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Abroad

Veteran Member
A restaurant owner has appeared in court accused of the manslaughter of a customer with a peanut allergy, who died from anaphylactic shock.

Paul Wilson, 38, of Helperby, had an allergic reaction to a takeaway from the Indian Garden in Easingwold, North Yorkshire, on 30 January 2014.

[Mohammed Khalique Zaman, 52,] has been further charged with perverting the course of justice and an employment offence under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006.

North Yorkshire Trading Standards has served summonses on Mr Zaman for six offences under food regulations, the court was told.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-32455014
 
Was the restauranteur aware of the allergy and subsequently claim that the food would be prepared in a nut-free environment? Otherwise, I can't see this going this far. People with allergies are usually given that standard disclaimer of "we'll try to accommodate any dietary request, but can't promise anything, so eat at your own risk." I see this often on menus, especially at seafood places in regard to those with shellfish allergies. It's much like the warnings about the potential health hazards of eating raw or undercooked meats and eggs.

If I were at risk of anaphylaxis, I'd severely limit my dining out options and try to learn how to cook my restaurant favourites at home, where I know the food won't be contaminated with my allergen. Yes, it sucks, but I'd rather be alive than die from takeaway.
 
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Did the owner know the guy had a peanut allergy?

I'm having trouble understanding how it's the owner's fault. Is there a law in place that makes it so an owner is responsible for a diner who has an allergic reaction?

And, Azry posted faster than me:shifty:
 
I suspect he must have promised him something, or this case would not have been brought. I'll be very interested to hear what form it took, and whether he had eaten take-away from that restaurant before without ill effects.
 
I'd be especially cautious if the restauranteur and/or chef(s) were foreign. Language barriers and cultural differences could lead to a misunderstanding about the 86ed ingredient being a matter of preference versus a potentially fatal addition to the dish, and not everyone understands the potential severity of allergic reactions.

For example, while most Thai restauranteurs who have been operating in the US for some time are aware of peanut allergies, those who are "fresh off the boat" are generally unaware of the phenomenon, as peanut allergies are so rare as to be virtually nonexistent in Thailand even though peanuts are a dietary staple there. It's just not a thing in Thailand.

Takeaway is also probably riskier than dine-in, as the haste with which the dishes are prepared leads to many sauces and bases being pre-prepared and steam-tabled until use, instead of taking the time to make an individual portion from near-scratch. We want our takeaway ready now, and the rush for instant customer gratification might mean a bit less care taken by a harried line cook who might not have understood the special request made in what is often a foreign language.
 
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It will be interesting to see more facts in this because it seems like something hard to prove. I think the key point is "perverting the course of justice" which could be due to fabricating or disposing of evidence or intimidating a witness. It is possible that the restaurant owner lied about ingredients after the man's death or ordered an employee to lie. (Maybe threatening an employee with an illegal immigrant status.)
 
A restaurant owner accused of killing a customer who died from an allergic reaction to a curry "put profit before safety", a court has heard.

Paul Wilson, 38, suffered a severe anaphylactic shock in January 2014 after eating a takeaway from the Indian Garden in Easingwold, North Yorkshire.

Mohammed Zaman, 52, of Aylesham Court, Huntington, denies manslaughter.

The restaurant boss "cut corners at every turn", Teesside Crown Court heard.

When Mr Wilson ordered a takeaway meal from the restaurant, he had made it clear it must be nut-free, the jury heard.

The court was told "no nuts" was written on the order chit and on the lid of the curry he took to his home in Helperby, near Thirsk.

He was found dead later the same evening.

A week before Mr Wilson's death, Mr Wright said, a trading standards officer found evidence of peanuts in another meal which was said to have been peanut-free, and discovered a box labelled blanched ground peanut in the kitchen of Mr Zaman's Jaipur Spice restaurant in Easingwold.

The officer told staff all customers must be informed chefs were using peanuts, the court heard.

"Mohammed Zaman received numerous warnings that he was putting his customers' health, and potentially their lives, at risk," Mr Wright said.

"Tragically for Paul Wilson, Mohammed Zaman took none of those opportunities and ignored all of the warnings he was given."

Mr Zaman has also pleaded not guilty to perverting the course of justice by forging a food safety training certificate, an immigration offence relating to the employee who served the contaminated meal, and food safety offences.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-36248467
 
What a dick. Like seriously is it worth it in the end to not abide by health safety rules? Not now that he's facing court and fines and all. We know who won't be cooking in the prison kitchen that's for sure.
 
Not to mention who the hell runs the family business now and forges all the illegal documents for the undocumented family workers that he has no idea how they got here o_O Like the one with the forged FOOD SAFETY TRAINING CERTIFICATE that killed this guy!? I mean wtf!? Seriously??:mad:
 
While the owner sounds like he's in the wrong, I can't help but think mr. Wilson also made a bad decision. Just because you tell some company over the phone 'no peanuts' doesn't mean they understand you are so allergic to them you could die, rather than suffer some discomfort. In a time where people claim 'gluten allergy' because they ate a sandwhich once and felt bad after, allergies aren't always taken seriously. Why risk it all for some shitty take-out? Just get a pizza or something...
 
I have to agree with @Dutchesse

With a raging, life threatening peanut allergy, where's your Epi-pen (or whatever the brand name is overseas)?

If it is that severe, wouldn't you carry one of those everywhere? I can't imagine trusting some takeout joint with my life.

Not victim blaming, btw! I'm just saying. Lots of times those restaurants are staffed by teens who don't care or people who don't even speak the native language.

It's a sad situation all around, certainly a needless death. :(
 
If the peanut allergy was not known about, how can the proprietor be in trouble?
This is retardedly nuts...peanuts.
 
If the peanut allergy was not known about, how can the proprietor be in trouble?
This is retardedly nuts...peanuts.

It was known about. Mr Wilson told the restaurant when he ordered. They recorded that there should be no nuts in his food and marked the food they supplied to him with "no nuts" on the lid.

The proprietor is in trouble because he was repeatedly warned that he was putting lives at risk with his choice of ingredients and food handling even as late as the week before Mr Wilson's death. What the place should have had was a warning saying "the food in these premises are made in a kitchen that uses nuts"; but that would have meant turning business away, so they didn't......
 
While the owner sounds like he's in the wrong, I can't help but think mr. Wilson also made a bad decision. Just because you tell some company over the phone 'no peanuts' doesn't mean they understand you are so allergic to them you could die, rather than suffer some discomfort. In a time where people claim 'gluten allergy' because they ate a sandwhich once and felt bad after, allergies aren't always taken seriously. Why risk it all for some shitty take-out? Just get a pizza or something...

If you aren't going to take allergies seriously, you shouldn't be in the food business. There's no excuses here.
This man was a professional restranteer. He should know about the dangers inherent to peanuts, especially when a customer voices them to him.
 
:finger::finger:
I have to agree with @Dutchesse

With a raging, life threatening peanut allergy, where's your Epi-pen (or whatever the brand name is overseas)?

If it is that severe, wouldn't you carry one of those everywhere? I can't imagine trusting some takeout joint with my life.

Not victim blaming, btw! I'm just saying. Lots of times those restaurants are staffed by teens who don't care or people who don't even speak the native language.

It's a sad situation all around, certainly a needless death. :(
I carry an epi 24/7 - if you have ONE very specific allergy you are ALWAYS at risk! You are also ALWAYS at risk for NEW allergies - my fucking luck it's five o'clock traffic on a convention weekend:finger:
 
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The update information provided by @Abroad changes my view.

Ordinarily, I'd sy the ultimate responsibility lies with the victim, but given the restaurateur didn't make even what seems to be the slightest attempt to accommodate the victims needs - and is up to his ears in trouble with his business and food safety standards to begin with, well...

All that aside, I would have thought if you have an allergy which is literally life threatening - you just wouldn't risk ordering food made by a restaurant. Especially a cuisine that is known to regular contain nuts.

With an allergy that bad, all it'd take would be a chef accidentally stirring the wrong pot with the wrong spoon, or a single piece of chopped nut falling into the wrong place.

As a person with such a dire medical condition, trusting a busy kitchen to follow the rules to a tee - whilst they may be the legal rules aside, - is dicing with your death, as this poor guy found out.
 
A "reckless" restaurant owner has been jailed for six years for the manslaughter of a customer who had an allergic reaction to a curry.

In what is thought to be a landmark trial, Zaman, of Aylesham Court, Huntington, denied he was responsible but a jury was told he switched almond powder for a cheaper ground nut mix, which contained peanuts.

Mr Wilson, a bar manager from Helperby, North Yorkshire, specified "no nuts" when he ordered a chicken tikka masala - an instruction which was written on his order and on the lid of his takeaway, the court heard.

He died three weeks after a different customer with a peanut allergy bought a meal from one of Mr Zaman's six restaurants and had a reaction requiring hospital treatment.

The restaurateur had a "reckless and cavalier attitude to risk" and "put profit before safety" at all his outlets, the jury was told.

Zaman was almost £300,000 in debt and cut costs by using the cheaper nut powder and by employing untrained, illegal workers, the court heard.

Sentencing him, Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, said Zaman had remained "in complete and utter denial" and ignored warnings from officials after 17-year-old Ruby Scott suffered a reaction to a curry, three weeks before Mr Wilson's death.

He said he had thrown away his successful business and property portfolio worth £2m "in pursuit of profit".

Paul Wilson asked for a nut-free takeaway and tried to make himself sick when he realised he hadn't got what he ordered.

But it was too late. The anaphylactic shock killed him.

Zaman claimed he left managers to run his restaurants and that included ordering stock and hiring staff, telling jurors he was not on the premises when the curry was ordered.

Until his conviction, the restaurateur had "the immigrant story to which everyone should aspire", his barrister Alistair Webster QC had said in court.

Zaman was born in Bangladesh and came to the UK aged 15. He started working for his uncle in the restaurant business, finally owning six himself in York and North Yorkshire.

His restaurants won local business honours and acclaim from the British Catering Association and the British Curry Awards, the jury heard.

The father-of-four was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence and six food safety offences. He was cleared of a charge of perverting the course of justice.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36360111
 
The restaurant whose owner has been jailed for the manslaughter of a customer has sent an email to customers entitled 'our apology', which goes on to promote a new dessert range.

Mohammed Zaman was jailed for six years in May for the manslaughter of Paul Wilson, who died of a nut allergy after eating a takeaway from the Indian Garden restaurant in Easingwold, North Yorkshire.

Wilson, 38, had a lifelong allergy to nuts and requested a nut-free curry, but was given a chicken tikka massala containing groundnut powder. He died of anaphylactic shock moments after eating it.

The email, sent by Emraz Zaman, apologises for "heavy press" and calls the owner's six-year jail sentence over Mr Wilson's death "somewhat disappointing."

It then goes on to promote the restaurant's 'Saturday Special' lassis.
http://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/2016-06-09/tasteless-dessert-plug-follows-apology-for-nut-death/
 
My SO has an allergy to soy , strawberries and laytex. We don't eat at Asian restaurants period. Any restaurant we go to we always ask to see the gloves used in the kitchen since many restaurants here in Fl use them in the kitchen. We found out the hard way that they due. Once you administer the Epi Pen you fo to the ER.
 
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