A man whose teenage son died from an allergic reaction in a London restaurant has slammed the government for failing to force restaurants to include allergens on menus.
Owen Carey died after eating dairy at a Byron burger restaurant at the 02 Arena in Greenwich in April 2017, where he was celebrating his 18th birthday.
Owen, from East Sussex, had told staff about his allergies, but was not aware that the grilled chicken breast he ordered was marinated in buttermilk.
He collapsed 45 minutes after eating the chicken, and was pronounced dead at St Thomas's Hospital later that afternoon.
Under the current law, restaurant staff can provide verbal information about allergens upon the customer's request.
Owen’s family have proposed Owen's Law, under which businesses would have an obligation to label the 14 regulated allergens on their menus with symbols, numbers or words.
They have been campaigning for nine years to change the law, but their calls have been ignored by successive governments.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has supported the campaign since December 2023, but this can only be done by the government by changing the Food Information Regulations of 2014. The Anaphylaxis UK charity also supports the campaign.
Paul Carey, Owen’s father, told the Daily Mail: “We'll never get Owen back. The only thing we can do is rest assured that it's far less likely to happen to anyone else.
“If you suffer from allergies, you live dangerously when you go out to eat in a restaurant. There are lots of other people out there who could die if they have the wrong thing in their food.
“The success for us would be knowing that we've done our bit to make sure it's not going to happen again. If it had been the case that the allergens were written down on the menu, Owen would still be with us today.”
Owen's family has now secured a meeting with Dame Angela Eagle, the Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs (Defra), on April 27, where they will again urge the government to change the law.
Mr Carey said he is hoping for the change to be implemented on or before April 22, 2027, which will mark ten years since his son died.
He added: “We still want to have this made a law, and it's only Defra that can make it into a law.
“This has been going on long enough. The FSA are behind all this - if your regulatory agency is behind doing it, why can't you just do it? That's the challenge we're trying to put towards the government.”
In 2019, a coroner ruled that Owen was not told about allergens that led to his death, having been assured that his chicken would be “plain grilled” and therefore safe for him to eat.
Carey was severely allergic to buttermilk, in which the chicken had been marinated, and he only ate a small amount before realising something was wrong.
The Owen's Law website states: “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.”
Byron has since updated its menu. What used to read “Chicken - choose yours grilled or fried” now reads “Chicken - marinated in buttermilk, choose yours grilled or fried”.
In a statement at the time, former Byron chief executive Simon Wilkinson said: “Even though this happened two years before I was employed by Byron, I have personally taken the responsibility to improve all allergen procedures... I am very supportive of any improvements or changes that can be made across the industry to prevent further tragic accidental deaths from occurring and will work with the family accordingly.”
The Standard has contacted Byron for any further comment.
