What is Natasha's Law? A home baker's guide

If you sell cakes you've packaged up in advance, Natasha's Law applies to you. Here's what it is, where it came from, and exactly what your labels need — without the legal jargon.

What is Natasha's Law?

Natasha's Law is the everyday name for a change to UK food labelling rules that came into force on 1 October 2021. It requires that any food which is pre-packed for direct sale (PPDS) carries a label showing the name of the food and a full ingredients list, with the 14 major allergens emphasised within that list.

It's named after Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who died in 2016 after eating a pre-packaged baguette that contained sesame she had no way of knowing about, because the packaging carried no ingredients information. The law closed that gap.

Does it apply to me?

If you bake at home and sell food that you've packaged before the customer chooses it, then yes — it almost certainly applies. That covers a lot of home baking: a boxed cake ready on a stall, cupcakes wrapped and listed for sale online, traybakes bagged up at a market.

There's no exemption for being small, part-time, or not-for-much-profit. The law applies to businesses of every size, including micro and home businesses.

What exactly counts as "pre-packed for direct sale"?

Food is PPDS if it meets all three of these:

• It's packaged before the customer orders or selects it
• It's fully or partly enclosed by that packaging
• It's sold at the same place it was made or packed (including your own stall or mobile pitch)

If a customer orders a bespoke cake and you box it up after they've ordered, that's generally not PPDS — but you still have to give them accurate allergen information another way. The FSA has a free decision tool at food.gov.uk that walks you through your exact situation.

What must the label show?

• The name of the food
• A full ingredients list, in descending order by weight
• The 14 major allergens emphasised (usually in bold) wherever they appear in that list

A few important details: allergen charts or "ask a member of staff" signs are not acceptable substitutes for PPDS food — the information has to be on the packaging. A QR code doesn't count either; it must be directly visible. Handwritten labels are legal as long as they're legible and the allergens are properly emphasised, though the FSA prefers printed ones because they're less error-prone.

What about "may contain"?

"May contain" and "not suitable for" warnings are voluntary precautionary labelling for cross-contamination risk. They're allowed, but they don't replace the legal requirement for a full ingredients list with allergens emphasised — and they should only be used after a genuine assessment of the risk in your kitchen, not added "just in case" to everything.

How BakeLabels helps

Building a compliant ingredients list by hand, for every product, is the tedious part. BakeLabels lets you photograph the ingredients list on each packet you bake with, reads it, highlights the allergens, and helps you produce a print-ready label. It's free, and there's a fuller Natasha's Law FAQ if you want to dig deeper.

This article is general information, not legal advice, and food law can change. For current official guidance see the Food Standards Agency (food.gov.uk), including its PPDS allergen labelling guidance, or contact your local council's environmental health team.