Italian prosecutors have filed manslaughter charges against a “vegan” tiramisu maker who allegedly killed a 20-year-old woman due to a dairy allergy at a Milan restaurant last year.
Prosecutor Marcello Viola said in a statement, according to what The Telegraph reported on Wednesday, that “the amount of milk proteins present in the product in question indicates the presence of mascarpone… even though the product was sold as vegetarian.”
Because despite her caution and clear steps to inform the restaurant where she was having dinner with her boyfriend about the limits of her diet, Anna Bellisario suffered a fatal allergic shock after eating tiramisu from the Italian company Glg.
The young woman, who had severe allergies to dairy products and eggs, was said to have fallen into a coma for 10 days before succumbing.
After an investigation, prosecutors accused the candy manufacturer of “downplaying the different types of consumers the product was designed for” after hearing a recording of one of the owners, Giovanna Anoia, downplaying the presence of ingredients while training a new employee.
In particular, she said: “When you make a product like this, you're not thinking about people with allergies, you're making it for vegans.”
In addition, the vegetarian products would have been prepared in the same room and at the same time as the non-vegetarian products, which would have caused mixing of “plant-based ingredients” with other products, such as mascarpone, they said. According to what was reported by the Telegraph newspaper.
The owner and her son, Giuseppe Loero, also a co-owner, did not comment on the investigation, according to the British newspaper.
