Chef says he would not have served pizza if he'd known about allergy
A chef claims he would have refused a pizza order if he had known the customer had an allergy to peanuts.
James Atkinson had a severe allergic reaction shortly after eating a chicken tikka masala pizza from Dadyal Pizza, Newcastle. Despite ordering food from the premises previously, the 23 year old was unaware the restaurant had allegedly begun using peanut powder within the ingredients for making the pizza.
Today, chef Muhammad Iqbal, 69, told the inquest he had 30 years of experience and had taken an official food safety course about allergens. Coroner Karen Dilks asked him what he would do if an order contained a warning that the customer had a peanut allergy.
Speaking through an interpreter, he said: "I would have refused." Mrs Dilks asked if that was because the powder that was available that day to make the masala curry included peanuts. He replied: "Because if anybody has an allergy with peanuts, you cannot dispense the order."
The hearing previously heard that Mr Atkinson and two flatmates ordered three chicken tikka masala pizzas, chips and assorted Indian dishes on the Deliveroo app from the Dadyal restaurant in Howard Street, Newcastle.
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James was just 23 (MDM)The computer science graduate was known to have an allergy to peanuts and was "conscientious" about checking ingredients, according to his parents. The coroner was told he had searched the internet for likely ingredients in certain foods before placing the order.
The former Newcastle University student, originally from Leeds, was said to have eaten some chips and less than one slice of the pizza before he realised something was wrong as he became rapidly unwell. While his flatmate looked for his EpiPen, unsuccessfully, Mr Atkinson rang for an ambulance.
Craig Hassall KC, for the family, said that when the paramedics arrived, Mr Atkinson reportedly told them as he struggled to breathe that he was going to die. Home Office pathologist Dr Jennifer Bolton outlined the background to her inquiry into his death, and said Mr Atkinson was “gasping for air” when the ambulance crew arrived.
By the time he had been helped downstairs, he was assessed to have a Glasgow coma score of three, Dr Bolton said, and was “profoundly unconscious”. Mr Atkinson was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle at 8.40pm on July 10, 2020 and, despite the efforts of medics to resuscitate him, his death was confirmed at 9.21pm.
Family lawyer Thomas Jervis, Nadim Ednan-Laperouse, James' mum Jill and dad Stuart Atkinson with Jill Paterson family lawyer (Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)Toxicology tests showed he had no alcohol or other drugs in his system at the time and so his decision-making ability was not impaired, the inquest heard. Dr Bolton said Mr Atkinson was known to be “usually very good” at monitoring his allergies, having been diagnosed with a peanut allergy 10 years earlier.
The contents of his stomach were examined by an expert after his death and what were possibly nuts were found. Examination of the uneaten takeaway food also detected the presence of peanuts, as did analysis of a “nut mix” at the Dadyal restaurant in Newcastle which supplied it, Dr Bolton said. She gave the cause of death as anaphylaxis following peanut ingestion.
Coroner Karen Dilks asked Dr Bolton if the outcome would have been different had an EpiPen been found to use on Mr Atkinson.
The pathologist said: “Even with the appropriate use of an EpiPen, there’s no guarantee that an individual will survive, but it certainly increases your chances.”
When Dr Bolton answered Mr Hassall’s comment about Mr Atkinson saying he was going to die, she said: “He experienced his difficulty in breathing and he was becoming aware it was getting worse, (and) individuals do sometimes say ‘I am going to die’. Medically, that is taken very seriously. Everybody is still doing everything they can to stop that being the case, and, in fact, to prove the individual wrong.”
The inquest, expected to last two weeks, continues.
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