Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect on the volume of food donated to food banks arising from "Natasha’s Law" regarding food labelling, which requires allergen labelling on pre-packaged direct sale food.

The UK maintains high standards on the information that is provided on food labels so that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy.

This was strengthened, for food that is sold prepacked for direct sale, with the introduction of Natasha’s Law in 2021.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) recently conducted an evaluation of the impact of the law. During the evaluation, the FSA spoke to stakeholders including food businesses.

While the evaluation did not focus specifically on food redistribution, it did offer stakeholders the opportunity to discuss their experiences implementing the new law broadly. There was no significant evidence provided in respect of impact on food donations. However, we are clear that, irrespective of how food is distributed, whether for sale or provided free, consumer safety must remain the priority.

Defra and the FSA have worked with WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Programme) to produce comprehensive guidance on surplus food redistribution to help businesses and charities safely and efficiently redistribute surplus and prevent good food going to waste.

The FSA continues to engage with stakeholders regarding the impact of Natasha's Law, to ensure any issues are identified and resolved.