Inquest into the death of a teenager finds that inadequate food labelling failed to warn teenager about allergen that killed her

Allergen is an abnormal response to a food triggered by your body's immune system. Allergic reactions to food can sometimes cause serious illness and death from anaphylaxis.

Anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and may cause death. It typically causes more than one of the following: an itchy rash, throat or tongue swelling, shortness of breath, vomiting, light headedness, and low blood pressure. These symptoms typically can come on in minutes to hours.

On 28 September 2018, an Inquest ruled that Pret a Manger's food labelling had failed to warn a 15 year old girl who died after eating one of its baguettes that the sandwich contained allergens.

Natasha Ednan-Laperouse suffered cardiac arrest and died of anaphylaxis in Nice, France on 17 July 2016 after eating the baguette purchased from a Pret outlet at a terminal at London Heathrow's Airport.

The baguette was manufactured to Pret specifications and contained sesame to which Natasha was allergic. There was no specific allergen information on the baguette packaging or on the food display cabinet.

Pret baguettes described as "posh" or "artisan" contain sesame seeds including the one that Natasha ate.

During the Inquest, it emerged that Pret had previously received a "specific warning" about the dangers of not signposting the allergen in 2015.

A complaint log for Pret revealed that from between 17 July 2015 and 29 June 2016 there had been nine cases of sesame related allergy incidents. Four of these led to customers seeking hospital treatment and another needed to go to a medical centre to receive treatment.

More than a year after these complaints, Pret changed the design of a label within its fridges that tells customers to ask staff for allergy information.

Under EU regulations, food companies are required to warn customers about allergy risks either on signs and packaging or orally, usually meaning customers have to make their own inquires.

These regulations that allow shops who produce food on site to post general allergen warnings around the store and instructing customers to consult staff for advice, rather than posting warning stickers on wrappers, were designed to benefit small sandwich shops with limited resources.

Pret had chosen to provide information on food allergy orally and were supposed to have stickers within fridges telling customers to ask staff members for details. 

However, in this tragic case, due to the lack of any specific warnings on the packaging, the Inquest held that Natasha had felt "reassured" and believed that the sandwich did not contain any allergens which could cause her any harm.

At the conclusion of the Inquest, Dr Séan Cummings, the Assistant Senior Coroner for West London, stated that he would be writing to the Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, urging him to review food labelling regulations which exempt shops that produce food on site from having to list allergens on the individual packaging.

Dr Cummings also stated that he would request Mr Gove to consider whether large businesses such as Pret who ought to have the resources to list allergens on all individual food packaging should be able to benefit from regulations that allow reduced food labelling for products made in shops.

On 2 October 2018, the Prime Minister, Theresa May, called for a review of food labelling laws in the wake of Natasha’s death.

On 3 October 2018, Pret announced that it would now list all ingredients, including allergens, on its freshly made products. The chain will start trialling full ingredient labelling on product packaging from next month and roll it out to all UK outlets as quickly as possible.

Other food chains in the UK are also considering how they label their goods. 

Greggs, which has almost 2,000 outlets in the UK, announced that they are urgently reviewing their practices and procedures to understand how best to provide ingredient information to customers. In the meantime, the chain has stated that they have taken immediate action to increase the prominence and signposting of their allergen information on digital screens in their shops and website.

It is hoped that all food retailers will learn from this very sad tragedy and that the measures suggested by Pret and Greggs will be put into place by all businesses in the food industry, so that people with allergies are protected and provided with proper allergen information.

For expert legal advice on any aspect of Food Allergy & Safety Regulation matters and Dispute Resolution, please contact us at Ambersunn Solicitors.