Pret allergy death leads to £10m research prize

The parents of a teenager who died from an allergic reaction after eating a Pret A Manger baguette have launched a £10m prize for allergy research.

Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, 15, from Fulham, west London, died in July 2016 following a severe allergic reaction to sesame baked into the pre-packaged sandwich. Sesame was not listed as an ingredient on the packaging and the seeds were not visible to the naked eye.

Natasha's parents have since successfully campaigned for a change in the law, requiring food outlets to provide a full ingredients list and allergy labelling for foods made and packaged on the premises for direct sale.

They said Natasha's Prize aimed to "create a future without allergies".

Tanya and Nadim Ednan-Laperouse, who set up Natasha's Foundation in 2019, said it represented the largest fund for food allergy research ever awarded in the UK.

No baby is born with a food allergy, but in recent years allergy rates have been on the rise.

The foundation has identified the first 1,000 days from conception as the critical window of study, and an opportunity to intervene and prevent food allergies.

Tanya Ednan-Laperouse OBE said: "This prize has been in our hearts for a long time.

"It is 10 years this year since Natasha died and, like everything we do, it is dedicated to our daughter, Natasha, and all those who live with and have lost their lives to food allergy.

"Natasha's Prize offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a future without food allergy."

She said they wanted the prize to "galvanise the best science to stop food allergy".

Nadim Ednan-Laperouse told BBC Radio London: "When you lose a child, there's part of you as a mum and dad that never really recovers. No parent should ever have to bury their child but yet it happens.

"We've thrown ourselves into helping the millions of other people in the UK who have the same type of food allergies as our daughter had."

He said the fund could go to scientists researching allergies as well as "brilliant minds" across the world working in different disciplines "where there are good ideas."

He highlighted artificial intelligence as a promising area where solutions could be found.

Scientists from across the world are invited to apply for the prize.

Applicants chosen by a scientific advisory panel will be brought together to work collaboratively to create solutions aimed at preventing food allergies.

The foundation will announce which of those research concepts it is going to fund on 1 June, 2027.

Dame Dr Maggie Aderin, space scientist and Natasha's Prize ambassador, said: "As kids are born, if they develop food allergy it can affect the rest of their lives.

"But if we can stop food allergy right from birth, they will have a completely different life."

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