A promising student who wants to study medicine at university had to be hospitalised after a severe allergic reaction to a peri peri chicken meal which could have killed him.
Ihfaz Islam, then 17, was half way through a takeaway meal ordered by his mother from Saqi Grill and Catering Limited in Chalvey Road West, when he broke out in hives and soon had difficulty speaking.
His mother Jubeda had been assured the meal she ordered over the phone did not contain any dairy products which Ihfaz has a life threatening allergy to.
He was taken to hospital suffering anaphylactic shock.
The A level student at Windsor Boys’ School, who wants to study medicine at university, reported the incident to the council’s Trading Standards department. He said he wanted to prevent the same thing happening to another person who might not be lucky enough to make a full recovery.
Now 18, Ihfaz said: “There is a huge difference between someone having an intolerance to food and being allergic. An allergy can kill and should not be taken lightly.
“As a family we thought we were being overly cautious but it can happen so easily and I don’t want someone else to have to go through such a distressing experience.”
Mum Jubeda said: “We were recommended Saqi Grill.
“I told them when I ordered over and over about Ihfaz’s allergy and the person on the phone shouted out to someone else who said no dairy in the peri meal."
Slough trading standards pursued a prosecution against Saqi Grill and Catering, its director Akbar Ali, 43, of Thornholme Close, Leicester and the shop manager Abdul Rauf, 42, of Ragstone Road, Slough.
Each defendant received an 18 week prison sentence suspended for 18 months, was ordered each to complete 120 hours of unpaid community work and pay £400 costs. The company was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £4000 costs.
Both defendants and the company admitted a total of three counts of selling unsafe food and a single charge of incorrectly describing doner kebab meat as lamb when it also contained beef and chicken.
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