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The Natasha Clinical Trial is a £2.8m oral immunotherapy trial focusing on children and young people with milk and peanut allergies.

The study aims to prove that commonly available peanut and milk products, when taken carefully according to a standardised protocol under medical supervision, can be used as an alternative to pharmaceutical drugs to desensitise patients with food allergies.

The three-year trial will be the first major study funded by Natasha's Foundation, the charity set up by the parents of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who died aged 15 in 2016 from a severe allergic reaction to sesame in a baguette.

Nadim Ednan-Laperouse OBE, said: “We are really pleased that the WSH Group is helping us solve the burgeoning food allergy issue in society which disproportionately affects children and teenagers. Caterers working with Natasha’s Foundation are helping to pave the way to solving this once and for all and this is a good thing for the sector as a whole.”

The trial is being led by researchers from the University of Southampton who are partnering with Imperial College London together with University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Newcastle University, the University of Glasgow and Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

Neil Fuller, managing director of Caterlink, added: “As a school caterer, we are all too aware of the challenges that so many children, parents and families face at mealtimes when dealing with allergies. The research conducted by Natasha's Foundation is going to be vital in helping us all understand and treat allergies and will offer some hope to people living with allergy across the UK and beyond. We are proud to support the work being undertaken.”