Natick Panera Sued Over Serving Peanut Butter to Girl With Allergy

NATICK, MA — There is a TV ad that is all over the network stations these days in which a teenager eats a brownie at a party, and no one told her there was peanut butter in it. The girl's having a massive allergy attack, and the partygoers are scrambling to call 9-1-1. The commercial illustrates a growing concern about food allergies and the importance of not only awareness, but for servers to be alert and ultra-cautious about ingredients' effects.

A Natick family recently filed a suit alleging that a worker at Panera wasn't attentive to requests that no peanuts be included in their order, alleging that the restaurant served a grilled cheese sandwich with a dollop of peanut butter in it to their 6-year-old daughter, who was 5 at the time, with serious peanut allergies, reports the Boston Globe.

The family placed its order on Jan. 28 through the online ordering system to the Natick Panera, and noted in two places that the grilled cheese selection was for someone with a peanut allergy. Her dad, John Russo, told the Globe that his daughter was diagnosed with the allergy at 18 months and "have have been vigilant about explaining her condition at restaurants, and never leaving the house without an epinephrine pen in case of accidental exposure."

After the girl bit into the sandwich and realized there was peanut butter inside, her mom Elissa rushed her to the pediatrician, followed by a stay at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

A manager has apologized to the family and blamed the incident on a language barrier.

Filed in Middlesex County Superior Court, the lawsuit targets a group of Panera Bread Company's franchises, reports the St. Louis Business Journal, and the complaint reads that the company “engaged in unfair and deceptive business practices by adding peanut butter to the plaintiff’s grilled cheese sandwich knowing that [she] has a life-threatening peanut allergy.”

According to WebMD, a peanut allergy happens when the immune system mistakenly identifies peanuts as a harmful substance and "overacts," trying to protect it by releasing histamine and other chemicals into the blood. Symptoms can range from a runny nose and itchy eyes to a more severe, and life-threatening reaction called anaphylaxis.

On Panera Bread's site, on which the menu items contain a detailed list of ingredients and nutritional information, both the Classic Grilled Cheese and Kids Grilled Cheese sandwich do not list peanut butter as an ingredient, noting common allergens as wheat and milk.

Researchers estimate that as many as 15 million Americans have food allergies, with the disease affecting 1 in every 14 children, according to Food Allergy Research and Education, making that roughly two per classroom.

>>>Read the full Globe story here<<<

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