapsed and died of anaphylaxis after eating the sandwich.

Natasha law details

Natasha’s death could have been avoided if there was legislation in place that meant all pre-packaged food in the UK must be labelled with a full ingredient list. Currently, from a legal standpoint, food businesses do not have to provide this information.

To avoid similar deaths happening in the future, Natasha’s Law will provide legal guidelines for all businesses that prepare and serve food in England. With millions living with a food allergy, this new Law will quite literally make a real difference and save countless lives in the future.

Although launching just in England in October, it is likely that the rest of the UK will follow suit.

It’s a devastating reality that this change has been born out of the tragic death of a young woman who had so much of her life ahead of her.

However, after working within the foodservice sectors for decades, we know all operators want it to be as safe as possible and we at Litmus welcome Natasha’s Law into the industry.

The Litmus team