Freeater expands into food shopping ahead of Natasha’s Day and Anaphylaxis Awareness Week
DERBY, UK; 30th September 2026 - Derby based startup Freeater has expanded its food confidence app beyond eating out, with new food scanning technology, helping people with food allergies, coeliac disease and dietary needs navigate food shopping.
Freeater Shopping extends personalised food confidence from eating out to everyday food shopping, helping users navigate two of the biggest everyday challenges of living with dietary needs in one app.
Research from GS1 UK found that 60% of people with food allergies rely on product packaging for allergen information, yet only 24% of those checking labels always find the information they need. Almost half, 43%, would prefer to access product information by scanning packaging with their smartphone.
Kate founded Freeater in 2024, inspired by her family’s experiences with coeliac disease, intolerances and other dietary needs, and friends living with severe food allergies.
Making repeated checks easier
For people with food allergies, checking isn't a one-off task. Product recipes can change, meaning labels need to be checked every time, even for products bought safely before.
Long ingredient lists, small text and unfamiliar ingredients can make information easy to miss, particularly for allergies outside the 14 allergens emphasised under UK allergen labelling rules.
“When every ingredient matters, missing something can have serious health consequences,” said Kate Alderson, Founder and CEO of Freeater.
“Freeater doesn't replace the need to check. It's an additional helping hand, making relevant information easier to locate and giving people another opportunity to spot something they might otherwise miss.”
The feature also provides a traffic light nutritional overview, making it quick and easy to understand nutrition alongside dietary suitability.
Built with the community
Freeater began as an idea in 2024, inspired by Alderson's family experiences with dietary requirements. Its technology has been developed, tested and refined with the community since inception, informed by more than 650 surveys, interviews and 200 beta testers.
Since launching publicly in May 2026, Freeater has grown to around 1,000 users, with more than 3,000 eateries discoverable through the app, including locations around the world.
Why now
Freeater Shopping launches on 30th September, ahead of Natasha’s Day and Anaphylaxis Awareness Week, 1-7th October, which this year focuses on a “sense of belonging” for people living with serious allergies.
The timing also marks five years since Natasha’s Law transformed allergen labelling for food prepacked for direct sale. “We wanted to celebrate how far allergy awareness, labelling and innovation have come, while recognising there is still more we can do,” Alderson.
Since May, Alderson has taken 2nd place in Loughborough WE Innovate programe, while Freeater was recently selected as a winner of Theo Paphitis’
Small Business Sunday (#SBS).
Availability
Freeater Shopping launches on 30th September 2026 and is available on iOS and
Android.