Mock Trail Food Allergy Prosecution Experience
Published: 16th May 2023
Major Care Home Chain causes severe anaphylactic reaction!
This could easily be your care home!
Do you want to see your business named in a similar headline?
It is the worst nightmare for any business to have their reputation ruined for the wrong reason! Especially when it could have been preventable.
No care home plans to cause an allergic reaction to their customers, but it’s something you should seriously consider within your risk assessment planning.
Food Business Operations (FBO) should review EVERY aspect of safety within their business and consider worse case scenario’s which could cause fatalities or serious reactions.
Just recently, a colleague who is allergic to one of the more common food allergens, attended a dinner. The hotel stated at each stage of the planning (in writing weeks before and on the day in person) about their allergy, with a real focus on the seriousness/severity (i.e. possibly fatal). They were assured that their food was 'safe' from the allergen and the venue was 'well aware of their situation’.
Unfortunately, they had a very severe reaction, with EPIPEN adrenaline medication being administered together with CPR within minutes of the anaphylactic shock (on the floor of the location, mere yards from the dinner table). Fortunately, they survived, albeit after an immediate hospital admission. Two months on they are still experiencing serious physical and mental effects from the anaphylactic reaction.
Questions are asked, was there a policy? were staff trained? If these questions were answered as yes, where did it go wrong and where could it go wrong for your business?
Could this scenario happen in your business? What processes do you have in place? Are staff trained? Can customers and staff easily identify safe meals and potential cross contamination? Every Food business should have gateways throughout their processes, as confirmations that the written procedures are working. Alongside processes and procedures, near miss reporting can flag areas that need updating, changing and improving and prevent a serious incident from occurring.
Food Allergy Aware is offering your staff the opportunity to participate in a Mock Trial Food Allergy Prosecution Experience on Tuesday 26 September at the Heart of England Conference Centre.
“I wish that I never needed to visit any food service establishments to conduct food allergy training and that restaurants were totally safe for those with allergies, but we continually hear about mistakes, bad practice and companies who are not aware of the risks. Until food allergies are taken seriously everywhere we will continue to raise awareness, train, and educate.
Participating in the mock trial really brings home all the areas where mistakes can happen!
Caroline Benjamin, Director - Food Allergy Aware
The attendees at the event will participate as the jury and decide the outcomes and sentencing for the defendant using Health and Safety Corporate Manslaughter Food Safety and Hygiene definitive guideline. You will hear from the legal team, including Tom Walker at Blake Morgan for the prosecution, and Stuart Jessop for the defence, on a scenario based in a hotel restaurant where a catalogue of issues should have set alarm bells ringing. Our Judge will summarise and guide the jury to the appropriate sentencing levels.
Who should attend?
Management responsible for the food and beverage, food safety. Executive and Head Chefs responsible for creating menus and purchasing. Health and safety managers responsible for group provision of allergen management and Local Authorities EHOs & TSO’s. The mix of attendees leads to proactive discussions on allergen management from all sectors of the hospitality industry.
In addition you will hear from speakers on a range of topics including Belinda Stuart-Moonlight, expert witness in the recent Celia Marsh inquest relating to Planet Coconut and Pret-a-Manger, Celia was severely allergic to milk and was served a vegan wrap labelled as containing dairy free yoghurt causing a fatal allergic reaction leading to her death. Hear about the lessons learnt.
We will also hear from Iain Ferris and expert in Environmental Health presenting on Improvement Notices, we will have an update on what’s to come for the Food Hypersensitive [FHS] Customer, Ben Rayner of Food Standards Agency, Cressida Langlands on the buying habits of the FHS customer. Case studies from Dominic Teague of One Aldwych, the USP of the FHS customer and Jackie McPeake of Hospitality Allergen Support UK who will cover Near Misses and how reporting them is a good preventative measure.
Finally, you will hear the Personal Victim Statement of Ruth Holroyd, who experienced a very serious anaphylactic rection resulting in a stay in intensive care. She went through all the sensible checks and precautions, yet the absence of key staff meant disastrous mistakes were made.
Hear what previous attendees have said.
Previous events have been hailed “As the best Training ever attended” and “The opportunity to gain understanding of the legal proceedings that are conducted against the individual vs. an organization following a charge.”
Testimonials
“I really enjoyed the mock trial - definitely the best part of the day. I enjoyed how realistic they made the trial feel - I really bought into it.”
“The whole Trial rammed home what can happen if process is not followed.”
“I thought the event was excellent, Food Allergy Aware took an important but extremely challenging concept and alongside Blake Morgan, executed it superbly. The result was an incredibly informative and compelling conference”
Tom Treverton Director F2F
“Excellent training, the mock trial was brilliant, and as someone who has attended court on behalf of Trading Standards, very realistic & great 'performances' by both barristers and the judge. I found all of the course content engaging and interesting. “
To find out more and book your place, visit our event website:
Mock Food Allergy Trial 2023 - https://foodallergyaware.co.uk/events/mock-trial-a-sentencing-hearing-in-a-food-allergy-mock-prosecution-case/
To download the event flyer - https://foodallergyaware.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/flyer-advert-pdf.pdf
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