The short answer
Every UK food business must be able to tell a customer, accurately, which of the 14 named allergens are in any dish. For food made to order or sold loose, you can give that information in writing or by speaking to the customer, as long as it is correct and you signpost that it is available. Natasha's Law (in force since 1 October 2021) added a tougher rule for food that is prepacked for direct sale, such as sandwiches you make and wrap on site before a customer orders them: those now need a full ingredients list on the label with the 14 allergens emphasised. Getting an allergen wrong can be fatal, so accuracy is the whole point.
Every cafe has to handle allergens
This is one of the few areas of food law where a mistake can kill someone, so the rules are strict and there is no informal version. Whatever you serve, you must be able to tell a customer, accurately, which of the 14 named allergens a dish contains.
The 14 allergens come from the Food Information Regulations 2014: celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soya, sulphur dioxide and sulphites, and tree nuts.
What Natasha’s Law changed
Natasha’s Law is the everyday name for the Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019, which came into force on 1 October 2021. It closed a gap for food that is prepacked for direct sale (PPDS), meaning food you package on the same premises before a customer orders it, such as sandwiches, salads or cakes wrapped and put on a shelf.
PPDS food now needs a label showing the name of the food and a full ingredients list, with the 14 allergens emphasised (usually in bold). It is not enough to point at an allergen folder.
What about food made to order?
For food made to order, served loose, or sold at the counter without packaging, Natasha’s Law does not add a labelling rule. You still must provide accurate allergen information, but you can do it in writing (a menu, a matrix, a sign) or by talking to the customer, as long as:
- the information is accurate, and
- you make clear it is available (“ask us about allergens”).
The risk is always accuracy. A recipe change, a swapped ingredient, or a dish that ran out and was replaced can all make yesterday’s allergen information wrong. The job is to keep it current, every day.
The practical system
The reliable way to manage this is a single, maintained allergen matrix: every dish down one side, the 14 allergens across the top, a clear mark where each allergen appears. Keep it accurate, train every member of staff to read it, and update it the moment a recipe changes. That one document is what turns “we are careful” into something a customer, and an inspector, can rely on.
View the legal sources
- Food Information Regulations 2014 (and retained Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food information to consumers)
- The Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019, known as Natasha's Law, in force 1 October 2021
- Food Standards Agency allergen guidance for food businesses