Natasha’s Law has been in force for more than three years, but compliance with it among some businesses isn’t what it could be. But there are label printing solutions out there that can help them to achieve this, and resellers can play a key role in ensuring they do.
It is more than three years since Natasha’s Law came into force in the UK, requiring all food produced and packed for sale in the same premises to provide complete ingredient lists. But not all businesses in the food retail sector are yet fully compliant with the law.
The last available statistics at the time of writing come from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in July 2023, which showed that 24% of businesses surveyed admitted that they were not compliant with all the labelling requirements.
While it is likely that more businesses are now compliant, some will need to do more, and others will likely be looking for solutions that can speed up the process of producing compliant labelling – and this is where resellers have an important role to play.
Help to comply
Becky Viccars, internal sales and marketing manager at Toshiba Tec, says that while there is good awareness of Natasha’s Law in the marketplace, it often depends on the size and scale of the operation. “New, start-up, small and independent businesses will often still need educating on the legislative requirements,” she says. “We have several partners who are experts in the hospitality arena and can assist with the latest barcoding solutions to be compliant with Natasha’s Law.
“Low-cost, off the shelf, desktop solutions can help small businesses to identify allergens for their customers. This is via intelligent software that identifies on the product label, name of the food, full ingredients list, with allergenic ingredients emphasised in bold. These are easy to use and implement and enable them to fully comply with the packaging requirements for pre-packed foods.”
Rich Barfield, EMEA Core Portfolio Marketing for Printers, Printing Supplies, and Environmental Sensors – ATS Division (Asset Tracking Solutions), Zebra Technologies, adds that businesses of all sizes need help to ensure they comply. “I think an effective labelling solution should critically support here by minimising the points of error,” he says.
“Imagine the situation: customers are in a hurry. They want to be able to grab their food and go, whether opting for a prepared item from the deli counter or hankering for a hot meal. That means staff are going to be rushed to ring them up, especially as the queue builds. Now is not the time for errors. The reputation of the store as well as customers’ health are on the line. All food prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) must have a label detailing the product name, full ingredient list, and known allergens – no exceptions.
“At Zebra we’ve come up with an easy way to help such businesses stay compliant, without making team members do any extra work called PrintKiosk. It enables the user to hook up any Zebra ZD400 or ZD600 Series Desktop Printer with a Zebra CC600 or CC6000 Series Customer Concierge to create an all-in-one kiosk with computing, scanning and printing capabilities. The PrintKiosk can be secured to a table, bench or any other flat surface, and the CC6600 instantly becomes accessible by customers and staff. Better still, it can be connected to your central repository of product ingredients and label formats, so any changes made at head office can be instantly updated across all store locations.
“With a few quick on-screen menu taps, your team can print food safety labels or receipts with the proper ingredient or allergen information disclosures. Alternatively, customers could scan a barcode or QR code to retrieve ingredient, nutrition and allergen details on screen or print an information card to take with them.”
Labelling solutions popularity
In the wake of Natasha’s Law, labelling solutions are increasing in popularity. Jay Kim, managing director, BIXOLON Europe GmbH, says the law is becoming ingrained within the hospitality industry. “This is reflected in the technology options available in the market today,” he adds. “We’re seeing the evolution of EPoS sales with software now with additional new features and traditional hardware options being complimented by desktop label printers such as the SLP-DX220 from BIXOLON as a popular natural add on for resellers looking to offer a complete solution bundle to comply with Natasha’s law.
“Labelling solutions allow businesses to quickly and easily produce batches of labels which clearly highlight ingredients and key allergens, freeing up time and reducing errors compared to handwritten alternatives. Additionally, label printers allow food producers to include tiny QR codes on their labels, which can direct the consumer to details of concise ingredient information and allows the label to be used for marketing purposes to display additional content such as special offers, promotions and loyalty programmes.”
Simon Brennan, senior business manager, Specialty Printing Solutions at Brother UK, agrees. “Labelling technology is surging in popularity with businesses that sell PPDS food and this offers a commercial opportunity for resellers that can move to support them,” he says.
“New technology offers an end to the handwritten labels that make compliance with Natasha’s Law difficult and there is an opportunity for resellers to capitalise on this by making the benefits clear. Our TDs, for example, can be paired with a tablet holder and third-party software, creating a standalone wireless solution that makes it much easier and quicker to comply.”
“Many food and retail businesses are re-evaluating their back-office print estates to ensure they have the infrastructure to print compliant menus across multiple sites. Where they change weekly or daily, devices like our flagship range of professional colour and mono-laser printers can help achieve compliance without compromising on cost. All devices are compatible with managed print services which, along with quick print speeds and high-yield toners, help businesses boost productivity and cost efficiency.”
Linerless solutions
Linerless labelling solutions are particularly well-suited to small businesses in food and drink and retail, adds Bob Vine, TSC Auto ID’s country manager for the UK, Ireland and the Nordics. “With our linerless label printers, companies can generate labels on-demand with the required allergen and ingredient information to comply with Natasha’s Law,” he adds.
“At the same time, they can benefit from the reduced costs, improved efficiency and enhanced sustainability and safety of linerless. TSC’s technology allows for fully customisable labels, from logos to allergen warnings, making it easy for SMEs to comply without compromising brand representation.”
What resellers should say
When talking to customers in the food retail sector about labelling solutions, there are a variety of features that resellers should highlight.
“Resellers should be highlighting that they can tailor a solution to meet the exact requirements of the business, ensuring compliancy with legislation and the flexibility to integrate into their working practices,” says Becky. “They can also design the labels to the exacting standards of any branding or marketing templates. Products can be small desktop solutions or industrial labelling, scalable to any size of company.”
Bob adds that the main benefits that resellers should be communicating with their food and retail customers is that linerless labelling enables them to comply with directives and regulations while also improving their operational efficiency. “Our linerless DH and DA desktop printers are incredibly popular in the fast-food sector as they enable outlets to meet today’s needs as well as prepare for tomorrow’s advancements in food labelling,” he says.
Linerless also has other benefits that should be highlighted, such as reduced material costs, Bob adds. “Without liners, overall material usage is significantly reduced, leading to direct cost savings,” he says. “Linerless labels also take up less space and weigh less, reducing shipping expenses. In addition, eliminating liners means less waste to manage, cutting down on disposal costs.”
There are also environmental benefits that can be highlighted. “Linerless labels eliminate liner waste, making them a greener option,” he says. “Producing liner materials requires energy and resources, which are conserved with linerless labels.”
Linerless solutions can also help to boost operational efficiency. “Without liners, labelling processes are faster and more streamlined,” Bob says. “There are also fewer interruptions for changing rolls or disposing of liner waste and managing fewer materials simplifies inventory processes. It can also enhance safety as reducing liner waste minimises clutter on the shop floor, enhancing safety and compliance with standards like OSHA. “
Rich adds that not all labelling solutions are equal. “Customers might feel their current labelling processes work, and perhaps they do,” he says. “But do they work as well as they could? What is their current error rate, and how does that compare to a 100% compliance target? How long does it take to properly label PPDS food today? A minute? Five? What else could their team be doing in that time? How many more food items could they process if they could label twice as many packages in the same time they do today – with a lower margin of error?
“Next, I would say that it is often much more than just merely being able to print a label. What if head office changes the label content or format – how long does it take a customer’s store to implement the changes? There are efficiencies to be had from connecting devices and benefiting from centralised management, particularly in the case for compliance.
“A Zebra labelling solution, particularly from Zebra Technologies, offers a range of benefits and key advantages including efficiency, reliability, high-quality printing and scalability, allowing businesses to expand their operations. Zebra solutions can easily integrate with existing enterprise systems and can handle a wide variety of labelling needs, including shipping labels, product labels, asset tags and more. And for partners, within our award-winning PartnerConnect program we have our own Zebra Labelling Solutions Specialist track, and access to cost saving propositions such as our ZipShip portfolio of stocked supplies, with a minimum order quantity of just one box at competitive prices.
“Finally, Zebra facilitates access to advanced features, such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) printing, mobile printing, cloud-based management, and even the ability to visibly identify and remotely manage temperature conditions of produce, even when in transit.”
Colour considerations
Solutions such as colour printing on labels could become increasingly important. Jay says that the use of colour labelling in hospitality is already common, for example to highlight use by and best before dates of perishable products. “There are colour printing solutions already out in the market today, however they stand at a significantly higher price point than traditional thermal printers,” he says. “For resellers looking to offer a cheaper printing alternative, it’s a common option to use pre-coloured labels to provide this additional information to the customer.”
But Rich notes that colour, stand-alone, doesn’t provide the answer. “Let’s not forget that a proportion of the population is affected by some form of colour-vision deficiency,” he says. “Not only that, but the psychological perception of colour – so what I think is a particular hue of pink, may be perceived as a warmer or colder hue by someone else – is subjective. Iconography is perhaps more universal, but maybe not as an immediate reference as some colours.”
Simon adds that colour coding allergens on a menu – though not a legal requirement – can also enhance visibility and quick identification, as well as minimise the risk of verbal miscommunication. “Natasha’s Law compliance demands businesses indicate allergens in bold, italics or a different colour, and with Owen’s Law businesses will be looking to colour as one way to draw attention to allergens on a busy menu,” he says.
Owen’s Law
As Simon says, there is other potential legislation such as Owen’s Law that could have an impact on the sector. Owen’s Law is currently a campaign to ensure that restaurants state the 14 major allergens prescribed by EU law in their dishes in writing at the point of ordering and without the customer having to ask. The campaign, supported by the FSA, is hoping to make a change in the law – they are looking to engage with the new government on this. But for now, it is best practice for businesses to have this information available.
“Owen’s Law will impact the sector, but not the front of house,” says Becky. “The importance will be on clearly labelling ingredients purchased that are then prepared for restaurant meals. All ingredients included should be readily identifiable, to prevent errors being made in restaurant menus that are pre-printed in advance.”
Rich agrees that ultimately Owen’s Law will impact the food sector significantly. “Although I daresay that without the swift modernisation of food establishments across the UK with the right technology to support compliance, it could be many years before consumers can feel confident that the law will be securing their safety,” he says.
“The law may help to protect consumers in the event of an infringement – but compliance with the law is generally a minimum requirement and ‘having your day in court’ won’t be much of a comfort if you are severely hospitalised, or worse. Above that you have moral code and ethics – I’d like to think that we will see the food industry owning its accountability and moving rapidly to do the right thing across the board and demand that their members invest in the right technology and the best labelling solutions, regardless of which laws are in place.”
Work to do
While compliance with Natasha’s Law – and the proposed Owen’s law – is improving there is still work to be done.
“While it’s important that what is on the label is clearly definable and readable by the end user customer in a self-serve scenario, I think there is still a lot of work to ensure that the restaurants and food establishments have the right support to ensure that what goes on the label is right for each and every product, whether that’s packaged on site for customers to select from the shelf, or prepared at the point of sale, bespoke for that customer – so what processes can be in place to help the staff follow process and not deviate from the customer’s specific order,” says Rich.
“I feel that technology will play the biggest role in customer safety, as well as that for staff and establishment compliance. Most of us have in our pocket today the means to scan for safety, without relying on how we perceive a label visually.”
