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Allergens: The silent invisible killers - and automation alone
Allergens: The silent invisible
killers - and automation alone cannot prevent these risks asks Roy Green, Managing Director, Harford Control
cannot prevent these risks Natasha’s Law came into effect on 1st October 2021, but has it made a difference?
N
atasha’s Law was passed in 2019. It followed the tragic death of 15-year- old Natasha Ednan-
Laperouse in 2016, who had a severe allergic reaction to sesame seeds in a baguette. But even though passed in 2019, Natasha’s Law didn’t come into effect until 1st October 2021, giving manufacturers and retailers ample time to comply with the labelling requirements.
Natasha had a known allergy to sesame seeds and was very careful in her selection of foods when eating out. She was delighted to have found her favourite ingredients, olives and artichokes, in what she believed to be an allergy-free sandwich in the Pret A Manger branch at Heathrow, whilst waiting for her flight to Nice. Within minutes of boarding her flight, Natasha suffered a severe anaphylactic reaction to the sesame baked into the bagette, nothing of which was mentioned in the allergen advice on the label. Sadly, she died later that day.
consumption of a super-veg rainbow flatbread, bought at Pret a Manger in Bath.
Having suffered allergies since childhood, she always triple-checked food, but didn’t know that the flatbread contained traces of milk protein. Minutes after eating the wrap in December 2017, she collapsed and was pronounced dead at the hospital. Pret a Manger had wrongly described the flatbread as “dairy-free”.
Megan Lee [Source: BBC] Natasha Ednan-Laperouse [Source: BBC]
There are other tragic examples – which help emphasise the seriousness of the problem:
That of Celia Marsh, for example, a 42-year-old dental nurse from Melksham in Wiltshire, who suffered anaphylactic shock following the
52 July/August 2023 | Automation
Celia Marsh [Photo credit: (PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo)
Ten deaths per year A further example is that of teenager Megan Lee, who died after suffering a severe allergic reaction to nuts contained in a takeaway meal in 2016. Although there are only approximately ten deaths per year from food allergies in is much wider. The rate of hospital admissions worldwide due to a serious allergic reaction caused by food has more than tripled over a twenty-year period. Despite this, the death rate from food- induced anaphylaxis halved during the
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