Natasha's Law
Does Natasha's Law apply to my business?
Ask it about a product, not about your business. Natasha’s Law applies to food that is in packaging before the customer chooses it — and most food businesses sell some food that qualifies and some that does not.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The decision path
Take one product. Work down.
1Is the food in packaging when the customer takes it?
Yes: Go to 2
No: Not PPDS. No label required — but allergen information still has to be available.
2Was it put into that packaging before the customer ordered or selected it?
Yes: Go to 3
No: Not PPDS. Packed at the point of order doesn’t count.
3Are you selling it directly to the person who will eat it?
Yes: It’s PPDS. It needs a label with the name of the food and a full ingredients list, allergens emphasised.
No: It’s prepacked food, not PPDS — and it needs more on the label.
Do it product by product
The answer is rarely the same for everything you sell. A bakery counter routinely holds boxed traybakes that need labels and a whole cake sliced to order that does not. Sorting your range once is an afternoon well spent.
Awkward cases
We bake at home and sell at markets
Covered, for anything you packed before someone chose it. The FSA guidance for mobile sellers explicitly includes packing at a different location from where you sell.
We make celebration cakes to order
Not PPDS — the cake was made after the order. You still have to provide allergen information, and for an order placed weeks ahead it is sensible to do that in writing.
We run a café with a grab-and-go fridge
The fridge is PPDS. The made-to-order side is not. Most cafés run both, so sort the products rather than trying to answer for the business.
We supply a local shop
That is prepacked food, not PPDS, and it needs more on the label — net quantity, a date mark and your name and address. See the comparison.
We post brownies to customers
Distance selling. Allergen information generally has to be available before the customer buys, as well as with the product — so it belongs on the listing page too.
We cater weddings and events
Buffet service onto a plate is not PPDS. Individually boxed portions handed to guests are. A lot of event catering is now the second kind.
We run a school or care home kitchen
The FSA lists food provided in schools, care homes and hospitals among its PPDS examples. If it is packed before it is selected, treat it as PPDS.
We only sell unpackaged food
No labels required. Allergen information still has to be available to customers — a folder, a board, or staff who can answer accurately.
Your trade in detail: bakeries, home bakers, cafés, caterers, delis, market stalls, meal prep.
If the answer is yes
The label needs three things:
- The name of the food
- A full ingredients list, heaviest first
- The 14 allergens emphasised within that list, every time they appear
Start with how to create one, or go straight to the free generator.
If the answer is no
You still have to provide allergen information — it just does not have to be a printed label on a pack. Acceptable methods include a clearly signposted folder, a board, or staff who can answer accurately.
The practical weakness of all three is that they depend on who is on shift. Some businesses label everything anyway, on the grounds that one consistent method is easier to train than two.
And if you are supplying another business rather than a consumer, the rules change again — see PPDS vs prepacked food.
Questions
Does the size of my business matter?
Does it matter that I registered as a home food business?
Official sources
Everything on this page traces back to these. Where they and we disagree, they are right — tell us and we'll fix it.
- Introduction to allergen labelling for PPDS foodFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK
- PPDS allergen labelling changes for mobile sellers and street food vendorsFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK
- Labelling guidance for prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food productsFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK
- Prepacked for direct saleFood Standards Scotland
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