The parents of a teenager who died after having a serious allergic reaction have been honoured for their dedication and commitment to raising awareness of food allergens.

All food businesses in the UK have a responsibility to provide accurate allergen information to all customers that request it, and ultimately to provide food that is safe for people with allergies.

Not doing so can have fatal consequences, as was the case with 15-year-old Megan Lee, who suffered a fatal asthma attack in 2017 after unknowingly eating a takeaway from Royal Spice in Oswaldtwistle containing peanuts.

Following the tragedy, Megan's parents, Gemma and Adam Lee, worked with Trading Standards officers at Lancashire County Council to produce Megan's Story, a short film featuring treasured photos and video of the schoolgirl growing up.

It is designed to make businesses aware of the risks associated with allergens and ensure other families don't have to go through the same ordeal.

Lancashire Telegraph:

The Lee family

The video has been used all around the UK and was recently incorporated into a multilingual resource developed by Trading Standards Wales.

For their commitment and dedication in raising awareness of food allergens, Gemma and Adam have received a Special Recognition Award at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute National Conference in Bristol.

Gemma said: "We can't change our story as much as we would love to.

"What we can do is help others by stopping this story happening to someone else's family.

"We have continued to raise awareness of the dangers of allergens and hope we will make business owners and their staff think about their actions. No-one wants another tragedy to happen."

Adam added: "It was incredible to receive an award at the CTSI Conference 2022.

"To receive an award in our daughter’s memory is truly heart-warming."

It is thought that as many as one in three of the UK population, or 21 million people, live with an allergy of some form and this number is increasing at an alarming rate.

Dr Sakthi Karunanithi, director of public health for Lancashire County Council, said: "Food allergy is a serious and growing public health issue.

"There has been a dramatic increase in allergic diseases in recent years and raising awareness of this for both businesses and the public is very important."

County Councillor Michael Green, cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said: "I would like to thank Gemma and Adam Lee for their tremendous efforts to raise awareness of food allergens after the tragic loss of their daughter, Megan.

"The county council has developed a number of resources to increase awareness of food allergy as a serious issue and help educate young people and adults about the potentially life-threatening nature of the condition.

"We recently developed a free e-Learning package for businesses to raise awareness of this growing issue, to help ensure that what happened to Megan Lee doesn't ever happen again to anyone in Lancashire."

Two men, the owner and manager of the Royal Spice Restaurant, were initially found guilty by a jury of gross negligence manslaughter, however owner Mohammed Abdul Kuddus’ conviction and sentence for the charge was later quashed by Court of Appeal judges.

At the time of the appeal, the Lancashire Telegraph reported how Harun Rashid had previously sold the business to Mr Kuddus but had continued to work at the premises.

Three leading judges allowed an appeal by Kuddus, of Belper Street, Blackburn, ruling that his manslaughter conviction “cannot stand”.

Sir Brian Leveson, announcing the decision, said Megan’s order, including the comment about nuts and prawns, was seen by Rashid.

There was “no evidence” that the order printout or comments on her order were “seen by or passed on to” Kuddus.

Sir Brian said: “The difficulty with the approach in this case was that it was not suggested that the appellant was armed with notice that Megan fell into the category of those in respect of whom a reasonable person in the position of the appellant could have foreseen an obvious and serious risk of death by serving the food that he did.

"He knew nothing of the allergy which she had declared.

“In those circumstances, the conviction for gross negligence manslaughter cannot stand.”

Rashid, of Rudd Street, Haslingden, was jailed for three years.

He was found guilty of manslaughter, and also convicted of failing to discharge a general duty of employers, contrary to the Health and Safety at Work Act, and another count of failing to put in place, implement and maintain a permanent procedure or procedures in contravention of European Union food safety regulations.

Kuddus admitted the other charges and was given concurrent sentences of five months and three months.