Masters student, 24, died after she suffered severe allergic reaction to a mushroom risotto which contained tahini during a family outing for a pub lunch, inquest hears

A masters student died after she suffered a severe allergic reaction a mushroom risotto which contained tahini, an inquest heard today.

Georgina Mansergh, 24, had pre-ordered the dish for a big family lunch at the Angel Inn in Ferndown, Dorset, on February 11.

Tragically her mother Lindsey read out the menu choices to her from a computer but did not see the ingredients for the risotto at the bottom of the scene, which showed the paste was made from sesame seed.

The student only had a few mouthfuls before having a severe allergic, causing her to vomit in the car park while her distressed mother raced to find anti-histamine tablets. 

Georgina’s parents called an ambulance but she collapsed before the paramedics arrived. 

Georgina Mansergh, 24, died after she suffered a severe allergic reaction a mushroom risotto which contained tahini, an inquest heard today

Georgina’s parents Lindsey and Mansergh seen leaving the inquest today held in Bournemouth

Georgina had pre-ordered the dish for a big family lunch at the Angel Inn in Ferndown, Dorset, on February 11

Her father Nigel and a member of staff carried out CPR until the ambulance arrived and took over but she sadly died at the scene. 

Her inquest, held in Bournemouth, heard that Georgina was diagnosed with  a moderate nut allergy when she was aged two and would sometimes be sick or suffer with itchy, tingly lips if she ate something containing nuts.

But her family said she had never had a serious reaction and that she would normally just take an anti-histamine and had not been told she needed to carry an epi pen.

Georgina’s heartbroken parents said she generally avoided anything with nuts in before adding that they did not blame the restaurant for what happened.  

Mrs Mansergh said when the family pre-ordered their food she looked at the menu on the computer and shouted the options out to Georgina, who was a vegan.

She said the ingredients for the mushroom risotto were not visible because it was at the bottom of the screen so she did not realise it had tahini in it.

Mrs Mansergh said: ‘Georgie was on the WhatsApp chat but she was slow with giving her choice. She was in the kitchen and I was at the computer.

‘She said tell me what the options are. I said the vegan options are falafel and mushroom risotto and she said risotto. The mushroom risotto was at the bottom of the page so the actual ingredients were not visible.

Georgina’s heartbroken parents (pictured leaving the inquest today) said their daughter generally avoided anything with nuts in before adding that they did not blame the restaurant for what happened

‘That’s the horrible thing is if it had been in the middle of the screen I would have seen it.’

Mr Mansergh said: ‘My wife sent a copy of the menu to the family WhatsApp to preorder.

‘Georgie and she discussed menu options and she chose the mushroom risotto and plant burger.

‘We hadn’t noticed the allergen listed in the ingredients and don’t know if Georgie had looked at the menu. She had eaten there previously with no issue.’

He added: ‘Georgie had only just started to eat the risotto when she said she was having a reaction.

‘My wife swapped starters with Georgie to make her feel more comfortable. But she knew the reaction would spoil the meal if Georgie didn’t take some Piriton so went home to get it, she was back within ten minutes or so.

‘I was already outside the pub with Georgie, she told me she had been sick. She was unable to take the Piriton without water so I went back in the pub to get some.

‘Georgie got out of the car, stood on the edge trying to take a deep breath then stepped down. I told her to maybe get in the back seat and lie down and that’s when she just collapsed onto me.

‘I cannot begin to describe how devastated we are and our sons are at the loss of our beautiful girl and it is difficult to comprehend that she has gone.’

The father described his daughter’s allergy as being ‘quite low key’ and said  she would still eat food products labelled ‘may contain nuts’. He explained it was only foods labelled as nuts she would avoid.

He added: ‘The severe and adverse reaction was nothing like she had ever experienced before. She had learned to live with her allergies and was very aware of what she could and couldn’t eat, which makes this even more tragic.

‘While we don’t hold the restaurant responsible at all, there are a number of factors we would like to raise that might be considered for wider restaurant guidance in the future.’

Trevor Hartin, senior operations manager at Hall & Woodhouse – the owners of the Angel Inn – said they have taken steps to make their allergen procedures even more stringent.

The pub has since brought in QR codes on menus that allow customers to look up all the allergen information for the menu and have tablets they can provide if people are unable to do it on their phones.

They now ask every customer about allergens, even if they have pre-ordered meals, and have an allergy committee that reviews procedures regularly as they do with other safety procedures.

He said to Georgie’s parents: ‘I hope some of those things will reassure you we have tried to make things a little better. Generally the emphasis is on the customer to alert staff of allergies but we are trying to take it that step further and swap the emphasis so it is more on us.’

The hearing was told Dorset Council Trading Standards did not take any action against the pub as it complied with all requirements.

Coroner Richard Middleton said the cause of death was acute anaphylaxis due to sesame seed allergy and recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Georgina had been studying for a master’s degree in the green economy. Mr Mansergh said: ‘She was a vegan, she cared greatly about the environment and animal welfare. 

‘She was interested in fitness, attended the gym four times a week, and monitored her nutrition.’

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