Eight in ten food business owners said they were unprepared for the new food safety legislation that will take effect in October, the Press Association reported.
Natasha’s lack of knowledge of the law is “worrisome”, experts said.
Natasha’s Law requires prepackaged food in the UK to contain all allergy information following the death of 15-year-old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who suffered a fatal allergic reaction from a Pret A Manger in 2016.
Her parents have since campaigned for a change in the food labeling law, and in June 2019 the government announced that Natasha’s law would come into effect from October 2021.
Legislation will require food companies to provide full ingredient lists and allergen information on prepackaged foods for sale in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
With the introduction of Natasha’s Law in just one month, a study commissioned by the global standards organization GS1 UK found that 40% of companies had not yet heard of Natasha’s Law.
48% of employees at food franchises at small independent businesses had heard of Natasha’s Law, according to the study.
Eight in ten said they felt unprepared for the new regulations to take effect, while 90% said they had received a lot of information about the new law.
Henry Dimbleby MBE, author of the National Food Strategy, said: “Natasha’s Law represents an extremely positive but complex transformation for the food industry, a transformation fraught with risk.
“It’s worrying that awareness of the changes is inconsistent, but not particularly surprising after all the industry has gone through in the past 18 months.
“So it’s fantastic to see a data solution that will help businesses, especially small businesses, make the necessary changes while reducing both bureaucracy and the potential for error. ”
There were 500 employers and employees of the food industry interviewed for the survey
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Source: www.times-series.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-09-01 08:21:34
