Pret a Manger death: 'Lack of progress' after mum's death in Bath

The family of a woman who died after eating a "vegan" wrap which contained traces of milk have said they fear allergy sufferers are still at risk.

Celia Marsh, 42, had a severe dairy allergy and died in 2017 after buying the wrap from a Pret a Manger in Bath.

Despite the coroner issuing a special report to prevent future deaths, Mrs Marsh's Daughter, Ashleigh Grice, said more urgent progress was needed.

The Food Standards Agency said it had updated its guidance on labelling.

Mrs Marsh's family called for better testing, better labelling and better healthcare after coroner Maria Voisin's future deaths report in 2022 made a number of recommendations.

Ms Voisin, senior coroner for Avon, called for the establishment of a "robust system of capturing and recording cases of anaphylaxis" to provide an "early warning of the risk posed to allergic individuals by products with undeclared allergen content".

The report also recommended a system of checks to ensure food is correctly labelled "free from" and "vegan".

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it had updated its food allergen business guidance on the labelling of vegan products since Mrs Marsh's death.

Natasha James, from the FSA, added: "The guidance recommends that a precautionary allergen label, also known as 'may contain' statement, can be applied to a vegan product if a business finds there is a risk of cross contamination with any allergen of animal origin such as fish, shellfish, milk, or egg."

Meanwhile Pret said it had taken significant steps forward with its suppliers and labelling policies since 2017.

But Miss Grice, from Lacock, Wiltshire, said the family wanted more of the coroner's recommendations to be acted on, including better testing and quality control of products which claimed to be free from allergens.

"I'm quite worried there hasn't been change already because I worry that someone is going to unfortunately experience the same as what happened to my mum and that is very worrying," she said.

Mrs Marsh, from Melksham in Wiltshire, had been on a post Christmas shopping trip in 2017 and bought what she thought was a vegan wrap from Pret a Manger in Bath.

Shortly afterwards she was struggling to breathe and collapsed in the street. She later died in hospital.

Miss Grice is determined to keep campaigning for further change so that other families will not face the same tragedy as hers.

She is also running the Bath Half Marathon on Sunday in her mother's memory and to raise money for a charity set up in memory of Natasha Ednan Laperouse, who died from anaphylaxis after she ate sesame in a Pret baguette in 2016.

The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation was set up by her parents, who also want better allergy labelling on food.

"I wanted to challenge myself and I think it's a good way to keep my mum's name alive," Miss Grice said.

"I think she'd think I was crazy, but I think she would be really proud. During the half marathon I'll be running with Mum's photo.

"Maybe someone will recognise her and that will spark a conversation."

Miss Grice said that she believed more people better understood allergies since Natasha's law - a food safety law - but that many remained "quite clueless".

She added: "I think it's great to campaign and carry on and push for awareness."

Simone Miles, CEO of the charity Allergy UK, thinks society still does not take allergies seriously enough.

She said there was a clear need for long-term funding for a UK Fatal Anaphylaxis Registry.

"This registry would address the coroner recommendations for a robust system to capture and record cases of anaphylaxis," she said.

"Unfortunately, this remains unfunded despite there being a clear need and unilateral support for it from all corners of the allergic community.

"It is disappointing."

Although discussions are under way to explore how food labelling and quality control for allergen free claims can be improved, Ms Miles said "little has moved on" in relation to tighter regulation and testing of products.

"There is yet to be a conclusive outcome from these discussions, but we remain hopeful that there will be some movement."

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