We’ve come a long way, baby…or have we?
A few days ago, a stenographer at a deposition mentioned she had transcribed depositions in the Bertucci case years ago. In that case, Katherine Brodsky, aged 17, died in 1986 from eating chili that unknowingly had peanut butter added. Here is a link to the story. This was one of the first allergy deaths that people (at least those in the Boston-area) had known about. When my son received his food allergy diagnosis in 2001, this story was commonly shared with me as a cautionary example. In fact, it was frequently referenced by allergists during presentations to my local support group and at doctor’s visits.
When I first heard the story in the early 2000s, I thought it was frightening and assumed restaurants had improved since then. Well, here I am in 2025, after specializing in allergy cases for more than 10 years, and I can say that things are better but not perfect. Why? Many states have laws that require staff in restaurants to have allergy training. There are now wonderful training programs like Menutrinfo that many restaurants use to educate their staff. But many do not. And when they do not, I see the tragic results.
I've collected a list of poor excuses/defenses restaurants have given for not being responsible when they serve customers their allergens. These are examples of restaurants that still today “don’t get it.” The craziest defense was that my 5 year old client had “misused the burrito” she was eating. The second on the list is the restaurant owner who testified that my client should have stopped in the middle of vomiting in the bathroom during her anaphylactic reaction and collected the vomit to take to the hospital for testing! I have had restaurant owners talk about customers who almost died in their restaurant as extortionists. One restaurant called a reaction that required two Epipens a “hiccup in an otherwise normal day of service.” I had a trained chef in a nationally known chain who could not name the top 9 food allergens and didn’t even say that nuts (which were the cause of the reaction in the case) were an allergen. One restaurant said that my young client had asked to be served her allergen. I could go on and on.
The stenographer unfortunately couldn’t remember many details of the Bertucci’s case, but the death of the young woman made a lasting impression on her and me. Sadly, another young woman recently passed at a Massachusetts restaurant from milk in a pizza (I am advising the lawyers on that case). Partly because of having heard the Bertucci’s story, I now aim to make restaurants more allergy friendly through my work. I have required restaurants to be trained as part of settlement agreements and have had restaurants make charitable donations to food allergy non-profits. I also worked on restaurant guidance documents which are part of the U.S. food code. I can say we have come a long way since 1986, but we cannot stop here. And neither will I.
