An 18-year-old who suffered a fatal allergic reaction after eating at burger chain Byron ordered an item that was not shown to contain buttermilk on the menu, an inquest has heard.
Owen Carey, who had an allergy to dairy, died following a visit to the Byron restaurant at the O2 Arena in Greenwich, London, while celebrating his birthday with his family.
He started to experience symptoms after leaving the restaurant before later collapsing outside the London Eye.
Mr Carey died at St Thomas Hospital in central London on April 22 2017.
An inquest at Southwark Coroners Court heard on Thursday that Mr Carey, of Crowborough in East Sussex, had ordered a skinny grilled chicken burger with no sauce from the restaurant.
But the inquest heard the menu did not show the item contained buttermilk.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Barrister Clodagh Bradley, who is representing Mr Careys family, argued the omission could make a customer believe it was a plain chicken breast.
Girl, 12, pulled from lesson because skirt is too short
Aimee Leitner-Hopps, Byrons technical manager, who is responsible for ensuring teams are fully trained in food safety, said there were many component ingredients in dishes that were not elaborated on in the menu.
She said: If you have an allergy you should be asking for information and the team would be able to provide that information in the allergy guide.
Coroner Briony Ballard asked why allergy information had been in the fine print on the back of the restaurants menu from 2017.
Ms Bradley also suggested the information was difficult to read, stating it was in black print against a blue background.
Ms Leitner-Hopps, said: I think most businesses were taking the same approach that the customer would inform the restaurant about (their) allergies.
School 'bans' surnames because of 'data protection'
We have had numerous local authority visits over the years, she said, adding the restaurant had never been told the wording was not clear enough or was too small.
She said since the incident, and following research showiRead More – Source
