free from ice cream in a bowl with gluten free cone upside down

What are the Free From Awards

The Free From Awards are the UK’s ONLY awards body dedicated to food and drink that is free from one or more of the top 14 major allergens.

Most recent medallists are on the Winners Page, where you can search for products that fit your dietary requirements. All medallists since 2008 can be found here.

In addition to the All Year Round Awards for Food, Drinks and International products, we run seasonal Awards covering Easter, Hallowe’en and Christmas.

First launched in 2008, the awards celebrate the very best in free from food & drink. And whilst everyone loves a medal, the FFAs are so much more than this. They are recognised for supporting, promoting and actively encouraging both existing and new product development. Our Awards Ceremony is one of the most highly anticipated events in the free from calendar.

Our eye-catching logo assures that a product has been rigorously taste tested and has clear, compliant labelling. Food and drinks that win our awards are benchmarks in the category, and small producers and supermarkets compete on a level playing field for one of our coveted awards.

Since 2008, thousands of free from products have been blind tasted by our specialist judging panels, featuring chefs, developers, manufacturers, nutritionists and allergy reactors, and many of our judges are well-known figures in the food and allergy worlds. Feedback from our panels proves invaluable to manufacturers and we pride ourselves in being instrumental in encouraging development and innovation in the free from market.

The awards are entirely independent, supported by sponsorship and entry fees only.

Meet Our Team

Cressida Langlands, freefrom food awards — Cressida Langlands – CEO

Cressida is the CEO of the Free From Awards. She believes passionately that people with allergies should feel confident in free from manufacturing processes and able to easily identify safe foods and drinks.

Nicki Clowes, Director of marketing — Nicki Clowes – COO

Nicki pushed the Free From boundaries for Tesco’s FF range for over ten years before she decided to expand horizons and go freelance. So we nabbed her and now she is COO at the FFA, expanding our horizons 360º.

Benjamin Richardson, freefrom food awards — Benjamin Richardson – Data Wizard

Coeliac, serial investor & supporter of small food businesses with free from credentials, nutritional therapy student & all-round food-nerd. Benjamin has a big-corporate HR background, joined us initially as a judge, and now supports our technology and data management.

Michelle Berridale Johnson, Free From Food Awards — Michelle Berriedale Johnson – Chair

Addressed alternatively as the vortex or the grandmother of free from, Michelle has been involved in allergy since the late 1980s, establishing the FFA in 2008 to spread the word about the increasing number of free from foods that were appearing on the market. Under her guidance the awards flourished and in 2020 Michelle handed them to Cressida to develop and grow.

Michelle continues her involvement as Chair of the FFA – as well as writing books, creating a new garden and hosting Salon Music concerts in Highgate.