This is one of the questions UK small-business owners ask most often in communities like Reddit. Here's a straight answer — with the real rules, real dates and real penalties, and links to the official sources.
The short answer: Since 1 October 2021 (Natasha's Law), any food prepacked for direct sale in the UK must carry a full ingredient list with the 14 regulated allergens emphasised. For non-prepacked food, you must be able to provide accurate allergen information for every item. Allergen failures are among the most heavily punished food offences — and among the few that have cost customers their lives.
UK food law regulates 14 allergens — including celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, nuts, peanuts, sesame, soya and sulphites. If you sell food prepacked for direct sale (a sandwich you made and wrapped on site, for example), Natasha's Law requires a full ingredient label with allergens emphasised. For loose or made-to-order food, you must provide accurate allergen information — verbally or in writing — for every single item.
The rules apply to the smallest café exactly as they apply to a national chain. 'We're only a small shop' carries no weight with an environmental health officer — or a coroner.
The common failures aren't malice — they're drift. A supplier changes an ingredient and the label isn't updated. A new staff member guesses instead of checking. A recipe tweak adds sesame and nobody amends the allergen matrix. Each is an offence, and because allergen cases can involve serious harm, they attract the top end of enforcement: unlimited fines and potential prosecution under food safety law.
Allergen guidance keeps moving — the Food Standards Agency updates its guidance and best-practice expectations regularly, and inspection standards move with it. ScanToComply watches the FSA and your council's pages daily and sends a plain-English alert when anything changes, so your allergen procedures never quietly fall out of date. 14-day free trial, no card required.
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Food packaged on the same premises it's sold from, before the customer orders it — like pre-wrapped sandwiches, salads or cakes made and wrapped on site. That's the category Natasha's Law added full labelling to in October 2021.
You must provide accurate allergen information for every item; it can be verbal, but you need a written signpost telling customers where to ask, and your information must be right every time. Most inspectors expect a maintained allergen matrix.
Serious allergen offences fall under food safety law, which carries unlimited fines in the Crown Court. Where a customer is seriously harmed, prosecution of the business and individuals is realistic — allergen cases are treated as gravely as any food offence.
The list is set in law and reviewed; guidance around it — labelling formats, precautionary 'may contain' expectations — evolves more often. That's exactly the kind of quiet change worth having monitored automatically.
Want the full picture for your trade or city? See our free compliance guides.
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