In a brief statement put out on Twitter, Schlee wrote: ‘We are deeply sorry for Natasha’s death. We cannot begin to comprehend the pain her family have gone through and the grief they continue to feel.’
He also said that the sandwich chain would ‘learn from’ the tragic incident and make changes.
‘All of us at Pret want to see meaningful change from this tragedy. We will make sure that it does.’
Schlee’s words come following the inquest into the 15 year-old girl’s death that found Pret a Manger’s allergy labelling to be 'inadequate'. Ednan-Laperouse went into cardiac arrest after eating an artichoke, olive and tapenade baguette bought from an outlet of the sandwich chain at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5.
She was allergic to sesame but the inquest heard that Pret a Manger did not label its ‘artisan’ baguettes as containing sesame seeds.
Under current food regulations fresh food made on the premises that is not pre-packaged does not need to be individually labelled with allergen or ingredient information.
