Does Natasha's Law Apply to Catering Businesses?

Natasha's Law vs the Food Information Regulations: which applies to caterers?

Catering businesses typically fall under two different pieces of food law depending on how they prepare and serve food. Understanding which regime applies to each part of your operation is the starting point for compliance.

Natasha's Law (formally the Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2021) applies to pre-packed for direct sale (PPDS) food only. PPDS food is food that is packaged by the same food business that sells it, at the same location, before the customer orders it. If a caterer pre-packs individual portions ahead of an event, those items are PPDS and must carry a full label with ingredients and bold allergen emphasis.

The Food Information Regulations 2014 (FIR 2014) governs all other food — including non-prepacked and loose food sold by caterers. Under FIR 2014, caterers must be able to provide allergen information on all 14 major allergens for every dish they prepare, on request.

When does PPDS apply to catering businesses?

The key trigger for PPDS classification is whether food is packaged before a customer places their individual order. If a caterer packs food in advance of knowing who will receive it, and that food will be sold or provided directly by the same business — it is PPDS.

Common examples of PPDS food in catering contexts include:

• Corporate lunch boxes packed the morning of an event or the night before, before delegates arrive
• Wedding favours containing food — individually packaged confectionery, shortbread, or similar
• Hospitality hampers assembled and wrapped in advance
• Pre-made sandwiches prepared in the catering kitchen before departure for an event
• Individually wrapped desserts — e.g. portions of tart or brownie in cellophane, made and sealed ahead of time
• Meal prep boxes for care homes — portioned meals sealed in trays or containers before delivery
• Pre-packed canapés — individual portions wrapped and labelled before service

If you are unsure whether a specific item is PPDS, apply the test: could the customer have influenced the packaging of this item by making an individual request? If no, it is almost certainly PPDS.

What Natasha's Law requires for PPDS catering items

For every item that qualifies as PPDS, the label must include:

• The name of the food — what it is, e.g. "Chicken & Avocado Sandwich"
• A full ingredients list — all ingredients in descending order by weight, as used in the recipe
• Allergens emphasised in bold — all 14 major allergens must be highlighted wherever they appear in the ingredients list (e.g. Wheat flour, Milk, Eggs)
• Best before or use by date where applicable

Note: a nutritional information table (fat, carbohydrates, energy etc.) is not required for PPDS food under Natasha's Law — only the name, ingredients, and allergen emphasis. This distinction matters for small catering businesses that might otherwise over-engineer their labels.

Labels must be physically attached to the packaging of each individual item, or fixed to the container in a way that cannot become separated from the food before consumption.

What allergen information is required for non-PPDS catering?

When food is not PPDS — live buffets, plated meals, food prepared to individual order at an event — the Food Information Regulations 2014 apply. The requirements are different but no less demanding.

Under FIR 2014, catering businesses must:

• Be able to provide allergen information for all 14 major allergens for every dish they serve, when asked
• Provide this information before food is purchased or consumed — not after
• Ensure the information is accurate — "I think it might contain nuts" is not compliant
• Make the information available in written form, verbally, or digitally (e.g. via a menu link or QR code)
• Train all staff who handle allergen queries to respond correctly

A common approach for event caterers is to maintain a written allergen matrix — a table showing which of the 14 allergens are present in each dish — and have this available at the event. Verbal information alone carries risk: staff can make mistakes or forget, and there is no audit trail.

The 14 allergens required under UK food law are: celery, cereals containing gluten (including wheat, rye, barley and oats), crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, nuts (including almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachio, macadamia), peanuts, sesame seeds, soybeans, and sulphur dioxide/sulphites.

How to manage allergen compliance across an entire event

Managing allergen compliance for an event — especially a large one — requires a systematic approach. Ad hoc processes are where errors occur.

A reliable event allergen compliance process looks like this:

• 1. Build an allergen matrix for all dishes being served. Before the event, map every dish to the 14 allergens. Include sub-ingredients in compound products (e.g. if a sauce contains a compound ingredient, check that compound ingredient's own allergen content).
• 2. Identify every PPDS item and label each one individually. Any item that was packaged before the event and is being distributed at the event needs a Natasha's Law compliant label on every individual portion.
• 3. Train all event staff to handle allergen queries correctly. Every person serving food should know: (a) that they must take allergen questions seriously, (b) where to find the allergen information, and (c) what to do if they are uncertain (escalate, never guess).
• 4. Have written allergen information available at the event. A printed allergen matrix, a display board, or a QR code linking to digital information — something that guests can consult independently.
• 5. Lock down recipes before the event and track any last-minute changes. Recipe changes after the allergen matrix has been finalised must trigger a review of that matrix before service begins.

Natasha's Law for specific catering scenarios

Corporate caterers

Corporate catering typically involves a mix of PPDS and live service elements. Pre-packed sandwiches, individual snack boxes, and packaged desserts delivered to an office or conference venue are PPDS and require full Natasha's Law labels. Hot buffets, self-service food stations, and meals plated at the event are governed by FIR 2014. Corporate caterers often supply both types in a single contract, so the compliance obligations need to be assessed item by item.

Wedding caterers

The primary service at most weddings — plated meals, buffets, canapé stations served by staff — is non-PPDS and governed by FIR 2014. Wedding caterers must be able to provide allergen information for every dish on request, and guests with allergies must be catered for safely. However, Natasha's Law does apply to wedding caterers where they supply pre-packaged items: individually wrapped wedding favours containing food, boxed starters sent to tables in advance, or packaged guest gifts. These items require compliant PPDS labels.

School and education caterers

School catering is typically bulk-cooked fresh food served to order, which means FIR 2014 applies rather than Natasha's Law. Schools and education caterers must maintain accurate allergen information for every dish and have processes for handling pupils with allergies or intolerances. Some PPDS elements may be present — individually packaged snacks or drinks sold at a tuck shop, for example — and these require Natasha's Law compliant labels.

Care home caterers

The application of food law to care homes depends on structure. A care home that provides meals as part of its care service (rather than selling food commercially) may not be classified as a food business in the conventional sense, but most care home catering operations are still subject to food hygiene regulations and best practice allergen management. External catering contractors supplying care homes are food businesses and allergen compliance obligations apply in full. Pre-portioned meal trays supplied to residents are likely to be PPDS.

Festival and event food traders

Market stalls and food traders at festivals typically serve loose food prepared to order — burgers, wraps, hot dishes — which is non-PPDS and governed by FIR 2014. Allergen information must be available, typically displayed on a board or available verbally from staff. However, if a trader also sells packaged products — pre-made baked goods in bags, bottled sauces, pre-wrapped items — those items are PPDS and require Natasha's Law compliant labels. Many event food traders have both types on their stall.

How FoodCore helps catering businesses manage allergen compliance

Managing allergen compliance manually across a catering operation — with multiple dishes, multiple events, and a mix of PPDS and non-PPDS items — is time-consuming and error-prone. FoodCore is designed to handle it systematically.

FoodCore tracks allergens at the ingredient level, so allergen information is automatically carried through to every recipe that uses that ingredient. Change an ingredient and every affected recipe updates. This means your allergen data is always current, even when recipes evolve.

For PPDS items, FoodCore generates compliant labels automatically from your recipe data — full ingredients list in descending order by weight, all 14 allergens highlighted in bold. No separate Word documents or Canva templates to maintain. Each label is tied to the recipe, so when a recipe changes, the label changes with it.

For event allergen management, FoodCore's allergen matrix shows every dish across your menu and which allergens it contains — a single view you can print, share with event staff, or display at your venue.

FoodCore also scales recipes for event size automatically, so if you need to produce 200 portions instead of 20, ingredient quantities scale precisely — which means your PPDS label ingredient order (by weight) remains accurate at scale.

Frequently asked questions