The partnership will see the buying group and its members work alongside the charity to raise funds, to help ‘make food allergy history’. The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation is the only charity in the UK dedicated to scientific and medical research into allergies.
The Natasha Clinical Trial focuses on children and young people with milk and peanut allergies in a ‘ground-breaking’ £2.5m oral immunotherapy trial. The study aims to plug the current Oral Immunotherapy (OIT) research gap by proving that everyday foods instead of expensive pharmaceutical drugs can be used as a practical treatment.
If it's successful, the trial could open up potential life-changing treatments for hundreds of thousands of allergy sufferers at a fraction of the current cost for the NHS.
The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation was founded in June 2019 following the tragic death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who died from eating sesame seeds that were baked into the dough of a baguette.
There was a legal loophole in the food law that meant prepackaged foods made and sold on the same premises didn’t have to list their ingredients. The label on the packaging didn’t include this ingredient and they were invisible to the naked eye.
The charity’s vision is to eradicate allergic disease and help prevent food allergy deaths, while also bringing about positive change by focusing on law and policies, medical research and educating and raising allergy awareness.
Nadim Ednan-Laperouse OBE, co-founder & trustee of The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, said: “We’re delighted to welcome the Country Range Group to Natasha’s Foundation and are overwhelmed by their generosity to name us as their chosen charity for the next three years.
“Our vision is to make allergy history, something we wouldn’t be able to do without the support of companies like the Country Range Group. Their knowledge, expertise and reputation in the foodservice sector is second to none so we’re thrilled we’re able to partner with them and their incredible independent members on our groundbreaking work.”