Food safety and allergies are some of the most important considerations a café, restaurant or takeaway has to concern itself with, especially if food products are being prepared on site.  In the UK, there are an estimated 2 million people diagnosed with food allergies, so there are many customers who can be affected by poor allergy information.

As new Food Safety Regulations, known as Natasha’s Law, come into effect in October 2021 there will be stricter requirements for pre-packaged food labelling. Under this law, ingredients must be listed on individual food packaging which is pre-packed for direct sale (PPDS).  Labels must clearly display the type of food and full ingredients list, along with highlighted allergens.  The new law is wide-reaching and will apply to any food that is prepared, pre-packaged, and sold on the same premises.  For customer peace of mind, it’s important for businesses to make sure ingredients and allergen labels are easy to read and understand. Making sure food is correctly and clearly labelled is the best way to gain customer trust and confidence.

Before allergy labelling becomes law, it is important to explore options to make the transition as straightforward as possible. The law states that as soon as a recipe changes, the label must also change to reflect the new ingredients, as well as making it clear on the label that the ingredients have changed. This will take up considerable time if businesses are handwriting labels or purchasing pre-printed labels, so it may be more practical to adopt a more efficient way to print food labels on demand.

Having provided printing solutions into the hospitality sector for over 40 years, Star is renowned for reliable receipt and kitchen order printing and is able to offer exceptional support and advice for any food labelling application.  Moreover, by partnering with a wide range of hospitality and labelling software providers Star can support businesses with a complete labelling solution designed to meet individual needs.

Star’s label printers provide a range of solutions. For pre-packaged direct sale food, compact desktop direct thermal label printers such as the TSP700II and wide format TSP800II for standard die cut labels are ideal.  In addition, Bluetooth mobile printers such as the SM-L200 and SM-L300 offer a highly compact mobile solution for labelling on the go.  These options facilitate printing on a wide variety of label sizes as well as batch printing of labels.  With the only consumable being thermal label rolls and no toner or ribbons required, they offer an affordable and easy-to-use solution for day-to-day food labelling.  Additional features such as splash proof covers, buzzer alerts and space-saving wall mounts are also available for kitchen environments.

For businesses looking to use liner-less re-stick labels Star offers the TSP654IISK countertop model as well as the SM-L200 mobile printer. Ideal for food prep and customer order labelling in cafés and fastfood environments, these use specialist MAXStick® media which allows the user to print specific customer requirements on to repositionable labels that can simply be placed on orders such as coffee cups, food trays and takeaway bags.  The liner-less media is available in a range of paper widths and can print on variable lengths, which is particularly useful for printing orders and ingredient lists that may change from order to order.  And, for efficient order management, the TSP654IISK benefits from a paper taken sensor.

Star printers are USB, LAN, Bluetooth, and Cloud enabled for use with a range of devices including current labelling systems as well as iOS, Android and Windows tablets and handheld devices, and they can also simply connect to web and cloud-based software.  Star’s unique CloudPRNT™ label printers even allow the user to connect the printer to centrally held allergy labelling software and online databases of product ingredients for printers in multiple locations to directly print label updates as needed.  This means no additional devices or tablets are required in the individual locations which could prove a significant cost saving for larger chains.

For any hospitality business looking for a labelling solution to meet the new Food Safety Regulations please call +44 01494 471111 or visit www.Star-EMEA.com for more information.

To discover Star’s full range of POS printing solutions for hospitality, visit Star at Restaurant & Bar Tech Live, 9-10 November 2021, ExCel London.