Food poisoning news - Woman who suffered allergic reaction might claim

Details

14th June 2012

A 22-year-old woman who suffered a severe allergic reaction in April 2011 after eating a piece of marble cake from a food fair in Hull may choose to make a personal injury claim for food poisoning.

Before purchasing the cake, the woman's mother had asked the stall holder if it contained any nuts. The stall holder replied that no nuts were used in the recipe and so her mother bought the product.

Later that day, when the 22-year-old returned home from university to visit her family, she took a bite of the cake and has since stated that she immediately felt her airways closing.

She says, "I was panicking inside, realising I was losing consciousness but I was trying to keep my mum calm."

The woman, who had left her Epi-Pen at her student accommodation in Bradford, was on life support for three days and narrowly avoided dying or suffering brain damage thanks to the quick response of Castle Hill Hospital staff upon her arrival.

An investigation by Trading Standards found that more than half of the cake was made up of peanuts.

The woman's father, who is a GP, stated, "What the company did was shocking. If we knew there was even a chance there could be a trace of peanuts in [the cake], we wouldn't touch it. But they categorically said there was no peanuts in it, so you trust that."

The firm was fined £7,500, and now that it has been found liable the woman may be able to make a personal injury claim for food poisoning with help from a solicitor.