Curry House owner jailed 6 years for manslaughter for serving nuts

[Brian Fantana]

As someone with a peanut allergy, stories like this justify EXACTLY why I avoid indian and asian restauarants.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Exactly. Six years very very harsh in my opinion.

And where have all these fecking allergies suddenly appeared from? Never heard of nut allergies until a couple of decades back. How can such a thing suddenly appear? Is it like asthma which is much more prevalent now because houses are far too clean so kids don't get to adjust to everyday dust. Maybe babies need to be introduced to nuts early in life so their bodies can learn to deal with them?
[/I]

Perhaps they are becoming more prevalent, but it doesn't make them any less dangerous.

I've never had any issues whatsoever with food allergies. Then last year, I ate a handful of hazelnuts as I walked home from somewhere or other. Within minutes of starting to eat them, my mouth felt like it was on fire, my eyes were streaming, hives appeared all over my face, my skin was itchy, and my throat started to close up to the point where it felt rattly and wheezy to breathe. Never had anything like that before, and I confess I was beginning to get a little concerned, mainly with the breathing issue obviously.

I ditched the hazelnuts, downed some cold water and took an antihistamine tablet that I had at home for hay fever, and eventually it subsided.

Nothing like that has ever happened to me before, from eating any number of hazelnuts (usually covered in chocolate and coming in a purple Cadbury's wrapper, it should be said). I experimented again a few months later to see if it was a one-off, by eating another one, and the same symptoms started to appear again.

Clearly that's not anaphylaxis, and nothing compared to that poor man, but I can tell you it's a really unpleasant experience, and one that I intend to steer clear of in future. He asked specifically for a nut-free dish, and the restauranteur assured him that's what he was getting. It seems reasonable to trust somebody in those circumstances. The restauranteur lied for his own profit. No sympathy at all from me.

 

[gregbrighton]

Perhaps they are becoming more prevalent, but it doesn't make them any less dangerous.

I've never had any issues whatsoever with food allergies. Then last year, I ate a handful of hazelnuts as I walked home from somewhere or other. Within minutes of starting to eat them, my mouth felt like it was on fire, my eyes were streaming, hives appeared all over my face, my skin was itchy, and my throat started to close up to the point where it felt rattly and wheezy to breathe. Never had anything like that before, and I confess I was beginning to get a little concerned, mainly with the breathing issue obviously.

I ditched the hazelnuts, downed some cold water and took an antihistamine tablet that I had at home for hay fever, and eventually it subsided.

Nothing like that has ever happened to me before, from eating any number of hazelnuts (usually covered in chocolate and coming in a purple Cadbury's wrapper, it should be said). I experimented again a few months later to see if it was a one-off, by eating another one, and the same symptoms started to appear again.

Clearly that's not anaphylaxis, and nothing compared to that poor man, but I can tell you it's a really unpleasant experience, and one that I intend to steer clear of in future. He asked specifically for a nut-free dish, and the restauranteur assured him that's what he was getting. It seems reasonable to trust somebody in those circumstances. The restauranteur lied for his own profit. No sympathy at all from me.

Does Nutella give you the same reaction??

 

[BigGully]

I've had this at some Indians before - luckily I don't have a full on anaphylaxis response to peanuts but I will be rather hideously 'unwell' and fairly quickly. Seems like deliberate actions rather than accident on part of the owner and he deserves what he's got as a result.

Chinese restaurants are the worst for cross-contamination though. Even if they advertise peanut free dishes, they probably still sell satays.

Are you saying that if they advertise peanut free dishes, they should mean they do not sell ANY dishes with peanuts in due to the possibility of cross contamination ??

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

If you have an issue with nuts then best avoid the Brexiteers on the EU thread.

 

[Two Professors]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36360111

A very sad story. Poor management and taking short cuts cost a man his life. You really don't know what goes into the food in some of these places. May Mr. Zaman rot in jail.

Very sad,but the thread is hysterically funny in a sick way-were you the nut they served?

 

[Brian Fantana]

Very sad,but the thread is hysterically funny in a sick way-were you the nut they served?

This thread ain't particularly funny for those of us with a potentially life-threatening food allergy. It's a pretty sobering reminder of the consequences of what can happen when you get utter ***** running restaurants.

Personally, I don't think 6 years is long enough either.

 

[Cian]

Are you saying that if they advertise peanut free dishes, they should mean they do not sell ANY dishes with peanuts in due to the possibility of cross contamination ??

No, I'm saying they're incredibly bad at keeping stuff separate and sell stuff that uses vast amounts of peanuts.

 

[Steve in Japan]

We have food allergies in the family and I have had lots of conversations in restaurants about "is this gluten free, egg free". Most restaurants and cafes are very good about it and increasingly you will find they have "allergy menus" highlighting what allergenic products are in which dishes.

But push too hard and you can see the shutters go up. Because they are nervous of guaranteeing that there is zero trace of an allergen in a dish. In effect if you back the staff into a corner they will conclude that your business is not worth the potential hassle. I think it's possible that this trial will cause more restaurants to err on the side of caution, to not give assurances to customers and lose the business.

Of course, there are all sorts of allergic reactions and I feel for this chap who clearly suffered the worst possible reaction.

 

[Iovan The Sweeper]

Perhaps they are becoming more prevalent, but it doesn't make them any less dangerous.

I've never had any issues whatsoever with food allergies. Then last year, I ate a handful of hazelnuts as I walked home from somewhere or other. Within minutes of starting to eat them, my mouth felt like it was on fire, my eyes were streaming, hives appeared all over my face, my skin was itchy, and my throat started to close up to the point where it felt rattly and wheezy to breathe. Never had anything like that before, and I confess I was beginning to get a little concerned, mainly with the breathing issue obviously.

I ditched the hazelnuts, downed some cold water and took an antihistamine tablet that I had at home for hay fever, and eventually it subsided.

Nothing like that has ever happened to me before, from eating any number of hazelnuts (usually covered in chocolate and coming in a purple Cadbury's wrapper, it should be said). I experimented again a few months later to see if it was a one-off, by eating another one, and the same symptoms started to appear again.

Clearly that's not anaphylaxis, and nothing compared to that poor man, but I can tell you it's a really unpleasant experience, and one that I intend to steer clear of in future. He asked specifically for a nut-free dish, and the restauranteur assured him that's what he was getting. It seems reasonable to trust somebody in those circumstances. The restauranteur lied for his own profit. No sympathy at all from me.

Someone feel free to correct me, but I was told that any sort of breathing difficulties after eating tree nuts could be a sign of anaphylaxis (it affects people in very different ways, and you may get a reaction hours after eating nuts). Also allergies can develop at any time, even if you were fine eating the food before. Just to be on the safe side your GP should be able to refer you for an allergy test for all tree nuts. Anyway, the antihistamine was clearly a good move.