A CAMPAIGNER whose daughter’s death led to a radical overhaul of the UK’s food allergy laws is urging Jersey to fast-track similar protections after a local restaurant was fined for serving a customer a dish which triggered a severe reaction.
Nadim Ednan-Laperouse OBE founded Natasha’s Foundation with his wife Tanya following the tragic death of their 15-year-old daughter Natasha – who went into severe anaphylaxis after eating an improperly-labelled Pret a Manger sandwich in 2016.
Their campaigning efforts resulted in “Natasha’s Law”, which came into effect on 1 October 2021, and requires full ingredient and allergen labelling on pre-packaged foods.
At a food allergy conference in St Helier in 2024, Mr and Mrs Ednan-Laperouse appealed for lawmakers in Jersey to update its “unacceptable” Food Safety Law, which, at the time, dated back to 1966.
In March this year, the States Assembly heeded their advice by passing new legislation aligning Jersey with best practice in the UK and EU. Under the new law, allergen information will have to be accurate, accessible and available before purchase – regardless of whether food is pre-packed, freshly prepared on-site, or sold online.
The new regulations, though, are yet to be officially introduced – with a start date still to be agreed by politicians.
Speaking to the JEP, Mr Ednan-Laperouse said he was concerned to hear of a recent court case involving The Pavilion restaurant, which saw the St Helier establishment fined £10,000 for serving a customer with a severe sesame allergy a sesame-based yoghurt.
The charity leader argued that food safety laws exist to prevent “complete blunders” like that from happening.
He described the hesitation to formally implement updated allergy legislation in Jersey as a “safety issue” for both Islanders and tourists alike.
“[Non-Islanders] fly over to Jersey to see brands that they recognise, and that operate here, and they generally expect the law to be the same, but it’s not,” he said.
“What must it take for Jersey to act?”, he asked. “Should someone have to die from a food allergy in the Island due to lack of consumer protection around allergies in hospitality and food-to-go before the government acts and does the right thing?”
“They need to put a date on when the new legislation will be introduced – I can’t think of why that hasn’t happened really, other than bad attitudes somewhere in the system.”
He added: “You just need to get it done, get that date in – then the businesses can plan for it accordingly.
“And, just as happened in the UK, which is a great exemplar and a roadmap, there’s nothing to fear.
“In fact, it makes business more robust in the end – and better – and less likely for businesses like the one we had getting fined and all that sort of stuff.
“No-one is trying to be hard on business, it’s just that businesses need to evolve, essentially, according to what is happening with customers.”
Mr Ednan-Laperouse sought to assure Jersey businesses that their overheads would not increase following the implementation of updated food safety legislation.
“It’s not a cost issue, at all,” he said. “The argument that was given by the food industry here is that any change is going to cost jobs and put prices up.
“None of that happened at all – absolutely not – and today the chief executives of all the biggest food companies in the UK, because we know most of them, all think it’s one of the best things that ever happened.”
