A 42-year-old dental nurse from Wiltshire, England, Celia Marsh, was with her family, enjoying a shopping trip in Bath, England, last December 2017. The family stopped at a Pret a Manger restaurant chain for lunch.
Shortly after eating a “vegan” rainbow flatbread, they went shopping. While in the store, Celia told her husband that she was having difficulty breathing and was not feeling well. Hours later, she was dead.
According to her husband, Andy Marsh, they were looking through items inside a Gap store when it happened. Celia thought that what she was feeling was due to the cold weather. He tried to convince her to use her Epipen, just in case it was due to the wrap that she ate. Trusting that her previous meal was “vegan,” she told her husband that he was being “silly.” A few moments later, she told him to call an ambulance. Then she collapsed in front of her husband and three daughters on the street.
A crowd of curious spectators formed around her. A few people gave their jackets to warm her while there were also some who stepped over her while they continued on their way. Paramedics immediately brought Celia to the nearest hospital.
Andy arrived with his daughters at the hospital separately by car. At around 4 p.m., they were informed of Celia’s death.
The family was distraught by what happened. They shared that Celia had a previous near-death, allergic incident with marshmallows. This made her avoid all kinds of dairy “religiously,” making careful label checks and confirming if there are any allergens present before she consumed her meals.
An investigation uncovered that the wrap had small amounts of dairy protein in what was supposed to be non-dairy yogurt. Pret a Manger, which is present in 460 locations in the U.K. alone, promised to cooperate with the investigation. Initially, they were charged with food safety failures which resulted in Celia’s death, but the evidence was not enough so charges were dropped.
An inquest was held in September 2022, and the matter continues to be investigated to determine the restaurant chain or supplier’s responsibility.
Apparently, this was not the chain’s first time having such an incident. In 2016, 15-year-old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died due to a Pret a Manger baguette that contained sesame seeds, which she was allergic to. New laws were passed due to this incident, and now, all food sellers are required to indicate all ingredients in their food products, especially allergens.
