FoodCore generates fully compliant PPDS labels for every product in your range — ingredients in descending order by weight, all 14 allergens highlighted in bold. No manual formatting.
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Natasha's Law is the informal name for the Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2021. It is named after Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who died in 2016 at the age of 15 after suffering a severe allergic reaction to a Pret a Manger baguette. The baguette contained sesame seeds baked into the dough — an allergen that was not declared on the packaging. At the time, pre-packed for direct sale food only needed to carry the name of the food, not a full ingredients list.
Natasha's Law closed that gap. Since 1 October 2021, every food business in the UK selling pre-packed for direct sale (PPDS) food must label every product with a full ingredients list, with all 14 major allergens emphasised in bold within that list. The law applies across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Natasha's Law applies to any food business that sells pre-packed for direct sale (PPDS) food — food that is packaged at the same premises where it is sold directly to consumers. This includes:
Natasha's Law is enforced by local authority environmental health officers. Penalties for non-compliance include improvement notices, unlimited fines, prohibition orders preventing you from trading, and in serious cases prosecution. Beyond the legal consequences, an allergen incident can cause serious harm to customers and permanent damage to your business reputation.
For small food businesses, Natasha's Law compliance is straightforward in principle but time-consuming in practice. You need a label for every product. That label must list every ingredient in descending order by weight. Every allergen must be emphasised — typically in bold. And crucially, the label must be accurate at the time of sale: if you change a recipe, the label must change too. This is exactly what dedicated Natasha's Law labelling software solves.
Most small businesses start with Word or Canva. It works for a handful of products, but it doesn't scale. When you have 20 or 30 products, and ingredient prices or formulations change regularly, keeping labels accurate becomes a significant administrative burden. FoodCore automates this entirely: labels are generated from your recipe data, allergens are detected automatically, and when a recipe changes, the label updates with it. As dedicated PPDS Natasha's Law software, FoodCore is built specifically for this workflow.
FoodCore covers all aspects of food allergen labelling UK requirements — tracking all 14 major allergens, generating Natasha's Law labels with allergens in bold, and keeping your entire product range compliant as recipes evolve. Whether you need Natasha's Law food labelling for a handful of products or a full product range, FoodCore handles it automatically.
Build your recipe once. FoodCore handles the label.
FoodCore lists all ingredients in descending order by weight, as required by UK food information regulations. Sub-ingredients of compound ingredients are listed in brackets, in the correct format.
All 14 major allergens are detected at the ingredient level and emphasised in bold on the label automatically. You don't need to manually identify and bold allergens — FoodCore does it from your ingredient data.
Change an ingredient, swap a supplier, or adjust a quantity and the label updates automatically. You're never at risk of selling a product with a label that no longer matches its contents.
If you use compound ingredients — bought-in sauces, spice blends, pre-made pastry — FoodCore tracks their sub-ingredients and allergens. Your label reflects what's actually in the product, not just the top-level ingredients.
Labels are formatted for standard label paper and printed directly from FoodCore. No need to export to another application or reformat. Print, peel, attach.
As well as the label itself, FoodCore shows a clear allergen summary for each recipe — which allergens are present and which ingredients they come from. Useful for staff briefings and customer queries.
FoodCore is built for small UK food businesses — not enterprise kitchens with IT teams.
Every cake, loaf, and pastry you sell pre-packed needs a compliant label. FoodCore generates them from your recipes automatically, across your full product range.
Natasha's Law applies to market stalls. FoodCore lets you print labels at home before market day — no last-minute scramble.
Rotating menus and large product ranges make manual labelling impractical. FoodCore keeps labels accurate as your menu evolves.
If you sell PPDS products via Instagram, Etsy, or direct delivery, Natasha's Law applies. FoodCore makes compliance manageable for a one-person operation.
Everything your food business needs to do to comply with Natasha's Law and UK food allergen labelling requirements.
FoodCore automates steps 2–7 — build your recipe once and FoodCore generates a compliant label, tracks allergens, and updates everything automatically when recipes change.
Food businesses that use FoodCore for Natasha's Law compliance.
"Natasha's Law felt overwhelming when we first heard about it. FoodCore made the whole process manageable — we had compliant labels for all 45 of our products within two weeks."
"As a caterer with rotating menus, keeping labels up to date used to terrify me. Now when a recipe changes, the label updates automatically."
Why small food businesses switch from manual methods to FoodCore.
Natasha's Law applies to any business selling pre-packed for direct sale (PPDS) food — food packed on the same premises where it is sold, before the customer orders it. This includes bakeries, market stalls, cafés, delis, meal prep businesses, and home bakers selling directly to customers. If you're unsure, the Food Standards Agency website has detailed guidance.
Celery, cereals containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats), crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites (above 10mg/kg), and tree nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts). FoodCore tracks all 14.
Non-compliance can result in enforcement action by your local authority, including improvement notices, fines, and in serious cases prosecution. Beyond the legal risk, selling a mislabelled product that causes an allergic reaction carries significant personal and financial consequences.
Yes. Your label must accurately reflect the product at the time of sale. If you change an ingredient — even a minor one — the label must be updated before you sell the product. FoodCore makes this automatic.
Yes. FoodCore generates print-ready labels formatted for standard label paper. Print directly from your browser — no additional software required.
Natasha's Law is the informal name for the Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2021, which came into force on 1 October 2021. It requires any business selling pre-packed for direct sale (PPDS) food to label every product with a full ingredients list, with all 14 major allergens emphasised in bold. The law is named after Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who died in 2016 after suffering a fatal allergic reaction to a baguette that did not declare sesame on its label. Natasha's Law food labelling rules closed a gap in the previous legislation that left PPDS food with minimal labelling requirements.
Natasha's Law compliance is required for any food business in the UK that sells PPDS food — food packaged at the same premises where it is sold directly to consumers. This includes bakeries, market stall sellers, cafés and delis, meal prep businesses, caterers, home bakers selling online or at markets, and farm shops. If you pack food before the customer orders it and sell it directly to them, Natasha's Law almost certainly applies to your business.
Non-compliance with Natasha's Law is enforced by local authority environmental health officers. Penalties can include improvement notices, unlimited fines, prohibition orders preventing you from trading, and in serious cases prosecution. Beyond the legal consequences, selling a mislabelled product that causes an allergic reaction carries significant personal and financial risk, including civil claims. Using PPDS Natasha's Law compliant labelling software significantly reduces this risk by automating the label generation process.
A Natasha's Law label must carry: the name of the food, and a full ingredients list in descending order by weight, with all 14 major allergens emphasised in bold within that list. The allergens that must be emphasised are: celery, cereals containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats), crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites, and tree nuts. FoodCore generates labels with all of this applied automatically from your recipe data.
Natasha's Law came into force on 1 October 2021 across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Food businesses were given a transition period to prepare, but since 1 October 2021 all PPDS food sold in the UK must carry a full ingredients list with allergens emphasised in bold. If you are still using manual Word or Canva labels, dedicated food allergen labelling UK software like FoodCore makes compliance significantly more reliable and manageable.
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