Natasha's Law FAQ 2026: Answers to the Most Common Questions
The most frequently asked questions about Natasha's Law in 2026, answered clearly for UK food businesses, caterers, and online food retailers.
Four years after Natasha's Law came into force, many food businesses still have unanswered questions about how the law applies to their specific situation. Here are the most common questions answered plainly.
Does Natasha's Law apply to my online food business? If you sell food online that you pre-package before dispatch, and that food is packaged on your premises, it is PPDS food. Natasha's Law labelling requirements apply. The fact that the sale happens online does not change your obligations.
Do I need to list every ingredient, or just allergens? You must list every ingredient in descending order of weight, with the 14 major allergens emphasised within that list. You cannot only list allergens — the full ingredient list is required.
What does "emphasised" mean for allergens? Allergens must stand out from the surrounding ingredient text. Accepted methods include bold text, italic text, capital letters, contrasting colour, or underline. Any one of these is sufficient.
What if my recipe changes daily? Every version of a pre-packed product that goes on sale must have an accurate label. If your recipe changes, you must update the label before packaging new batches.
Am I exempt as a small business? There is no small business exemption from Natasha's Law.
What about food I make for friends or family events? Private home food given away free, not sold commercially, falls outside the scope of the law.
Can I use a QR code instead of a physical label? A QR code can supplement allergen information but cannot replace the physical label requirement. The label with ingredient list and emphasised allergens must appear on the packaging.
What Counts as PPDS Food, and What Does Not?
Understanding the definition of pre-packed for direct sale (PPDS) is the foundation of compliance. PPDS food is food that is packaged on the same premises from which it is sold, before a customer orders it. Think of sandwiches assembled and wrapped first thing in the morning, ready for whoever walks in later. The packaging is complete before any sale conversation takes place, and that is the distinguishing feature that triggers Natasha's Law labelling requirements.
Food that is packed in a different location to where it is sold is typically governed by full pre-packed labelling rules under separate legislation, which carry their own requirements. Food packed to order — assembled and wrapped only after a customer requests it — falls into the loose food or non-prepacked category, where labelling obligations differ. The line between PPDS and packed-to-order can feel blurry in a busy kitchen, so if your process involves any advance preparation and wrapping, treat that product as PPDS until you have confirmed otherwise with your local authority.
One area that frequently causes confusion is subscription boxes and hampers assembled at home or in a small unit and posted out to customers. If you pre-assemble and wrap those items before dispatch, they are PPDS regardless of the fulfilment method. Online selling, postal delivery, and click-and-collect arrangements do not move food into a different legal category. The physical act of packaging before sale is what matters.
How Should I Handle Compound Ingredients on My Label?
A compound ingredient is an ingredient that is itself made up of multiple components — for example, a chocolate coating, a pastry case, or a spice blend you have purchased ready-made. When a compound ingredient makes up less than two percent of the finished product, you are generally not required to list its individual sub-ingredients, except where those sub-ingredients are allergens. If the compound ingredient makes up two percent or more, its components should appear in the full ingredient list.
The practical difficulty arises when you are relying on a supplier's ingredient declaration for a compound ingredient. Your supplier's label is your starting point, but it is your responsibility as the food business operator to ensure your finished product label is accurate and complete. If a supplier reformulates their product, that change flows directly into your allergen profile. Robust supplier management — asking for written confirmation of ingredients and being alerted to recipe changes — is therefore a compliance task, not just a commercial one.
Where allergens appear within compound ingredients, they must still be emphasised in the same way as allergens listed at the top level. A hidden allergen buried inside a compound ingredient is not exempt from the emphasis requirement. If your spice blend contains celery, celery must be emphasised wherever it appears in your ingredient list. Tools like Allergen Matrix can help you track these nested allergen relationships across your entire product range without losing track of individual component changes.
What Records Should I Keep to Demonstrate Compliance?
Enforcement officers from your local authority have the power to inspect your labelling practices, request documentation, and take samples. While Natasha's Law does not prescribe a specific record-keeping format, maintaining organised documentation gives you a credible defence if a complaint is raised and demonstrates that you operate with genuine due diligence. A simple spreadsheet recording each product, its ingredient list, allergen profile, and the date the recipe was last reviewed is a reasonable starting point.
Beyond your own records, you should retain copies of the ingredient specifications and allergen declarations provided by each of your ingredient suppliers. When suppliers update their information, save the new version alongside the old one with a date stamp. This creates an audit trail showing that your labels were accurate at the time they were produced and that you responded appropriately when information changed. Storage does not need to be complicated, but it does need to be consistent and retrievable.
Photograph your finished labels periodically and store those images with your product records. If a question ever arises about what label was in use on a particular date, a dated photograph is a straightforward piece of evidence. For businesses producing multiple product variants or seasonal specials, this habit is particularly valuable. Compliance is easier to defend when it is documented, and documentation is easier to maintain when it becomes part of your regular production routine rather than a reactive exercise.
What Are the Consequences of Non-Compliance?
The consequences of failing to comply with Natasha's Law range from informal guidance at one end to prosecution at the other. Local authority enforcement officers typically begin with advice and improvement notices, particularly for businesses that are making genuine efforts but have gaps in their process. However, where non-compliance is persistent, where allergen information is seriously misleading, or where a person suffers harm, the response from authorities will be significantly more serious.
Fixed penalty notices and formal prosecution are available to enforcement bodies. Convictions under food information regulations can result in unlimited fines. Beyond the legal consequences, the reputational damage to a food business following an allergen-related incident can be severe and lasting. Customers with allergies and their families make active choices about which businesses they trust. A single incident reported publicly can affect trading for years, even where the legal proceedings are resolved relatively quickly.
It is worth noting that enforcement is not the only risk. Civil liability — where a customer who has suffered an allergic reaction pursues a claim against your business — sits entirely separately from regulatory enforcement. You can be investigated by your local authority and face a civil claim at the same time. Allergen compliance is therefore both a regulatory obligation and a fundamental part of managing your business's liability exposure. Treating it as a box-ticking exercise underestimates what is genuinely at stake.
How Do I Label Allergens When I Sell at Markets or Pop-Up Events?
Selling at markets, food festivals, and pop-up events introduces practical challenges for Natasha's Law compliance that are worth thinking through in advance. If you are bringing pre-wrapped products to a market and selling them from a stall, those products are PPDS and require compliant labels produced before you leave your premises. Printing labels in bulk before each event, with accurate ingredient and allergen information, is the expected approach. Handwriting labels is not prohibited, but printed labels are more legible and easier to produce consistently.
At a market stall, you may also be preparing food on-site and wrapping it as you go. Whether that food is PPDS or non-prepacked depends on your specific process. If you are wrapping items ahead of anticipated demand — making a batch of brownies in the morning and wrapping them before any customer arrives — those are PPDS. If you are wrapping only in direct response to a customer's order, the food may fall into a different category. Speak to the event organiser and your local authority if you are unsure, because the answer affects your labelling obligations significantly.
One often-overlooked consideration at events is having a system for handling customer allergen queries verbally. Even when your labels are fully compliant, customers may ask questions about cross-contamination, production environment, or specific ingredients. Having clear, honest answers prepared — and knowing when to say you cannot guarantee something — is part of operating responsibly. A compliant label is necessary, but it is not the end of your customer communication obligation when someone's health is at stake.
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SaltAI Team
SaltAI builds focused Shopify apps for food merchants and general merchants. Every app is tested in production at a real food store — including Vanda's Kitchen — before it ships.