The Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/1218)
For food businesses in England working out what Natasha's Law expects on prepacked-for-direct-sale food labels. This page covers what you need to know and ways to avoid running into issues.
What we've seen reported
Natasha's Law, SI 2019/1218, means food prepacked for direct sale in England carries the name of the food and a full ingredients list, with the 14 allergens emphasized, according to the Food Standards Agency.1,2
Last updated October 2026 · General information only, not legal advice. Sources.
What the rules cover
These are the kinds of label information Natasha's Law covers, according to its text and the Food Standards Agency's guidance.1,2,3
| Requirement | Where it applies |
|---|---|
| Name of the food | On the label of every item prepacked for direct sale. |
| Full ingredients list | A complete list, on the packaging or a label attached to it. |
| The 14 allergens | Emphasized in the ingredients list, for example in bold, capitals, contrasting colors or underlined. |
| Food packed on site before it is ordered | Includes items customers select themselves, items behind a counter, and some sold at mobile or temporary outlets. |
| Food sold by distance selling | Outside the label rules; mandatory allergen information is still provided. |
| Prepacked food made elsewhere | Not PPDS: it already carries full labeling and other mandatory details. |
| Loose (non-prepacked) food | Not PPDS: no label needed, but allergen information is still provided under existing rules. |
Where it goes wrong
One approved set of product information ends up in many channels, markets and languages. Along the way it gets shortened, translated and reworded, and some versions end up without the warnings or details these rules require.
Heldan Café chicken pesto sandwich: name, full ingredients, allergens in bold
How Arbitr helps
Manually review everything? Or do what modern teams do and use AI to check that what you publish matches what you approved.
FAQ
Usually after a change, not at launch. The Food Standards Agency describes a full ingredients list with allergens emphasized on every item prepacked for direct sale,2 and we usually find gaps after:
Treat the recipe as the approved record and every label, menu and listing as a version of it. When an ingredient or supplier changes, list every place that item is described and update them together, including printed stock. Our packaging compliance page shows how teams track this.
How it applies to a specific label is a question for your legal adviser. Where that label appears across your markets and languages is a question Arbitr answers.
Check that every site prints from the current recipe, that allergens are emphasized the same way on each label, and that local specials go through the same approval as core items. Sites that edit templates locally are where differences creep in, so a monthly spot check of printed labels against the recipe record catches most of them early.
Food safety and technical teams usually own it, but kitchen managers, buyers, marketing and e-commerce teams all publish ingredient information, and label printing is often done at each site. A short briefing for each, using your own labels as examples, does more than a policy document. Product marking rules such as UKCA marking sit alongside it, and related rules are on our product labeling hub.
This page covers England's regulations. The Food Standards Agency describes matching labeling changes for food prepacked for direct sale in Wales and Northern Ireland from the same date, under their own legislation.2
Arbitr checks your content against the rules, claims and terms your team has approved, and reports where something doesn't match, by channel, market and language. It reports matches against your rules, not legal verdicts. What to do with each one stays with your team.
