If a customer asks "has this got nuts in it?" and your kitchen guesses, you are carrying a legal risk that can close the premises and put you in front of a magistrate. Allergen labelling isn't a paperwork nicety — it's the law, an Environmental Health Officer checks it, and getting it wrong is a criminal offence carrying an unlimited fine.
This is a working checklist, not a lecture. It covers the 14 allergens you must declare, what Natasha's Law actually requires on the food you pack yourself, the looser rule for plated and made-to-order food, and the day-to-day kitchen routine that keeps you compliant — so you can tick it off and get back to service.
Key takeaways
- There are 14 allergens you must declare wherever they appear as ingredients (FSA).
- Natasha's Law means any prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food must carry the name of the food and a full ingredients list, with the allergens emphasised in that list — in force across the UK since 1 October 2021 (FSA).
- For non-prepacked (loose) food — most of what a restaurant serves — you must supply allergen information for every item containing one of the 14 allergens, by any clear means (FSA).
- The FSA's advice is that written allergen information, supported by a conversation, works best — a verbal answer alone is not the safe baseline (FSA).
- Get it wrong and it's a criminal offence: local authorities enforce the rules and a conviction carries "a potentially unlimited fine" (FSA).
The UK restaurant allergen checklist
Work through this once for your business, then re-check it whenever a recipe, supplier or menu changes. It's grouped so you can hand each section to the right person.
Know the rules
- [ ] You can name all 14 allergens from memory, and so can your senior kitchen staff.
- [ ] You know which of your products are PPDS (packed on-site before being ordered) and which are non-prepacked (plated or made to order).
- [ ] You know that allergen declaration applies to every business — there is no small-café or single-site exemption.
PPDS food (Natasha's Law)
- [ ] Every PPDS item carries a label with the name of the food.
- [ ] Every PPDS label carries a full ingredients list.
- [ ] The 14 allergens in that list are emphasised (bold, capitals or a contrasting colour) so they stand out.
- [ ] Labels are checked against the recipe and supplier spec each time a product is reformulated.
Non-prepacked (loose) food
- [ ] Allergen information is available in writing for every dish containing one of the 14 allergens.
- [ ] If you signpost verbally, there is a clearly visible notice telling customers how to get the information.
- [ ] Staff check the written record before answering — they never improvise from memory.
- [ ] The information is findable before the customer orders, not only after they ask.
Kitchen controls
- [ ] You hold an allergen matrix: every menu item against the 14 allergens, kept current.
- [ ] You keep supplier allergen spec sheets and re-check them when products change.
- [ ] Cross-contact is controlled — separate boards, utensils and, where needed, fryers.
- [ ] The matrix is updated the day a recipe changes, not the week after.
Records and training
- [ ] Every shift — including agency and new starters — knows where the matrix lives.
- [ ] Allergen handling is part of induction and refreshed regularly.
- [ ] You can show an EHO your matrix, your spec sheets and your training record on request.
What is Natasha's Law?
Natasha's Law is the everyday name for the labelling change brought in by the Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019, with equivalent regulations across the UK (legislation.gov.uk). Governments across the UK agreed these foods would need ingredient and allergen information on the label "from 1 October 2021" (FSA).
It is named after Natasha Ednan-Laperouse. The 15-year-old "died in 2016 after she suffered an allergic reaction to a Pret A Manger baguette containing sesame" — the sandwich was packed on the premises and carried no allergen information (The Caterer). Her parents' campaign closed exactly that gap: food a business packs itself, before a customer orders it, must now be fully labelled.
What are the 14 allergens you must declare?
UK law sets one fixed list. Every restaurant, takeaway, café and pub kitchen works from the same 14, and you must flag each one wherever it is used as an ingredient (FSA):
- Celery
- Cereals containing gluten — wheat, rye, barley and oats
- Crustaceans — prawns, crabs and lobsters
- Eggs
- Fish
- Lupin
- Milk
- Molluscs — mussels and oysters
- Mustard
- Peanuts
- Sesame
- Soybeans
- Sulphur dioxide and sulphites (at more than ten parts per million)
- Tree nuts — almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios and macadamia nuts
The list is fixed; the work is knowing where each one hides. Soy and wheat lurk in soy sauce and stock cubes; sulphites in wine and some dried fruit; celery in many ready-made stocks and spice blends. A dish that "obviously" has no nuts can still carry sesame in the bread or mustard in the dressing.
What food needs a Natasha's Law label?
Natasha's Law applies to prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food. The FSA defines it plainly: "Prepacked for direct sale or PPDS is food that is packaged at the same place it is offered or sold to consumers and is in this packaging before it is ordered or selected" (FSA).
In a restaurant that's the sandwiches, salads, wraps, cakes or yoghurt pots you make in the morning and put in the chilled cabinet for customers to pick up. For each one, "the label needs to show the name of the food and the ingredients list with the 14 allergens required to be declared by law emphasised within it" (FSA).
Two common traps catch owners here. First, "emphasised" means the allergens must visibly stand out — bold, capitals or a different colour — not just appear somewhere in the list. Second, the line between PPDS and non-prepacked is exactly where mistakes happen: if you wrap food before a customer orders it, it's PPDS and needs the full label, even if you made it ten minutes ago.
How do you handle allergens for non-prepacked food?
Most of what you serve — a plate sent out to order, a takeaway boxed at the counter, a sandwich built on request — is non-prepacked, and the rule is different. You don't need a printed label on every plate, but "if you provide non-prepacked foods, you must supply allergen information for every item that contains any of the 14 allergens" (FSA).
You can do that by any clear means. The FSA lists the options: "full written allergen information on a menu, chalkboard or in an information pack; verbally, with a written notice placed in a clearly visible position explaining how your customers can obtain this information" (FSA).
If you go the verbal route, the signpost is not optional — there must be a visible notice telling customers to ask staff. But the safer baseline is written. The FSA's own advice is that "written allergen information, supported by a conversation, works best for consumers" (FSA). In practice that means an allergen matrix at the point of order and a member of staff who checks it rather than guessing. This is the same compliance discipline behind getting your UK HFSS advertising rules right — different inspector, same business on the hook.
How should you run allergen control day to day?
The law tells you what to declare; a tight kitchen is how you do it without it eating your week.
- Build an allergen matrix. One grid: every menu item down the side, the 14 allergens across the top, a clear mark in each cell. Keep it where staff and customers can reach it before ordering.
- Work from supplier specs. Get an allergen spec sheet for every product and re-check it when a manufacturer reformulates. The recipe you wrote in January can gain an allergen in March without you touching it.
- Control cross-contact. Colour-coded boards and separate utensils aren't decoration — uncontrolled cross-contact is how a "nut-free" dish becomes an ambulance call. A "may contain" line is not a substitute for handling it properly.
- Train every shift. New starters and agency staff need to know where the matrix lives and that the answer to any allergen question is checked, never guessed.
- Keep it current. An out-of-date matrix is worse than none — it gives false confidence. Update it the day the recipe changes.
A laminated card on the counter quietly goes out of date the moment you tweak a dish. Many owners now keep the live matrix on the restaurant's own website or digital menu — the one channel you control and can update in seconds — so it's never wrong, and a customer can check before they even arrive. DineHere lets you build that menu from a photo and edit it yourself, but however you publish it, the legal test is the same: accurate, in writing, available before the customer buys. Keeping the menu itself working hard also pairs with the kitchen-economics work in controlling your food costs.
What happens if you get allergen labelling wrong?
This is where it stops being admin. "Authorised food officers at Local Authorities have responsibility for official controls relating to allergen rules," and "failure to comply with the requirements set out in Regulation 10(1) and (2) of the FIR on the labelling of allergenic ingredients is a criminal offence" (FSA).
The penalty isn't capped. "A person convicted of an offence under the FIR will be liable to a potentially unlimited fine. The level of the fine would be determined by Magistrates on a case-by-case basis" (FSA). Add the reputational damage and the human cost of an allergic reaction traced to your kitchen, and the matrix on the wall starts to look like the cheapest insurance you'll ever buy. Your digital menu and your own ordering channel are also where you can publish that information cleanly and keep it current.
Frequently asked questions
How many allergens do UK restaurants have to declare?
- UK law sets one fixed list of 14 allergens that must be declared wherever they are used as ingredients, and the same list applies to every food business (FSA).
What does Natasha's Law require?
Any business that produces prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food must label it with the name of the food and a full ingredients list, with the allergens emphasised within that list (FSA).
When did Natasha's Law come into force?
1 October 2021, across the UK (FSA).
What is prepacked for direct sale (PPDS)?
The FSA defines PPDS as "food that is packaged at the same place it is offered or sold to consumers and is in this packaging before it is ordered or selected" — for example sandwiches or salads you pack on-site and put in the chilled cabinet (FSA).
Do I need allergen labels on plated, made-to-order food?
No — that's non-prepacked food, which doesn't need a label on each plate. But you must still supply allergen information for every dish containing one of the 14 allergens, in writing or by clearly signposted verbal information (FSA).
Can my staff just tell customers about allergens verbally?
You can provide information verbally if there's a clearly visible notice telling customers how to obtain it, but the FSA's advice is that written information supported by a conversation works best — verbal alone is not the safe baseline (FSA).
What is an allergen matrix?
A grid listing every menu item against the 14 allergens, showing which dishes contain which. It's the most common way restaurants meet the written-information rule and is kept available at the point of order.
Does Natasha's Law apply to small cafés and takeaways?
Yes. There is no small-business exemption — the same declaration duty applies whether you serve 10 covers or 200.
Who enforces allergen rules in UK restaurants?
Local authorities. Authorised food officers — your Environmental Health Officers — have responsibility for official controls relating to allergen rules (FSA).
What's the penalty for breaking allergen labelling rules?
It's a criminal offence, and a conviction carries a potentially unlimited fine set by magistrates case by case (FSA).
The bottom line
Allergen labelling comes down to two duties: full labels on the food you pack yourself, and clear written information on everything you plate to order. Learn the 14, sort your PPDS labels, build an allergen matrix from supplier specs, and train every shift to check rather than guess. Run that as a daily routine and you turn an unlimited-fine exposure into a tick-box you've already ticked — which is exactly what an EHO wants to see, and exactly what keeps a customer safe.
