Restaurant Manslaughter Convictions UK

[liuzhou]

The owner and manager of an Indian take away restaurant in the UK have been found guilty of manslaughter after a young woman died from an allergic reaction to their food.

 

In English law this comes under the definition of gross negligence manslaughter where
 

Quote

1. the defendant owed a duty to the deceased to take care;
2. the defendant breached this duty;
3. the breach caused the death of the deceased; and
4. the defendant's negligence was gross, that is, it showed such a disregard for the life and safety of others as to amount to a crime and deserve punishment.

 

The full story is here. Sentencing will be on November 7th..

Edited October 27, 2018 by liuzhou (log)

[Lisa Shock]

That restaurant was terribly mismanaged. Filthy, vermin-infested, no written recipes, no effort to eliminate cross-contamination, and apparently nothing like a HACCP plan. It's horrible that they weren't shut down by the inspectors before they killed that girl. I have no sympathy for the restaurant at all, it was just a matter of time before they killed someone from allergies or foodborne illness.

[Tri2Cook]

If I win the lottery and for some insane reason decide to use some of the money to open my own restaurant (and I truly hope if that happens, a good friend reaches back into last week and slaps me into next week so I come to my senses before I do something that crazy ), there will be a big sign on the door that says "we do not accommodate food allergies or intolerances, we will not alter anything we serve in order to attempt to accommodate said allergies or intolerances and we do not guarantee your safety if you choose to ignore this warning... by placing an order, you agree that you understand and accept these conditions and anything that occurs as a result of eating here related to food allergies and intolerances is therefore your own problem".

[gfweb]

Taking nothing away from the guilt of the restaurant ...if I had a lethal allergy there is no way I'd trust some random numbnut to make my food. 

[chromedome]

I had a woman and her mom come into my kitchen one day to ask whether I could accommodate a seafood allergy, given that my menu was pretty seafood-centric. Hubby had life-threatening allergies to shellfish and fin fish, and had not brought an epi-pen with him (!!??). I showed them my setup, and assured them that I could prepare uncontaminated food for him as long as they advised the server when they sat down that they were *that* table.

 

So what did they order? Wife and mother-in-law both ordered the lobster bisque and seafood appetizers, followed by fish entrees.

 

I couldn't help but wonder if poor hubby had recently bought life insurance...

[Tri2Cook]

2 hours ago, gfweb said:

Taking nothing away from the guilt of the restaurant ...if I had a lethal allergy there is no way I'd trust some random numbnut to make my food. 

Yeah, that was basically what I meant with my long-winded post. I don't remember all of the details of this but if they said something wasn't in the food that was in the food when asked about it by somebody with an allergy, there is definitely some guilt on their part. I once took a stab at being accommodating for a catering job. The guest of honor at the dinner had specific allergies. Not life-threatening but capable of causing severe reactions. I spent a great deal of time researching, planning and preparing a menu geared towards her needs. She was happy. But the people throwing the dinner for her were not. They complained about the adjustments made to the way some of the dishes were prepared to accommodate the allergies... which is exactly what they asked for. So I would put up my sign and instruct all staff that the correct answer to "I'm allergic to (whatever), is it in this dish?" is "Maybe... you feeling lucky?".  

[chromedome]

Wow...those UK restaurateurs have definitely been "seen and raised."

https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/9k7ena/a-vegetarian-chef-killed-a-customer-and-then-served-him-to-other-customers

[chromedome]

That article has now been retracted. Apparently the lurid early version of the tale was not accurate.