to think that Pret are responsible for this young woman's death

[brizzledrizzle]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-45617845

A 15 year old with a sesame allergy died after eating a sandwich from Pret a manger; the company confirmed that 'its products were not individually labelled with allergen or ingredient information.' (missing apostrophe not mine)

I think it's appalling that they don't label products and pretty stupid to bake baguettes with sesame seeds inside if you aren't going to make it very obvious on the packaging that they contain sesame seeds. The government website says that they must be on the packaging because of allergies.

R4 news said the Pret manager claimed there was a notice inside (?) the fridge saying customers should ask staff about allergens. Father said he he was always a HAWK for signs & he didn’t see that...

It's unlikely that one sandwiches in oret had a label when the others didn't. Also having a label is vague. If I get a sandwiche from pret it may say 'ham and cheese' and then 'on whole meal with mustard mayo' underneath. That's not the same as having all the ingredients listed. Besides which, if it's made in their main kitchen there is a chance it could be contaminated. If they don't bake their own bread from scratch. It could have contaminated at the bakery. I would expect anyone with allergies to understand this. For example anything called gluten free should be made in a kitchen away from all gluten products. My Dp has a life threatening allergy. It's a pain, but we are both very clear when we eat out or order a takeaway. We only use 2 takeaways because they understand how serious it is. And restaurants I call ahead to see if it's possible to guarantee his food won't be contaminated. If they can't (tiny kitchen or something) we don't eat there.

Details here about the labelling. All very confused & contradictory. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-45623831

Yes very confusing. It’s not clear if the actual packaging was labelled or not.

Whilst we can all see that not checking was a mishap on her part I think that death was probably a horrible enough consequence. I think people need to be a bit kinder and recognise she was a child.

It's an unfortunate accident, I don't really see why blame has to be apportioned.

I think it’s more about responsibility than blame. Life-threatening allergies are increasing & food providers need to be more aware and much more careful.

I think people need to be a bit kinder and recognise she was a child. yes she was a child. But one old enough to know about contamination etc. Plus her dad, an adult, was with her. Of course it's tragic that their decision had such tragic consquences. It's awful. But this thread is here because the OP thinks that pret are wholly responsible for her death. People are simply pointing out that they aren't wholly to blame. Probably not even partly. And that the girl and her father hold some responsibility too. That doesn't mean anyone thinks she deserved what happened. Simply that the blame doesn't lay at prets door.

I know someone with multiple food allergies & even in hospital, after they’ve been warned about it they’ve given her food that could potentially kill her

It does seem to me that the Parent's hold Pret responsible. This thread has plenty of posters reasonably pointing out that sandwiches made on site don't need to be labelled by law. I wonder though if the family thought Pret was a chain and assumed that the descriptive label was a complete list.

It's very sad, whatever the cause.

I am anaphylactic to many things and my ds is too. This kind of case makes me feel so sick for the family....and they were the family that made WOW toys too, those lovely toys that don't need a battery. WHat it brings home is the fact that two epipens could not save her...so many young people think 'Oh I have an epi, I will be fine'. And separately, it is tragic as it was on a plane. if they had been on the ground she may well have lived as they could get her to A and E in time.

We went into Greggs the other day and I asked if the cake I wanted had nuts in it. The girl said confidently 'Oh no none of our cakes have nuts in'. I silently pointed to the almond bites next to her. 'Oh they're the bought- in ones...you will be fine with OUR ones'. Me - 'Can you be SURE they have no nuts in?'. Her:' I am pretty certain yes.'. Me, losing temper a bit 'Well your insertion of the word 'pretty' means I have to tell you that my son may die if you are wrong...'. Lots of huffing and then she went to the back and got the allergy book out and gave it to me. I think in future I am going to prepare a sandwich at home and take that!

As a side issue, it is several years since we last flew long-haul with BA, but I remember being unable to advise them of DH's shellfish allergy when selecting our menu choices. There were choices for religious preferences, but not allergies. In DH's case he was able to choose a vegetarian meal, but I was surprised by the lack of choice for people with an allergy or intolerance.

I remember being unable to advise them of DH's shellfish allergy when selecting our menu choices You still can’t. You are advised to ask staff for ingredients. Or take your own food.

I remember being unable to advise them of DH's shellfish allergy when selecting our menu choices You still can’t. You are advised to ask staff for ingredients. Or take your own food. Thanks Soup. So religious preferences are taken seriously, but not life-threatening allergies. Nice to know they have their priorities right!

Even if Pret did label all the food you still wouldn't be able to eat there with allergies because of cross contamination issues. It's all made fresh in one kitchen on site. (Apologies for lack of new para here, MN has broken the return key) If you have a serious nut allergy then very few places if any would be safe to eat out at, and not much pre-packaged food can be guaranteed nut free either.

@Ali1cedowntherabbithole I think most companies would rather accidentally fuck up and give a Jew non-Kosher food than they would accidentally kill someone though. Cross contamination is so difficult to avoid, I can see why they don't want to risk any liability.

As PP said people don’t die from kosher or halal . I am sympathetic to allergies but really better safe than sorry . Cool bag , and if you can’t be 100% sure don’t risk it . Better safe than sorry surely ? Many vegans and dieters ( sorry but that’s the only example I can think of) take their own food for similar but less deathly reasons .

I also hope this case educates both food retailers and sadly allergic people to watch out in future . I don’t trust cross contamination - so risky

So religious preferences are taken seriously, but not life-threatening allergies. Nice to know they have their priorities right!. Well, no. It wouldn’t be possible for them to cater for every possible allergy. There’s no indication that they don’t take allergies seriously.

PowerPantsRule That is absolutely unacceptable.

I’m a manager at McDonalds and all our crew are trained to get a manager for all allergen queries. We are then trained ourselves to get out the allergen book (which is consistently updated for every new promotion and product) and hand it to the customer so they can see for themselves and make their own decision.

This should be standard practice everywhere.

BBC now reporting from the inquest (sorry, can’t link) that Pret failed to label ‘artisan baguettes’ such as the one that this poor girl ate in July 2016 even although Pret’s company complaints log for 2015 recorded six sesame-allergy reactions to these baguettes in 2015 and a specific request for labelling from the family of a customer who nearly died as a result in October 2015. Cavalier and complacent, in my view. And it’s all very well saying that people with food allergies should only ever eat at home, or food prepared at home, but that is just not practicable.

And, in response to the pp from McDonalds, one of my DC has multiple severe food allergies and McDs has always been great - staff in several countries clued up, ingredients standardised and reliable information on tap. It can be done, even when food is prepared on the premises!

I heard on the news earlier that There had been 6 other complaints of allergic reaction to the sesame bread in the months leading up to this, but Pret hadn't done anything. If true shame on them.

There had been 6 other complaints of allergic reaction to the sesame bread in the months leading up to this

I'd be intrigued to know if this is unique to Pret, or if other company ever get these complaints.