Pret accuses yogurt maker after second allergy death

PRET A MANGER has been accused of making “unfounded” statements about a second allergy death as a coconut yogurt firm denied its product was responsible.

Pret has alleged that it was “missold” a guaranteed dairy-free yogurt by a supplier, Coyo, which led to the death of a second customer in December after eating a “super-veg rainbow” flatbread.

The person, who has not been named, collapsed and died after purchasing the supposedly dairy-free wrap from a store in Bath. It was found to contain dairy protein.

The death reportedly triggered a national recall of the yogurt product in February, after the Food Standards Agency (FSA) investigated Coyo.

However, Coyo has denied that the recall was linked to the person’s death. A spokesman for Coyo said: “The claims by Pret are unfounded. The dairy-free product we provided to Pret in December 2017, at the time of this tragedy, is not linked to the product we recalled in February 2018.

“Pret’s inability to provide us with a batch code, despite several requests, has severely limited our ability to investigate this further.”

The latest death emerged as Pret was facing national scrutiny over the death of Natasha Ednan-laperouse. The 15-year-old collapsed on board a flight in 2016 after eating a Pret baguette that contained sesame, to which she was severely allergic.

Following the second death, Bath council alerted Pret to the incident and the chain said it then withdrew all affected products, ended its Coyo contract and launched legal action.

The Food Standards Agency investigated along with Bexley council in London, where Coyo is based, before it issued an allergy alert.

Pret announced last Wednesday that it would include full ingredient labelling on all of its products and the government is considering a law change after Natasha’s death.

A spokesman for Pret said: “Coyo, the dairy-free yogurt brand, which supplies supermarkets and shops across the UK, mis-sold to Pret a guaranteed dairy-free yogurt that was found to contain dairy protein.

“This is believed to have resulted in the tragic death of a customer from an allergic reaction in Dec 2017. As soon as Pret was made aware of this incident by Bath council, it withdrew all affected products. Subsequent testing by Pret and two independent authorities found the Coyo dairy-free yogurt contained traces of dairy protein.”