Food allergies: Tougher labelling law to prevent deaths

Natasha Ednan-Laperouse Image copyright Family handout/PA Wire
Image caption Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died in a hospital in Nice after collapsing on a BA flight

Stronger food labelling laws are being proposed to prevent further deaths of people with allergies.

All packaged food such as sandwiches and salads could be required to list the full ingredients.

It comes after the death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, 15, of Fulham, London, who suffered an allergic reaction to a Pret a Manger baguette in 2016.

Under current laws, the company did not have to list the ingredients of food packed and sold on the premises.

The inquest into Natasha's death heard that the teenager was "reassured" by the lack of specific allergen information on the packaging when she bought the sandwich at Heathrow Airport.

But the baguette contained sesame seeds, which caused her to go into cardiac arrest on a flight in 2016.

Nadim Ednan-Laperouse, Natasha's father, told the inquest the case should "serve as a watershed moment to make meaningful change and save lives".

Confidence in food safety

Four options are now being put forward for labelling food which is made, packaged and sold on the same premises:

Environment Secretary Michael Gove called the proposed new regulations "Natasha's Law" and paid tribute to the "inspirational work" of her parents in advocating for it.

Image caption Natasha's brother, father and mother attended the inquest at West London Coroner's Court

He said: "We want to ensure that labels are clearer and that the rules for businesses are more consistent, so that allergy sufferers in this country can have confidence in the safety of their food.

"Many businesses are already bringing changes on board independently, and in the meantime they should continue doing all they can to give consumers the information they need."

'Unbearable grief'

In a statement, Natasha's parents, Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, said that food producers and retailers had been playing "Russian roulette" with allergy sufferers' lives for too long.

"If you sell allergens, which to many people can be poisons, you should have a public, moral and legal duty to inform customers," they said.

"It shouldn't be too much to ask so that other families don't have to go through the unbearable grief that we will always endure."

Allergy UK chief executive Carla Jones said that the food industry needed to do "more than just the bare minimum" when catering for the estimated two million people in the UK with food allergies.