London has been identified as Britain’s allergy hot spot with one in four believing they have a food allergy according to a recent study.

Over half (55%) of Londoners surveyed could not identify tree nuts as an allergen in pesto. Whilst 48% had no idea peanuts were the main allergen is satay sauce; 73% did not know sesame was the main allergen in hummus. The findings showed that Londoners were the worst in Britain at identifying milk as the allergen in yoghurt, with a mere 59% succeeding.

However, eight in 10 agree it is important that new food legislation is introduced to protect those with severe food allergies out of home.

The new study has been commissioned by GS1 UK – the global provider of interoperable standards which cover 90% of UK retailers. The not-for-profit is leading the Feed us the Facts campaign for extra transparency from the entire food industry to protect people and businesses.

The research comes just over two months ahead of Natasha’s law coming into effect this October. The new legislation will require all food businesses to provide full ingredient lists and allergen information on foods pre-packaged for direct sale in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Yet, four in 10 Londoners were unaware of its existence.

GS1 UK agrees that Natasha’s law is certainly needed, but it is the start of a journey and if the entire food industry collaborates – not just pre-packaged food for direct sale – it can help empower consumers and save lives via greater transparency.

A clear indication that information needs to become more accessible is that of those with a food allergy, social awkwardness means that eight in 10 Londoners do not feel comfortable asking about allergens in dishes when eating out and would rather ‘take the risk’ instead.

Meanwhile, the shift to online shopping has caused confusion for many. Consumers are more likely to understand everything that is inside a product when shopping in store, compared to online – pointing to the problems caused by current irregularities in how consumers are expected to consume vital food information.

Currently, when it comes to labelling products with allergen information, Londoners are the most likely to trust large brands (65%) to do so more accurately than smaller brands.

What’s more, over half (53%) would trust a brand more if it had been transparent about recalling products due to contamination or misleading information on packaging. As such, the democratisation of product information through industry collaboration would also benefit retailers. A supply chain that consumers could have total visibility over could increase trust.

Anne Godfrey CEO of GS1 UK commented: “Natasha’s law is much-needed and will undoubtedly increase transparency in the food industry and protect consumers. Yet, our research shows that transparency should not be limited to pre-packaged items. Existing technology has the potential to drive transparency across the entire industry”.

Indeed, 44% of Londoners feel a code to scan food products would make allergens clearer when shopping – with almost two thirds checking labels to check for allergens or food intolerances. Whilst 41% check labels to see where their food has come from and 42% check an items sustainability credentials, making Londoners Britain’s top eco-conscious food buyers.

“2D barcodes – like a QR code or DataMatrix – can hold significant vital information which, in the future, will empower a more responsible, protected and informed consumer. Quick smartphone scans will be able to show a product’s allergens, environmental impact, extended producer responsibility and much more.”

“To achieve this, the standards that sit behind the labelling of products must be used universally to enable a common language which will allow consumers to identify, capture and share data about food products.

“This would allow retailers to recall a food item more effectively by having the ability to instantly inform everyone across the supply chain with a click of a button, including the consumer who purchased the item – rather than using todays slow methods of communication.

“Natasha’s law is a hugely positive step that will highlight pre-packaged products that contain allergens. Its introduction is the beginning of an encouraging journey, because if we collaborate as an industry, we can help save more lives.”

Consultant Pediatric Allergist and regular contributor to ITV’s This Morning, Professor Adam Fox, is backing the campaign, saying: “For people with food allergies, the fear of making a simple mistake, with devastating consequences, has a draining effect on quality of life.

“Thankfully, life threatening allergic reactions to food are rare, but with the rates of severe reactions continuing to increase, this is an important public health issue and one which needs government, manufacturers, retail and catering establishments to come together to help protect allergic consumers.

“The introduction of Natasha’s Law, requiring greater transparency about full ingredients, is a key step forward but there is a great opportunity to harness technology to make things better still.

“Just a few years ago, we could only have dreamed that there could be a simple system that would reliably and accurately alert consumers to all their allergens, and, when mistakes happen, trace any item sold back to the individual customer – but this may now be within our grasp.

“This coming together of better regulation, informed by the community who are the key stakeholders and empowered by new technology would be another step towards making life safer and easier for allergy sufferers”.