According to the BBC, Pret A Manger's food labeling has been deemed "inadequate" after a 15-year-old with a sesame allergy died from eating one of their baguettes. Natasha Ednan-Laperouse had reportedly been "reassured by the lack of specific allergen information on the packaging" or mention of sesame before eating the sandwich which did, in fact, contain the ingredient.
Ednan-Laperouse was traveling from London to Nice, France, in July with an artichoke, olive and tapenade baguette, which seemingly had sesame baked into the crust rather than lying on top of it. She went into cardiac arrest in the air, and despite severation resuscitation attempts, was declared dead at a hospital in Nice the same day.
Coroner Sean Cummings wrote to both the government and Pret regarding the young woman's death: "I was left with the impression that Pret had not addressed the fact that monitoring food allergy in a business selling more than 200 million items year was something to be taken very seriously indeed," he told the BBC.
In response to news of the death, Pret issued a statement saying "We were deeply saddened to hear about Natasha's tragic death, and our heartfelt thoughts are with her family and friends."
You can read more about the ongoing legal consequences here.
