The household of an allergy sufferer who died after consuming a Pret a Manger sandwich have backed a coroner’s name for a system of recording severe instances of anaphylactic shock.
Celia Marsh, 42, who had an acute dairy allergy, ate a super-veg vegan wrap contaminated with milk from the chain’s Bath retailer.
The yoghurt dressing within the wrap was later discovered to be contaminated with traces of milk protein stemming from a starch manufactured in a facility dealing with dairy merchandise.
Maria Voisin, senior coroner for Avon, made a number of suggestions in a prevention of future deaths report after an inquest into Mrs Marsh’s dying, together with improved reporting of anaphylaxis incidents and a sturdy system to make sure meals labelling is present.
The report has been despatched to a number of organisations, together with the Food Standards Agency, the UK Health Security Agency, the Department of Health and Social Care, the British Retail Consortium and the Food and Drink Federation.
The inquest, which concluded in September, heard that Mrs Marsh died on 27 December 2017 after consuming the wrap.
The mom of 5, a dental nurse from the city of Melksham in Wiltshire, purchased the wrap at 2.08pm and inside quarter-hour entered into acute anaphylactic shock.
She was declared lifeless at 4pm.
The wrap contained a coconut yoghurt dressing from the Australian model CoYo, which was licensed for manufacture within the UK to the British agency Planet Coconut.
An ingredient within the yoghurt, a starch referred to as HG1, had been cross-contaminated with milk protein throughout its manufacture.
‘Beloved mum and spouse’
Mrs Marsh’s household stated they welcomed the publication of the coroner’s report “as the next step in our fight to make the world a safe place for allergy sufferers like our beloved mum and wife”.
They hoped the required organisations will “start working together” to document deadly and near-fatal anaphylactic reactions to permit the general public to be alerted of unsafe allergen merchandise.
“This will ensure important lessons can be learned with the appropriate enforcement action being taken,” they added.
Read extra:
Celia Marsh’s daughter requires higher testing
Yoghurt agency boss breaks down in tears at inquest
In the report, Ms Voisin additionally emphasised her considerations concerning the public’s understanding of the wording used on sure meals, akin to “free from” and “vegan”.
“Foods labelled in this way must be free from that allergen, and there should be a robust system to confirm the absence of the relevant allergen in all ingredients and during production when making such a claim,” she stated.
“With respect to those with the most severe food allergies, it may be necessary in the interim to clarify that foods labelled ‘free-from…’ may not be safe to consume.”
Mrs Marsh’s dying got here after that of 15-year-old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who died in 2016 after consuming a Pret baguette containing sesame seeds purchased at Heathrow Airport.
Her dying prompted an overhaul of meals legal guidelines, which now require retailers to show full ingredient and allergen labelling on each meals merchandise made on the premises and pre-packed for direct sale, together with sandwiches, muffins and salads.
Source: information.sky.com”