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The changes will apply from 1 October 2021, to allow food businesses time to prepare for compliance with the new rules. The legislative changes have been introduced in England, Wales and Northern Ireland with similar arrangements expected to follow in Scotland to ensure a consistent UK-wide approach at a similar time.

The changes will apply from 1 October 2021, to allow food businesses time to prepare for compliance with the new rules. The legislative changes have been introduced in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Similar changes are expected to be introduced in Scotland by Food Standards Scotland to ensure consistency of provision of food information across the UK.

‘Prepacked Foods for Direct Sale’ are foods that have been packed on the same premises from which they are being sold. For example, a packaged sandwich or salad made by staff earlier in the day and placed on a shelf for purchase. The new labelling will be required on any food that is prepacked for direct sale. This is food which is packaged at the same place it is offered to customers and is in the packaging before it is ordered or selected.

This can include salads and sandwiches that customers select themselves and pre-wrapped foods kept behind a counter, as well as some products packaged and sold at mobile or temporary outlets.

According to the new rules, PPDS food will have to clearly display the following information on the packaging: 

• The name of the food
• Full ingredients list, with allergenic ingredients emphasised (for example in bold, italics or a different colour)

There are 14 allergens that must be declared by law

Cereals containing gluten – wheat (such as spelt and khorasan wheat), rye, barley, oats Note: The cereal name e.g ‘wheat’, must be declared and highlighted, not ‘gluten’

Crustaceans e.g. crabs, prawns, lobsters

Eggs

Fish

Peanuts

Soybeans

Milk

Nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecan nuts, brazil nuts, pistachio nuts, macadamia/Queensland nut) Note: The name of the nut, e.g. ‘almond’, must be declared and highlighted, not ‘nuts’

Celery

Mustard

Sesame Seeds

Sulphur Dioxide and sulphites (at concentrations of more than 10mg/kg or 10mg/L in terms of total sulphur dioxide) – used as a preservative

Lupin 

Molluscs e.g. mussels, oysters, squid, snails

Note: there are some derivatives of these allergens which are so highly processed that they are not considered an allergenic risk and so do not need to be highlighted as allergens. View the full list of allergens and exemptions

Ingredient lists including the emphasis of any of the 14 categories of allergens must be printed on the package or on the label in such a way as to ensure clear legibility*. Nutritics is a cloud based platform – printing labels from Nutritics is simple, you can print directly from Nutritics to any printer you have available. If you need a printer, you can contact us for special rates on Brother printers. 

*In characters using a font size where the x-height is equal to or greater than 1,2 mm. In case of packaging or containers the largest surface of which has an area of less than 80 cm2 , the x-height of the font size referred to in paragraph 2 shall be equal to or greater than 0,9 mm

From 1 October 2021, the way food businesses provide labelling information on Prepacked for Direct Sale (PPDS) food will change. These changes will provide essential information to help people with a food allergy or intolerance to make safe choices when buying PPDS food.

Your supplier has a legal obligation to provide you with the exact ingredient composition of any foods you buy from them, this is considered mandatory within the Regulation on provision of food information. This exact compositional information will be listed on the food’s  prepackaging or on a label attached to the packaging, or on the commercial documents referring to the foods where it can be guaranteed that such documents either accompany the food to which they refer or were sent before or at the same time as delivery.

Getting your suppliers in order, organising stock and documenting the various brands used is the only way to deal with a flexible supply chain. As a customer, you have buying power so use it. Only buy products from your approved suppliers list. Take time to meet your sales rep, you probably do this regularly to agree food costs. Next time you meet – define your preferred brands and agree the brands that will be substituted in the event that your preferred brand is not available. A digital food information management platform like Nutritics is designed to help you easily manage the various brands used across your business. With real time right click and ‘replace all’  functionality, you can swap brands across recipes quickly and easily ensuring confidence that the correct information, including ingredient lists with full allergen profile is available for your customers.

Ensuring the accuracy of the allergen information in the foods served in your business requires ‘Allergen Management’ to become a function of your business in the same way Food Safety Management is. Implementing allergen management should be integrated with your existing HACCP plan. Everyone in your business has a responsibility to ensure the provision of correct allergen information so make sure adequate training is given to empower staff with the knowledge they need to keep the system operating as expected. Define exact roles and responsibilities and appoint a person who validates the ingredient formulas of every food used in your business on a regular basis. Ask your suppliers to let you know if there is going to be a change to a product and use an electronic food information management system to make managing the information quick and easy.

It is important that each site implements an allergen management system that is specific to their exact operation. This means each site should have allergen management as a function of their HACCP plan. The daily challenges of supply chain management will differ between sites, so each site must be trained in ensuring the provision of accurate allergen information. Nutritics provides professional training courses with certification to ensure all personnel are enabled to fulfil their responsibilities and provide safe food with accurate information to their customers.

Getting your stock in order for the first time is the biggest challenge. It will take time to document the exact ingredient formulas for all the ingredients used to create each menu item on offer. However, once this is done, with the aid of a digital food information management system like Nutritics, the process of labelling recipes becomes as simple as making the recipe itself! Nutritics is designed to help businesses deal with tricky situations like a last minute change of brand with a different allergen profile at the click of a button. Multiple recipes can be updated in batch or single recipes can be customised. Once the system is updated the information for the label is updated instantly.

Having different versions of the same ingredient on site is one of the most challenging situations from an allergen management perspective and it takes considered planning and preparation to ensure information remains accurate. Nutritics offers tailored consultancy services to talk you through the best ways to deal with these complex challenges. You can contact Nutritics for bespoke advice regarding your situation here.

Mandatory particulars must be presented at every point of the supply chain. These can be declared on the prepackaging or on a label attached to the packaging, or on the commercial documents referring to the foods where it can be guaranteed that such documents either accompany the food to which they refer or were sent before or at the same time as delivery

You can request that your supplier advises you of any changes to your agreed fixed order. Once you are happy with the level of service provided from your supplier they should be listed on your HACCP plan as an ‘Approved Supplier’ – if you are not happy with the level of service from your supplier, which should include adequate communications regarding changes to your order and stock substitutions, you should consider changing to a supplier who provides a better service.

Exact product compositional information will be listed on the food’s prepackaging or on a label attached to the packaging, or on the commercial documents referring to the foods where it can be guaranteed that such documents either accompany the food to which they refer or were sent before or at the same time as delivery.

Using a digital recipe management system like Nutritics makes communication about changes to recipes or menus across multiple sites as easy as clicking a button. Nutritics has a suite of integrated tools to support your business operations.

Food information must be available at every point in the supply chain. In some complex circumstances food information may not be available from the company who delivers the product, however, this does not absolve that company of their legal obligation to ensure the continuity of the flow of food information. If you are unsure if your supplier is complying with their obligations, you can contact Nutritics for bespoke advice regarding your situation here.

If you can’t get the information you need from the company you are working with, consider changing to a different supplier. If you aren’t sure about what you can and can’t expect, you can contact Nutritics for bespoke advice regarding your situation here.

If you can’t get the information you need from the company you are working with, consider changing to a different supplier. If you aren’t sure about what you can and can’t expect, you can contact Nutritics for bespoke advice regarding your situation here.

If you can’t get the information you need from the company you are working with, consider changing to a different supplier. If you aren’t sure about what you can and can’t expect, you can contact Nutritics for bespoke advice regarding your situation here.

From 1 October 2021, the way all food businesses provide allergen labelling information on Prepacked for Direct Sale (PPDS) food will change. The changes will affect any businesses that produces PPDS products. These changes will provide essential information to help people with a food allergy or intolerance to make safe choices when buying PPDS food.

Fast food and takeaway businesses could be affected by the changes in the legislation depending on their businesses models and how they operate (for instance, some businesses may produce some foods in advance and package them at busier times).

It effectively comes down to the moment when a customer orders and when food is packaged. Where the food is packaged before the customer has ordered it is considered ‘pre-packed food for direct sale’ (PPDS). If it is packaged after it is ordered, it is considered to be ‘non-prepacked food’, even if the food is then provided in packaging.

The reason for the distinction is that if the food is in packaging before it is ordered, then the customer can’t change it and it requires a label. If the food is packaged after it is ordered then, in theory, the consumer could request that items are removed which would change the contents. Therefore, this is considered to be ‘non-prepacked’ and a label is not required.

Some businesses will produce PPDS and non-prepacked food side by side and in exactly the same way. However, a burger that has been prepared and packaged ready for a customer to order is effectively the same as a sandwich that has been made earlier that day ready for a customer to select it. Both are prepacked foods that can’t be changed and will require a label.

The changes being implemented in England, Wales and Northern Ireland under Natasha’s Law will mean that foods that are packed for direct sale will have to carry a full list of ingredients clearly highlighting allergenic components.  This practice is expected to be adopted in Scotland to ensure consistency of provision of  food information across the UK.

The FSA has developed a handy checker tool:
www.food.gov.uk/allergen-ingredients-food-labelling-decision-tool