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A’s family Milk-Allergies Marigold who was allegedly killed by “dairy free” ready to eat Sandwich wins compensation payout of £1.25 million high court,
Dental nurse Celia Marsh, 42, collapsed and died after eating a Pret “vegan rainbow” flatbread sandwich while walking in Bath on a post-Christmas shopping trip with her husband and their three daughters in December 2017.
Mrs. Marsh, who was allergic to milk, thought coconut in sandwiches was a safe alternative to yogurt, but she did not know that it was contaminated with milk proteins.
Soon after eating the sandwich she began to feel unwell and collapsed – and despite the help of a first aider, the mother of five died in hospital after being taken to hospital in an ambulance.
Following the inquest into his death in 2022, Avon’s senior coroner, Maria Voisin, blamed contaminated sandwiches for his death, writing in her report: “A product that is marked ‘dairy-free’ should be free of dairy.”
Mrs Marsh’s husband, Andy, who described her as his “best friend”, lodged a compensation claim in the High Court on behalf of his family against the high street cafe chain and the product’s manufacturer, Planet Coconut Ltd.
After negotiations outside court, Mr Marsh has now agreed to settle the claim, with lawyers revealing in court yesterday that the family will receive a total of £1.25 million.
Asked to approve a portion of the settlement, the judge, Master Mark Gideon, was told that Pret would be responsible for 25 percent of the payout, while Planet Coconut’s insurers would be liable for the rest.
Mother-of-five Mrs Marsh, from Melksham, Wilts, died after a terrifying shopping trip with her husband Andy and their three daughters in Bath at Christmas 2017.
Her family said she went shopping in search of a lunch that was safe for her milk allergy, before settling on Pret’s “vegan rainbow” flatbread in Stoll Street.
The inquest heard she had “religiously avoided” dairy after a near-fatal experience months earlier, when she required 15 shots of adrenaline after suffering an allergic reaction.
Mrs. Marsh believed that her “vegetarian” lunch was safe, but its contamination with milk protein led to disaster, the coroner said in his report after the inquest.
“Investigations by Bath and North East Somerset Trading Standards and indeed others revealed a product wrapped in dairy, which was made by Planet Coconut and marketed as a dairy-free coconut yogurt alternative,” he said.
“The wrap contained a product that was marked as ‘dairy free coconut yogurt alternative’, but it still contained milk protein, which was the cause of Celia’s anaphylaxis.
“The contamination arose because an ingredient in yogurt called HG1 became contaminated with milk proteins during its manufacturing.
“The manufacturer of dairy-free yogurt had documentation that flagged this risk but this risk was not passed on to its customers.”
The inquiry revealed that within 15 minutes, she had an intense allergic reaction and within half an hour, she collapsed on the road.
Mrs Marsh gave herself an adrenaline shot with the EpiPen she always carried with her and a first aider passing by tried to help, but an ambulance took her to hospital, but by 4pm she was dead.
After the inquest, her eldest daughter, Ashley Grice, said that her mother lived in “constant fear” and religiously checked all food labeling – “often triple checking”.
Mr Marsh sued Pret and Planet Coconut over his wife’s death and after negotiations outside court, the parties reached a settlement of claim yesterday which was approved by a judge.
The family barrister, Hannah Noyes, told the judge that Pret and Planet Coconut had agreed to split liability for the payments, which totaled £1.25 million.
“Both defendants initially agreed to apportionment of liability on a 75/25 basis in favor of Pret, but Pret was unwilling to agree to terms that would make all the defendants jointly and severally liable,” she said.
“They wanted specific amounts to be agreed upon. It was agreed that Planet Coconut’s insurers should be made party to the agreement and that they should be jointly and severally liable for Planet Coconut’s share.”
The hearing, held via video link at the High Court in London, was for Master Giddens to approve a specific part of the agreement, which he said he was “satisfied with”.
Following Mrs Marsh’s death, the coroner published a special “Preventing future deaths” report, which called for the establishment of a system of recording cases of serious allergic reactions to provide “early warning” of “products with undeclared allergen content”.
The report also recommends a system of checks to ensure that food is labeled “free from” and “vegan”, resulting in the Food Standards Agency updating its labeling guidance.
