The Private Chef's Guide to Allergen Management

UK law requires every food business — private chefs included — to identify, disclose and document the 14 regulated allergens in the food they serve. Here's what the law actually says, what Natasha's Law does and doesn't cover for private chefs, and what records protect you if something goes wrong.

What does UK allergen law require?

Allergen disclosure in the UK is governed by Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 on Food Information to Consumers (FIC), implemented domestically through the Food Information Regulations 2014. This is the law that created the requirement to disclose the 14 regulated allergens for any food sold or served — and it applies regardless of business size, so a sole-trader private chef has exactly the same legal duty as a large restaurant group.

The FSA's position, set out in its Allergen and Intolerance Guidance for Food Businesses, is that allergen information must be available to the consumer before they choose their food — not disclosed only if something goes wrong afterwards. For a private chef, that means allergen information needs to be established during menu planning and client consultation, not improvised mid-service.

The 14 allergens you're legally required to know

The FSA's regulated allergen list covers:

• Celery
• Cereals containing gluten
• Crustaceans
• Eggs
• Fish
• Lupin
• Milk
• Molluscs
• Mustard
• Tree nuts
• Peanuts
• Sesame
• Soybeans
• Sulphur dioxide / sulphites

These 14 must be checked against every ingredient in every dish — including hidden sources (Worcestershire sauce contains fish, many stocks contain celery, some spice blends contain mustard) that are easy to miss when a menu is written quickly.

Do private chefs need to comply with Natasha's Law?

Natasha's Law — introduced following the death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse and formally the Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019 (with equivalents in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) — came into force on 1 October 2021. It requires full ingredient lists and allergen labelling on PPDS food: Prepacked for Direct Sale items, meaning food packed on the same premises it's sold from before the customer orders it.

For most private chef work — cooking live in a client's home or at an event, where the client chooses the menu before you cook — Natasha's Law's PPDS labelling rules don't directly apply, because the food isn't prepacked before the order is placed. But the underlying FIC allergen disclosure duty still does, in full. And if you sell pre-made items — canapé boxes, meal-prep deliveries, grazing tables assembled and sealed before a client picks them up — those items do fall under PPDS rules and need full ingredient/allergen labelling on the pack itself.

What "providing allergen information" actually means in practice

The FSA accepts either of two approaches for non-prepacked food:

• Written information — a menu, allergen matrix or written note listing allergens per dish, available to the client before they order
• Verbal information backed by a written record — telling the client verbally, with a written note kept on file showing what was said and to whom

For private chefs, the safest and most defensible approach is to ask every client about allergies and dietary requirements before the job, cross-reference the confirmed menu against the 14 allergens, and keep a written record of both — the guest's stated requirements and the allergen content of what was actually served.

What records protect you if something goes wrong

Verbal reassurance ("don't worry, I'll sort it") is not a defence if a client has a reaction. What protects you legally is a documented trail showing you:

• Asked about allergies and dietary requirements before the job
• Recorded what the client told you
• Checked every dish against the 14 regulated allergens
• Took specific steps to prevent cross-contamination (separate boards, utensils, storage)
• Flagged and resolved any conflict between a stated allergy and a planned dish

The FSA recommends keeping these records for as long as is reasonable to cover any potential claim — for allergen incidents specifically, longer retention than standard food safety records (which the FSA suggests keeping for at least three months) is advisable given the seriousness of allergic reactions and the time it can take for a claim to surface.

What happens if you get it wrong

Allergen failures are treated more seriously by regulators and prosecutors than most other food safety breaches, precisely because the consequences can be fatal. Under the Food Safety Act 1990 and the Food Information Regulations 2014, failing to provide accurate allergen information — or serving food that doesn't match what was disclosed — can result in criminal prosecution, unlimited fines, and in the most serious cases, prison sentences for the business operator. For a sole-trader private chef, that liability sits with you personally, not a corporate entity that can absorb it.

How Veriqo helps

Veriqo's HACCP module has a dedicated allergen log built for exactly this workflow. You record each guest's name and dietary requirements once, tick the allergens present in every dish you log, and Veriqo automatically flags a conflict if a dish containing a declared allergen is served to that guest — before it becomes a problem, not after.

Every allergen record is timestamped and stored against the job, so if a client ever asks what was checked and when, the answer is a few taps away rather than a memory you're relying on months later. The food library is shared with the Menus module, so allergen information stays consistent whether you're planning a menu or logging what was actually served.