It’s estimated that one in four people in the UK are living with allergies, with an ever-increasing rise in both children and adults, and up to three million refrain from eating outside their homes.

Thanks to the efforts of Natasha’s parents, who campaigned tirelessly for the government to create stricter laws to protect people with allergies and give them greater confidence in the food they buy, Natasha’s Law, came into effect on 1 October 2021. The new law now requires food businesses to include full ingredients on labels, including potentially life-saving allergen information, on all food for sale.

The 14 main allergens include celery, cereals, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, nuts, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, and sulphites. The 4 dietary choices are vegan, vegetarian, gluten free and lactose free.

Natasha’s story captured public consciousness, along with the attention of Gourmet Classic – the inventors of Cooking Wine. Back in 2019, Gourmet Classic posed the question; “Why are people being served food that can kill them?” From that moment, the NPD team embarked on a mission to make all of the company’s products totally allergen free.

Led by Gourmet Classic’s chief scientist Paul Brown and development chef Stephen Scuffell the NPD team went to work armed with considerable experience and the latest technical knowledge to produce a range of plant-based and certified allergen-free dressings and sauces.

This required them to go back through the supply chain to the growers and the factories where the ingredients are produced. They needed to certify that every part of the operation was safe and allergen free, and that there was no cross contamination in the food chain. After three years of painstaking hard work and determination, the Sleepeasy Range was born.

Sleepeasy dressings and sauces are plant-based, allergen free and suitable for vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and lactose-free diets.

During their free-from journey, the Gourmet Classic team also set about to remove sulphites from the company’s Cooking Wine. This also took them back through the supply chain, through the wineries, to the grape growers. Since locating a new source that could be verified through scientific testing, Gourmet Classic now purchases wine without sulphites.

The team’s goal wasn’t to stop people from getting allergies – they simply wanted to make food safe for everyone. As their passion about removing allergens grew, they learnt to appreciate how beneficial it would be for those with allergies to be able to eat like everyone else.

How allergen-free food could change the banqueting industry, by removing ‘special’ orders and the risk of people being served the wrong dishes. How these products could be used by the NHS, care homes, sport stadiums, schools and countless other institutions.

Stephen Scuffell was nominated for the Craft Guild of Chefs Development Chef Award 2022, for his work in developing Sleepeasy recipes and assisting with the development of its mass production. Gourmet Classic have high standards in all aspects of production, including separate procedures and equipment to ensure an allergen free environment. The production process also ensures that the traditional authenticity and functionality of the dressings and sauces is adhered to.

An example of meeting this challenge was the production of Sleepeasy Hollandaise, a sauce that is traditionally made with butter and egg yolk. Using a specific combination of plant-based ingredients, Paul Brown and Stephen Scuffell were successful at creating a very stable, reheatable traditional-tasting Hollandaise sauce without any of the 18 problems: 14 allergens and 4 dietary choices.

In fact, they were so successful that Sleepeasy Hollandaise Sauce won Silver at the Free From Food Awards 2022, in the "Best Product in Foodservice" category. Sleepeasy Hot Nacho Sauce was also a finalist at that same award ceremony.