A university student who was allergic to dairy products died after staff at a trendy burger restaurant said she’d be safe eating a chicken burger which had been cooked in buttermilk.
Shahida Shahid, 18, died in hospital on January 12 2015, three days after collapsing following a visit to Almost Famous Burgers in Manchester city centre.
The University of Manchester mathematics student died from ‘irreversible and unsurvivable’ brain damage.
Shahida Shahid, 18, died in hospital on January 12 2015, three days after collapsing following a visit to Almost Famous Burgers in Manchester city centre
A pre-inquest hearing, held in 2015, previously heard staff at Almost Famous advised Shahida that a chicken dish would be appropriate for her after she flagged up her allergies.
Police told that hearing the dish was thought to contain, or was cooked in, one of the ingredients Shahida was allergic to.
A full inquest opened this morning before Assistant Coroner Sally Hatfield QC at Manchester Coroner’s Court.
Outlining the details of the incident, Ms Hatfield told the court how Shahida had gone to the restaurant with four friends to celebrate their first term at university.
While at the restaurant, in the city’s Great Northern Warehouse shopping centre, Shahida ordered and ate a chicken burger which had been marinaded in buttermilk, the jury was told.
Paramedics were only called when she reached The Printworks, another shopping centre half a mile away.
The University of Manchester mathematics student died from ‘irreversible and unsurvivable’ brain damage
Giving evidence, Shahida’s older sister, Dr Sharma Shahid, told the inquest her sister developed eczema and an allergy to milk from an an early age, later becoming allergic to egg, fish and nuts.
When she was younger her eczema would flare up when she had a reaction but when she got older she would become sick, the inquest was told.
Dr Shahid said their mother was ‘extremely diligent’ in making sure Shahida did not consume products to which she was allergic and had a dairy-free diet.
Shahida, who was a keen Manchester United fan with a season ticket at Old Trafford, also had asthma.
Dr Shahid said her sister went out regularly and coped ‘quite successfully’ with her condition.
When Shahida went out for meals, she and her family would tell waiters about her allergies and also ‘double checked’ her food when it arrived.
Shahida would normally stick to chicken or meat as she knew this was safe and also made a point of asking if any meal she had ordered contained any ‘unnamed butter’, Dr Shahid added.
The inquest continues.
The 18-year-old university student collapsed after eating at the Almost Famous restaurant