Tanya and Nadim Ednan-Laperouse are working to eradicate food allergies with the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation
After their 15-year-old daughter, Natasha, tragically died in 2016 after suffering anaphylaxis on a plane, Tanya and Nadim Ednan-Laperouse chose to speak up for food allergy sufferers. ‘We felt that we were a voice for people,’ says Tanya. ‘Because we know when Tashi was growing up, we didn’t have a voice.’
Their first step was to campaign for Natasha’s Law. On the day that Natasha died, she was going on a summer trip to the south of France with her dad and best friend. Having suffered from severe allergic reactions as a baby, she had learnt from a young age to read food labels for triggers – and the baguette that she ate shortly before the flight looked safe. However, it contained sesame seeds baked into the dough, invisible to the eye, which weren’t listed due to a loophole in packaging law at the time.
‘If that food label had included sesame seeds, Natasha would be alive today,’ says Tanya. The new campaigned-for law, effective as of 2021, requires full ingredient and allergen labelling on all food made on premises and pre-packed for direct sale. ‘It’s really important that information is correct,’ adds Tanya.
ON THE RISE
In 2019, Tanya and Nadim founded the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation. Part of its purpose is to raise allergy awareness and support those that live their daily lives with caution because of them. ‘After the inquest into Natasha’s death, we started getting letters and emails from all over the world,’ says Tanya. ‘They would say: This is the life we live, and we fear this every single day.’
It alerted the couple to the growing numbers with food allergies like Natasha’s. ‘We always thought that Natasha was quite rare,�
