Allergic teen who died after eating burger at Byron did not know the chicken was marinated in buttermilk
The death of 18-year old Owen Carey, who died after eating a “skinny grilled chicken” burger and fries at Byron, a popular fast-food chain in the UK, took the country by storm last year in April 2017. His death’s inquest was held on Thursday, September 12, where the coroner ruled that the teenager had died of anaphylactic shock after eating the burger which was marinated in buttermilk. Carey was allergic to dairy among other things.
Assistant coroner Briony Ballard called Carey’s death a tragedy. “The deceased made serving staff aware of his allergies. The menu was reassuring in that it made no reference to any marinade or a potential allergenic ingredient in the food selected. The deceased was not informed that there were allergens in the order. The food served to and consumed by the deceased contained dairy which caused the deceased to suffer a severe anaphylactic reaction from which he died,” she added.
Carey, from East Sussex, who was studying for his A-levels, had gone out with his girlfriend to celebrate his 18th birthday on April 22, 2017. After visiting a Star Wars exhibition at the O2, the couple made a quick stop at Byron to ger some food. It was reported that Carey had informed the staff that he was severely allergic to dairy, nuts, and wheat, and the menu did not have any information which revealed that his order (skinny grilled chicken) contained any of those allergens.
The teenager had eaten half of his burger before collapsing in his girlfriend’s arms. Several people tried helping him, including a doctor, but there was no response. By the time the paramedics arrived and rushed him to the hospital, he had no pulse. He was soon pronounced dead.
After the tragedy, Carey’s family is lobbying for a new law- ‘Owen’s Law’- which would require all the food joints in the UK to display “clear allergen information on an individual dishes on their menus”. The deceased teenager’s sister Emma Kocher argued, “It is simply not good enough to have a policy which relies on verbal communication between the customer and their server … this leaves far too much room for error on an issue we know all too well can cost lives”.
Lawyers for Byron felt that there was a major loophole in the proposed “Owen’s Law”. They pointed out that it (Owen’s Law) would “give customers a false sense of security and stop them flagging their allergies verbally with staff — something that needs to happen in order for kitchen staff to be informed and proper processes to be carried out.”
Byron is one of Britain's most popular burger chains, with 35 restaurants in London and several others around the country. Its CEO Simon Wilkinson extended his "deepest condolences" to Carey's family in a statement. “We take allergies extremely seriously and have robust procedures in place,” he added.