The UK Parliament debate on Owen’s Law & an Allergy Tsar
On the 15th of May, the UK government will be taking a big step forward - debating both Owen’s Law and the need for an Allergy Tsar. This comes after years of hard-fought campaign work by both bereaved families.
But who are Owen and Natasha, what happened to them and why is change needed?
Owens law
Owen Carey was a young man who lived with multiple severe allergies and asthma. He collapsed and died due to an extremely severe allergic reaction after eating grilled chicken coated in buttermilk at a Byron restaurant in April 2017.
The teenager, who had been out celebrating his 18th birthday, had told staff at the Byron restaurant in the 02 Arena that he was allergic to dairy. Still, he was not told buttermilk was included in the dish, and it wasn’t detailed on the menu.
Owen Carey was just 18 when he was tragically killed by anaphylaxis. (Image source)
An inquest in 2019 revealed that Owen had been misled into thinking his meal had no allergens. Byron has never admitted fault. Detailing the incident, the Owen’s Law campaign website wrote:
“For lunch that day, Owen ordered a grilled chicken burger at a Byron Burger restaurant, which, having explained his allergies to the server and having no other information on the menu to the contrary, he was assured would be ‘plain grilled’ and therefore safe for him to eat. However, the chicken had in fact been marinated in buttermilk, to which Owen was highly allergic. He only ate a small amount as he could tell immediately that something was wrong.
His breathing became more and more restricted and he was using his asthma inhaler constantly as he and his girlfriend journeyed to London’s South Bank for what was supposed to be the second half of Owen’s celebratory day.
Forty-five minutes later, having arrived at the London Eye, Owen collapsed, having suffered a massive anaphylactic reaction. Paramedics and a team at St Thomas’ Hospital tried everything they could, but were unable to resuscitate him.”
Recently, Owen’s father, Paul Carey, was interviewed by Daniel Kelly on the May Contain podcast. He discussed the entire horrifying ordeal of losing his son, battling legislation, and the lacklustre response that has been seen from Byron Burger and the hospitality industry as a whole.
23 minutes into the interview, Paul mentions how Owen didn’t have his adrenaline pens or inhaler on him when he was having his reaction.
At this time, Paul states how he’s “aware there’s a campaign to have EpiPens just like we have defibrillators in public locations”. Paul goes on to mention that adrenaline pens “have a shelf life so there needs to be a system to replace them”, which of course is a big problem many individuals and schools face with adrenaline pens, and exactly why we provide an automated replenishment service with our Anaphylaxis Kitts - they’re ‘just like a defibrillator, but for allergies’.
Owen Carey's mother Moira, sister Emma Kocher and father Paul Carey, outside Southwark Coroner's Court following the ruling that he was misled. (Image source)
Owen’s family have been campaigning ever since his death in 2017, demanding to see a change in the law that compels restaurants to state the allergens in their dishes, specifically on the face of the main menu.
This simple change would eliminate the risk that exists at the point of order when a waiter does not fully understand or is not trained enough to process, or ignores the customer’s concerns about allergens in each dish.
The petition that Owen’s Law set up when they launched our campaign in 2021 has finally been selected for debate in Parliament. The debate is scheduled for Monday 15th May 2023 (the day this blog is being published)
You can see the details for the Owen’s Law petition here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/585304.
Allergy Tsar
On a separate but connected note, the debate in parliament will be joined by Natasha’s Allergy Research Foundation (NARF), a charity created by the parents of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse - a 15-year-old girl who also tragically died as a result of her severe allergies.
Most of us already know the story - which is all due to the incredible campaign work that’s been done by the family.
In July 2016, Natasha, who was highly allergic to sesame, bought an artichoke, olive and tapenade baguette from a Pret store at Heathrow Airport. It did not have any allergen advice on its wrapper because, as it was made on the premises, it was not required by law. Specifically, it didn’t mention that it was made with sesame seeds, which Natasha was allergic to.
Natasha pictured her with her friend, just minutes before her fatal reaction took place. (Image source)
The NARF website details the incident and its campaign:
“On 17th July 2016 Natasha died from eating sesame seeds that were baked into the dough of a baguette. The label on the packaging didn’t include this ingredient and they were invisible to the naked eye. She was on a British Airways plane and had no way of receiving the urgent medical care that she so urgently needed. On that day her life ended and ours changed forever in ways we could never have imagined possible.
Our journey to the implementation of Natasha’s law started following her inquest in September 2018 when we were first made aware of the legal loophole in the food law that meant prepackaged foods made and sold on the same premises didn’t have to list their ingredients.”
The Coroner, Dr Sean Cummings, made his directive to the Environment Secretary Michael Gove, stating explicitly:
“In my opinion, there is a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken.”
As a result of this horrific incident, Natasha’s parents - Nadim and Tanya - campaigned for the UK government to change the law to include essential allergen labelling.
They were successful (along with the help of their now huge community of supporters named ‘Natasha’s Army’) and in October 2021 ‘Natasha’s Law’ came into force.
As the Food Standards Agency puts it, “Any business that produces prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food is required to label it with the name of the food and a full ingredients list, with allergenic ingredients emphasised within the list. This labelling helps protect your consumers by providing potentially life-saving allergen information on the packaging.”
For reference, prepacked for direct sale or PPDS is food that is packaged at the same place it is offered or sold to consumers and is in this packaging before it is ordered or selected. It can include food that consumers select themselves (e.g. from a display unit), as well as products kept behind a counter and some food sold at mobile or temporary outlets.
Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, with their son Alex holding a portrait of Natasha, in 2018. (Image source)
Now, NARF is campaigning to appoint an Allergy Tsar as a champion for people living with allergies in the UK:
“The Government should appoint an Allergy Tsar to act as a champion for people with allergies to ensure they receive appropriate support and joined up health care to prevent avoidable deaths and ill health.”
They published a public petition on the government website which by the time of closing in January 2022 had received over 20,000 signatures. As a result, parliament will debate this petition on 15 May 2023.
Their campaign calls for an Allergy Tsar to:
Act as a public champion to tackle the allergy epidemic now.
Advocate for an increase in the number of specialist allergy clinics, as part of both children and adult services – one in every part of the country.
Work with the Government to achieve mandatory reporting of all anaphylaxis events presented to hospitals, to support the comprehensive investigation of fatal and near-fatal anaphylaxis events.
Work with stakeholders to better align primary care and hospital allergy services so that patients have a coherent NHS care pathway.
Advocate for more specialist allergy doctors and consultants, and mandatory training in allergies for all GPs.
You can see the details for the Allergy Tsar petition here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/589716
The joint debate takes place at 4:30 pm on Monday 15th May. To watch online, go to the UK Parliament YouTube channel.
On behalf of all of us at Kitt Medical, seeing all this action, this passion for change, this acceptance to begin tackling the wider issues around allergies by the government - it’s a very exciting and rewarding thing.
Zak Marks (right) and James Cohen (left), co-founders of Kitt Medical.
And as someone with allergies myself (Zak) - it’s incredibly inspiring to think about what the families of both Owen and Natasha have been through, and how they’ve turned that grief and trauma into action to create lasting change and betterment for the lives of millions of people.
To find out more about Owen’s story and Owen’s law, visit owens-law.co.uk
To find out more about Natasha’s story and NARF, visit narf.org.uk
