Natasha’s Law may be in place as early as next year, says Gove

STRICTER food labelling laws prompted by the death of a teenager who ate a Pret A Manger sandwich could be in place as early as next summer, her parents said.

Nadim and Tanya Ednan-laperouse, parents of Natasha, yesterday met Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, who told them he wanted “Natasha’s Law” introduced next year.

The 15-year-old, from Fulham, west London, collapsed on board a flight to Nice in 2016 after eating a sandwich she bought at Heathrow Airport containing sesame seeds, to which she was allergic. She died later in hospital.

Mr Ednan-laperouse said: “I think we are moving to a tipping point for things to actually change. So things that have previously been in the dark, are now going to come out into the light. And that’s really, really important, and only good will come from that.”

At an inquest earlier this month, Mr Ednan-laperouse said his daughter died because of “inadequate food labelling laws” as the packaging did not mention the baguette contained sesame.

The family are calling for greater consistency in labelling and want products to carry complete allergen information.

Mr Gove told the couple a full review would take place by Christmas, followed by a consultation. He said he could see “no reason” why the new legislation could not be in place by summer – three years after the teenager died.

After the inquest, Pret announced that full ingredient labelling will be introduced on all products freshly made in its kitchens, and labels will list all ingredients.

Mr Gove said it was “an honour” to meet Natasha’s parents.

He said: “We have been working at pace with the Food Standards Agency and businesses to review current labelling rules. We are aiming to bring forward concrete proposals to change the law around the turn of the year.”