Family of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, 15, say they are deeply saddened by news of second customer’s death
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| Pret a Manger has confirmed the death, saying it was mis-sold dairy-free yoghurt |
The family of a teenager who died from an allergic reaction to a Pret a Manger sandwich have said they are “incredibly saddened” by the news of the death of a second customer.
Pret agreed to full labelling of ingredients on all its freshly made products following the case of 15-year-old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who was allergic to sesame and died on a flight after eating one of its baguettes bought at Heathrow airport.
The company has come under further scrutiny after it emerged on Saturday that an investigation was under way into the death of another customer who had eaten a “super-veg rainbow flatbread” that was supposed to be dairy-free.
Pret said it had been mis-sold one of the ingredients for its flatbread, a yoghurt that was guaranteed dairy-free but was found to contain dairy protein.
Natasha’s parents, Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, have been campaigning for allergy awareness and a change in food-labelling laws.
“We were incredibly saddened to learn of someone else losing their life from allergens in their food,” they said in a statement through lawyers Leigh Day. “Our hearts go out to the bereaved family.”
The second customer, who has not been named, collapsed and died on 27 December 2017 after buying the sandwich in a shop in Stall Street, Bath.
Vegan brand CoYo, a coconut milk brand that the TV cook Nigella Lawson has endorsed, recalled its yoghurts in February after dairy traces were found.
“This is believed to have resulted in the tragic death of a customer from an allergic reaction,” a Pret spokesman said.
Bath’s council alerted Pret to the incident and the chain said it withdrew all affected products. The firm said it had ended its contract with CoYo and was taking legal action.
“Subsequent testing by Pret and two independent authorities found that the CoYo dairy-free yoghurt contained traces of dairy protein,” the Pret spokesman said.
“Our deepest sympathies are with the family and friends of our customer in this terrible case and we will seek to assist them in any way we can.”
The Food Standards Agency investigated together with Bexley council in London, where CoYo is based, before it issued an allergy alert.
CoYo is yet to comment on the death but announced in February it was devastated to discover dairy in its yoghurts “especially as being dairy-free sits at the heart of everything we do”.
“We’ve carried out a thorough review of our ingredients and we have identified that the contaminated material was provided to us by an external third-party supplier,” the company said in statement.
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