Pret a Manger: coroner in teen allergy inquest troubled by packaging rules

A coroner overseeing the inquest into a teenager with multiple food allergies who died after eating a baguette bought from a Pret a Manger store has expressed concern about labelling regulations.

Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, 15, collapsed on a British Airways flight from London to Nice on 17 July 2016 after eating an artichoke, olive and tapenade baguette she bought at Heathrow airport’s Terminal 5.

The baguette did not have any allergen advice on its wrapper. There was no requirement for it to do so because of reduced labelling requirements for food produced on site.

For items made in store, it is sufficient for general allergen warnings to be posted around the shop, rather than on the packaging, and for specific advice to be given orally by staff.

Bridget Saunders, from Hillingdon council trading and food standards, told the inquest at west London coroner’s court on Wednesday that the distinction made between food produced on and off site was “to deal with small independent premises that perhaps prepare food on site and put it into a bag for customers coming in”.

Responding to her evidence, Dr Sean Cummings, the acting senior coroner for west London, said: “It seems on the face of it a bit strange that a local sandwich shop can benefit from that regulation ... but that an organisation that sold ... 218m items (a year) could also benefit from that regulation ... A cynic might think it was almost a device to get round regulation relating to information on food allergens.”

Addressing Natasha’s family directly, Saunders, who inspected the store from where the teenager purchased the sandwich, said she had done her job as best she could. She said that while she had no influence over regulations: “My opinion is there is a problem.”

Saunders told the court: “Pret would be the biggest company I have come across … that uses that method of providing allergen information.”

The Pret a Manger at Terminal 5 received a “very high standard” overall rating at an inspection on 23 February 2016, less than five months before Natasha died, the inquest heard.

Saunders said adequate notices in the store regarding allergens would have been a factor in the rating.

Asked by Oliver Campbell QC, representing Pret, whether allergen advice was “readily discernible” in the store at the time of the inspection, Saunders said: “I didn’t indicate to the contrary at the time of the inspection so the answer to that is yes.”

An unannounced inspection on 12 May 2017 found that Pret was compliant regarding allergen labelling but Saunders raised concerns at the time about lack of stickers concerning allergen advice on the tills and that other stickers could not easily be read because their font was difficult to discern against the silver surfaces they were placed on.

Advice was then sought from the Food Standards Agency, which replied
saying: “There was nothing in the information provided to suggest a
breach of the regulations.”

Natasha, from Fulham, south-west London, who was travelling with her father, Nadim Ednan-Laperouse, and her best friend, suffered a cardiac arrest despite two epipens being applied and receiving CPR from cabin crew and a junior doctor passenger, the inquest has heard. She was declared dead the same day at a Nice hospital.

She had multiple allergies from a young age, including to seeds, nuts, eggs, dairy, avocado, apple and banana. As such, her father said she and the family were always extremely vigilant about what she ate. On Monday, he told the inquest no warning signs about allergens were visible at the store in question on the day his daughter bought the baguette.

The response of British Airways staff to Natasha falling ill was called into question by Jeremy Hyman QC, acting for her family.

Dr Thomas Pearson-Jones, a junior doctor who had graduated from Oxford University the day before taking the flight, attended to the teenager.

Hyam said cabin crew did not tell Pearson-Jones about the presence of an epi pen in
the plane’s medical kit nor about the existence of a defibrillator on board.

John Harris, the head of the cabin crew, now retired, said he could not get the defibrillator because his responsibility at that stage of the flight was to cover the plane’s front door in case of an emergency.

Natasha’s mother, Tanya, and 14-year-old brother, Alex, held their heads in their hands as Harris said: “Without wishing to sound harsh, covering the front door is a priority.”

Alex placed an arm round his weeping mother who was sat beside her husband, and the children’s father, Nadim Ednan-Laperouse, and a framed photo of a smiling Natasha.

Mario Ballestri, crew manager, said the defibrillator was not offered because by the time Natasha was in cardiac arrest, it was time for crew to take their seats for landing.

Asked by Hyam whether he should have told Pearson-Jones about the epi pen, Ballestri said: “Looking back in hindsight, yes ... but I was just following the doctor’s requests.”

At one point Cummings warned Hyam about his line of questioning, saying it was making him (the coroner) anxious and that Ballestri was not a clinician.

A pathologist recorded Natasha’s cause of death as allergic exacerbation of asthma, which is the same as anaphylactic reaction, the inquest heard.

The hearing continues.