What is Natasha’s Law?
Natasha’s Law, implemented in the UK, mandates that all Pre-Packed for Direct Sale (PPDS) foods, including items like sandwiches, salads, and pastries, must have a full list of ingredients with allergens clearly highlighted. The law focuses on consumer safety, ensuring that individuals with food allergies can make informed choices about the food they purchase. The law specifically highlights 14 major allergens that must be clearly labelled to protect sensitive consumers.
Implications and Problems
The introduction of Natasha’s Law presents several challenges for businesses in the hospitality sector, particularly those offering Grab-and-Go options, such as forecourt operations, bakeries, restaurants, and cafés. Key issues include:
- Compliance Challenges: Businesses must ensure that all PPDS items are accurately labelled to meet legal requirements. Failure to comply can lead to significant penalties and harm to consumer trust.
- Labelling Complexity: Manually tracking ingredients, allergens, and expiry dates is labor-intensive and prone to human error. Inaccurate labelling can result in serious health risks for customers with allergies.
- Operational Strain: Fast-paced environments demand quick and efficient labelling solutions. Inadequate labelling systems can disrupt operations and slow down service, impacting customer satisfaction.
How Dill Solves These Issues
Dill offers a comprehensive solution to simplify and streamline the labelling process for businesses:
- Automated Allergen Flagging: Dill automatically scans ingredients to detect and flag any of the 14 major allergens, ensuring compliance with Natasha’s Law while reducing the risk of human error.
- Expiry Date Management: The software automatically calculates use-by dates based on product shelf life, ensuring that businesses always provide accurate and safe information to customers.
- Barcode Generation: Dill simplifies inventory management by automatically generating barcodes based on product codes and prices, streamlining stock control and sales processes.
- Great Recipe Builder: The recipe builder feature allows businesses to create and manage recipes efficiently, ensuring accurate ingredient tracking and compliance with allergen regulations.
By automating the labelling process and providing a reliable system, Dill allows businesses to focus on core operations while ensuring safety and compliance with Natasha’s Law. This results in time savings, reduced risk of mislabelling, and an overall safer dining experience for consumers, all while maintaining a strong brand identity.