A 20-year-woman has died after eating “vegan” tiramisu on a rare meal out with a friend.
Anna Bellisario had been diagnosed with a severe milk allergy when she was just three months old and her mother said she had always exercised extreme caution with her diet.
On a rare meal out with her boyfriend in a fast food restaurant in the centre of Milan, Italy, she tried a new dessert – but despite checking the ingredients she suffered an allergic reaction that killed her on February 5 last year.
Now the owners of Glg srl which is the company producing ‘Tiramisun’ under the Mascherpa brand have been banned from business activity as part of a manslaughter investigation.
An investigation by the Milan Prosecutor’s Office revealed that there were “multiple critical issues in the production of tiramisu” and that mascarpone was present in the dessert as an ingredient.
It added “multiple critical issues emerged in order to production procedures, staff training, as well as the prevention, elimination and/or reduction of dangers that had a causal effect in determining the event”.
Her mum told investigators: “My daughter was strongly allergic to dairy products and much less, very little, to eggs.”
Her boyfriend told the police officers Anna had “carefully studied the tiramisu label and at the same time had asked for and examined the list of allergens”.
More accounts from friends and classmates were also given to investigators.
It said the family “haven’t bought milk, cheese or any kind of milk derivative at home for years” and “the risk of contamination, even minimal, is too high”.
One friend said: “Anna was very careful, when we went out, maybe for lunch on university days, Anna never came, and she went out very rarely for dinner, only to restaurants that she checked very carefully.
“Asking for food guarantees for her was not just a matter of scruples, but a matter of survival”.
After tasting the dessert Anna ran to the bathroom and tried to vomit.
She then took asthma medicine and cortisone to try and combat the anaphylactic shock that blocked her breathing.
Unfortunately she did not have adrenaline which is a more complicated drug to manage – but was attended to by an ambulance within minutes.
The mother and son who ran the pastry laboratory that supplied the restaurant – which was not involved in the case – are now under investigation for manslaughter.
Express.co.uk has approached Glg srl for comment.
