Does Natasha's Law Apply to Home Bakers?

What is Natasha's Law?

Natasha's Law is named after Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, a 15-year-old who died in July 2016 after suffering a severe allergic reaction on a flight. She had eaten a baguette from Pret a Manger that contained sesame — but the sesame was not labelled on the product packaging. Her family campaigned for years to change the law so that no other family would face the same tragedy.

The result was the Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019, which came into force across England, Wales and Northern Ireland on 1 October 2021. Scotland has equivalent legislation under separate Scottish regulations that achieve the same outcome. Together, these regulations are commonly known as Natasha's Law.

The law introduced a new mandatory labelling requirement for a category of food called Pre-Packed for Direct Sale (PPDS). Before October 2021, PPDS food could be sold with minimal or no labelling. Now, every PPDS product must carry a full ingredients list with all 14 major allergens emphasised wherever they appear.

What is PPDS food?

Pre-Packed for Direct Sale is the legal category that Natasha's Law targets. The definition is specific, so it is worth understanding it precisely.

PPDS food is food that is:

• Packed in advance of being sold — not packed at the moment of ordering or in front of the customer
• Packed on the same premises where it is sold to the end consumer, or at a site operated by the same food business
• Sold directly to the consumer — not via a wholesale or intermediary chain

For a home baker or small food business, this means any product you package yourself before handing it to a customer. Whether you pack the night before, the morning of a market, or even a few days ahead — if it is sealed or wrapped before the point of sale, it is almost certainly PPDS.

Typical examples of PPDS food from home bakeries and small food businesses:

• Cakes in boxes sold at a market stall
• Cookies in cellophane bags sold from a home bakery, via Instagram or local delivery
• Cupcakes packed the night before for a collection order or event
• Meal prep containers sold at a weekly pick-up point
• Brownies in bags sold at school fetes, craft fairs, or farmers' markets
• Jars of preserves or chutneys produced and sold at the same site

PPDS scenarios: does Natasha's Law apply?

The table below covers the most common scenarios for home bakers and small food producers. Use it to assess whether your products fall under PPDS rules.

Note: "loose" food sold unpackaged — for example a slice of cake cut and plated at a cafe counter — falls under different allergen rules. You still have a legal duty to provide allergen information on request for loose food, but the full PPDS label format is not required. Natasha's Law specifically targets the PPDS gap that existed before 2021.

So does it apply to home bakers? The direct answer

Yes — if you are selling packaged food products to customers, Natasha's Law applies to you. It does not matter whether you:

• Sell from home, at a market, online with local delivery, at events, or through a local shop
• Run your business as a sole trader, a limited company, or informally
• Sell a handful of products a week or hundreds
• Operate a registered food business or are in the process of registering

The only key requirement for PPDS to apply is that you pack the food — at your premises or a site operated by your business — and sell it directly to the end consumer. Operating from a home kitchen does not exempt you. The law does not distinguish between a professional kitchen and a domestic kitchen. What matters is whether the food is packed before the point of sale and sold directly to a consumer.

If you are unsure whether you are legally operating as a food business, note that you are required to register with your local authority as a food business operator before you start selling food. The PPDS labelling obligations apply from that point.

What must be on the label?

Under Natasha's Law, every PPDS product must carry the following information on its label or packaging:

• (a) The name of the food — a description that clearly identifies what the product is (e.g. "Chocolate Fudge Brownie", "Lemon Drizzle Cake")
• (b) A full ingredients list in descending order by weight — every ingredient must be listed, starting with the one present in the greatest quantity
• (c) The 14 major allergens emphasised — wherever an allergen appears in the ingredients list, it must be highlighted using bold, italics, capitalisation, or another visual contrast so it stands out clearly

This applies to the label or packaging itself — a separate card or leaflet next to the product is not sufficient. The information must be on or attached to the packaging the food is sold in.

The 14 major allergens you must declare

The following 14 allergens must be emphasised whenever they appear as ingredients or components of ingredients in your product:

A "may contain" or "made in a kitchen that handles nuts" advisory statement is not required by Natasha's Law but is considered best practice if you use shared equipment or cannot guarantee separation. These precautionary statements are voluntary and do not replace the obligation to declare actual allergens present in your recipe.

What are the penalties for non-compliance?

Natasha's Law is enforced by local authority Trading Standards officers. If your PPDS products do not carry compliant labels, you are at risk of:

• Improvement notices — requiring you to comply within a set timeframe
• Fixed penalty notices and fines up to £5,000 for failure to comply with food information regulations
• Prosecution in serious cases — particularly if a customer suffers an allergic reaction and it can be shown that the product was incorrectly labelled or missing allergen information
• Reputational damage — Trading Standards enforcement actions and allergen incidents often become public, and social media exposure can be devastating for small food businesses
• Impact on your food hygiene rating — food labelling compliance is reviewed as part of some food hygiene inspections

The consequences of a serious allergic reaction linked to a mislabelled product extend far beyond financial penalties. The human cost — and the legal exposure — make compliance essential, not optional.

Common mistakes home bakers make

These are the most frequent errors seen in PPDS labelling from home bakers and small food businesses:

• Assuming the law doesn't apply because they work from home. It does. Where you bake is irrelevant — what matters is whether the food is pre-packed and sold to consumers.
• Only listing the 14 allergens without a full ingredient list. Natasha's Law requires both. You cannot simply print "Contains: Gluten, Milk, Eggs" — you must provide the complete ingredients list with allergens emphasised within it.
• Forgetting hidden allergens in compound ingredients. Sulphites are present in many dried fruits (sultanas, apricots, mixed peel). Sesame can appear in mixed spice blends. Milk is present in many margarines and spreads. Soy is in many dark and milk chocolates. Always check every ingredient's own label, including flavourings and coatings.
• Not updating labels when a recipe changes. If you swap an ingredient — even a minor one — your label must be updated before the next batch is sold. A label is only valid for the exact recipe it was created for.
• Writing "may contain nuts" instead of declaring actual allergens. If nuts are in your recipe, they must be declared in the ingredients list. A "may contain" statement is not a substitute for declaring allergens that are actually present.
• Using pre-printed generic labels. A label that says "Homemade cake — may contain allergens" is not compliant. Every label must be product-specific, with the actual ingredients for that specific product listed.
• Trusting supplier-provided allergen summaries without checking compound ingredients. Compound ingredients (e.g. "chocolate chips" or "ready-made pastry") carry their own allergens. You must check each compound ingredient's own ingredient list, not just the top-level allergen summary.

How to create compliant labels without a design background

Creating compliant PPDS labels does not require graphic design skills, but it does require care and accuracy. Here is the step-by-step process:

• Step 1: Write out your full recipe with every ingredient by weight. Include every component — including compound ingredients broken down to their constituent parts where possible. Note the weight of each ingredient so you can list them in descending order.
• Step 2: Identify which of the 14 allergens are present. Go through every ingredient and cross-reference it against the allergen list. Check compound ingredients separately. Check flavourings — many contain allergens not obvious from their name.
• Step 3: List all ingredients in descending order by weight. The ingredient present in the greatest quantity comes first. Compound ingredients can be listed as a group with their sub-ingredients in brackets.
• Step 4: Format the allergens in bold within the ingredients list. Wherever an allergen appears — whether as a standalone ingredient or as part of a compound ingredient — it must be visually emphasised. Bold is the most common approach.
• Step 5: Add the food name and any required storage or use-by information. Include the name of the food and any storage instructions or best-before/use-by dates required for your product type.
• Step 6: Print and attach the label to every unit before sale. The label must be on or attached to the packaging. Keep a record of the recipe the label was generated from in case of queries.

If you are doing this manually, use a consistent label template and keep a master spreadsheet of your recipes alongside the allergens for each. The most important rule: never rely on memory. Allergen declarations must be based on the actual, current recipe — checked every time against every ingredient's own label.

A note on registering as a food business

If you are selling food from home and have not yet registered as a food business with your local authority, you must do so. Registration is free, required by law, and must be done at least 28 days before you start trading. Your local council's environmental health department handles food business registration. Once registered, all food safety and labelling regulations — including Natasha's Law — apply to your operation.