Pret's allergy policies 'all over the place', jury told

The student went into shock after eating the sandwich at the chain's SouthGate Centre store in Bath

Pret A Manger's policies on food allergens "were all over the place" when a student suffered a severe allergic reaction, a court heard.

Isobel Colnaghi went into shock and was rushed to hospital after eating sesame in a sandwich in November 2017.

Bristol Crown Court heard a staff member told Ms Colnaghi it was free of sesame after he looked at a label on the fridge she had taken it from.

Pret A Manger (Europe) Ltd denies a food safety charge.

The staff member at the company's branch at the SouthGate Centre, Bath, is alleged to have failed to check Pret's allergen guide, which would have flagged that the item did contain sesame.

Kate Brunner QC, prosecuting, said that Miss Colnaghi - who made a full recovery - should "never have felt the trauma of her throat closing up".

"Pret's policies, documents and training were all over the place," Ms Brunner said in her closing speech to the jury.

"What Pret has to prove is that they took all reasonable steps to make sure that staff actually looked at the allergen guide before giving information."

'Error by staff member'

The court heard the member of staff, Roberto Rodriguez, no longer works for Pret A Manger, has left the UK and solicitors have been unable to contact him since 2019.

Ms Brunner said Mr Rodriguez appeared to believe he was following the company's procedures during the incident.

But Jonathan Laidlaw QC, representing Pret A Manger, said staff were trained not to guess but to check the company's food allergen guide or ask the store manager.

"What was not being taught was to look at the shelf label for information," Mr Laidlaw told the jury.

"It is clear that never featured in the instructions. If that is what happened, that amounted to an error by the server - it is not a system failure."

The trial continues.