In Chicago, the parents of a seventh-grade student whose death was caused by an allergic reaction to peanuts has sued the restaurant that provided the food. 13-year-old Katelyn Carlson died last year following a school party in which she ate food provided by a Chinese restaurant. The parents have filed a wrongful-death suit against the restaurant. According to the Chicago Tribune, they claim that their daughter's teacher told the restaurant not to serve any dish containing peanut products (http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-03-18/news/ct-met-peanut-allergy...).
The family's attorney, Gil Ross, said that school officials had been aware of the girl's severe peanut allergies. According to the lawsuit, Carlson's teacher Jack Matsumoto spoke to the employees of the Chinese Inn Restaurant in advance of the party. He allegedly asked them to avoid peanut products, including any oils or sauces that might contain peanuts, while preparing the meals served to students at the Edison Regional Gifted Center.
Ross said "The school has advised us that they placed an order for Chinese food as a end-of-the-year party for a class of gifted children and that the restaurant had been advised that there were children who had food allergies, including peanut allergies, and that there should be no foods provided that had peanut products," Ross said.
Despite this advisory, one of the dishes served that day did contain peanuts, and seventh grader Katelyn Carlson suffered a fatal allergic reaction.
Should the restaurant be held liable for inadvertently serving peanut products to an allergic child?
What a shame. Chineese/Asian
What a shame.
Chineese/Asian restaurants are completely forbidden to my daughter. Cross contamination is 100% guarunteed in these establishments.
So many people do not educate their peanut allergic kids properly. What a shame
I avoid Asian restaurants
I avoid Asian restaurants like the plague because of our peanut and tree nut allergies. The risk for cross-contamination at these types of restaurants are far too high, at least at the moment. Also, because these places tend to hire individuals who are from the region of the food they are preparing, there is also a language barrier most of the time. Having to explain this to someone who isn't entirely fluent in English makes me far too nervous to try and order the food.
I wonder if this was an issue for this family, or if it's just a coincidence that it was a Chinese restaurant.
I love Chinese food. I miss Chinese food. But I'd rather not take the risk personally.
I completely agree with the
I completely agree with the previous writer and could not have said it better. It is definitely the fault of the restaurant. The parents and teacher did what they could but unfortunately it did not have the proper results.
First and foremost, my heart
First and foremost, my heart goes out to the family of this poor girl. Absolutely this restaurant should be liable for this terrible tragedy. I am surprised it has taken this long for parents to take legal action against negligent food companies and restaurants.
Food service employees need to understand that when food allergic customers request a meal without a certain ingredient it is not simply because of preference but for some a matter of life and death, as was the case with young Katelyn.
It's as simple as this: if an ingredient, particularly the top 8 allergens, is not part of the recipe or formulation of a food or food product, it has no business coming in contact with that food. This includes cross-contamination from shared utensils and/or preparation areas used to prepare allergen containing foods.
I hope the court sides with the parents on this issue and sends a strong message to the restaurant industry that their negligence can cost them their business but most importantly have deadly consequences.